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Time to Disconnect: The UK Makes Plans for it’s First Gaming Addiction Centre

Common Sense Contributors
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By Dolline Mukui.

We are all at least somewhat familiar with one game or another, and even if you’ve never been a ‘gamer’, I bet you can’t say that you never found yourself gripped by the mischievous Angry Birds, the fast paced Temple Run or the sickly sweet and addictive Candy Crush. But, even if we have all fallen prey to the world of competition and ‘levelling up’, has the nation‘s addiction become that bad? So bad that we have had to resort to opening up an internet addiction centre?

The Central and North West London NHS Foundation has announced that it is set to launch its first NHS funded addiction centre in the UK in the next few weeks. The addiction center will aim to tackle gaming disorders and other online addictions in the future. Because clearly we’re only getting worse, right?

Psychiatrist and clinic founder Henrietta Bowden-Jones told The Guardian, the clinic will provide treatment, do research and give advice to families.

Henrietta also said ‘Gaming disorder is finally getting the attention it deserves. The distress and harm it can cause is extreme and I feel a moral duty on behalf of the NHS to provide the evidence-based treatment these young people and their families need.

‘We are unlikely to witness an epidemic of young players with an addiction to gaming but for the ones who do struggle, the centre for internet disorders will be a life-changer.’

The World Health Organisiation (WHO) has classified gaming disorder as an addiction earlier in the week after it placed it on its International Classification of Diseases (ICD) manual.

Online addiction is now an official disease recognised by the reputable World Health Organisation. 

However, experts say that not enough research has been conducted into the effect excessively gaming has on the human condition and there is therefore currently a lack of scientific evidence to demonstrate addiction and making a hobby seem abnormal.

WHO’s official definition of gaming disorder includes a pattern of gaming which is out of control for 12 months, an increase in priority to gaming to the point that it takes precedence in one’s daily activities and the continuation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences.

For the NHS to open a clinic funded by them shows a shift in peoples’ behavior patterns. It also shows what the advances in technology can do to a person.

Can the modern day society live in a world without this kind of entertainment, or at least, enhanced limited access? Who exactly is to blame?

In the 21 century we see kids as young as 1 years old being handed tablets to calm them down, to distract them, to keep them quiet for minutes to hours on end, but do we set boundaries to their access? We allow kids to have 24-hour access to their games in their rooms but do we really know how long they are spending on it? Have we started planting seeds of addiction into their lives, or are we planting seeds of addiction into our own?

You have to ask yourself these questions because at the end of the day this is now our reality, it’s not a game we can pause and carry on with the next morning. So ask yourself, how long does it take you to tell yourself Game Over?

 

Dolline is a traveller, journalist and blogger who has a constant desire to try new things. She is a very spontaneous person; you might find her skydiving over the Kenyan coast or kayaking on Lake Como. She can be an over thinker who considers every possible outcome, but if she’s ever caught by surprise, she welcomes the change that was not planned. However, she is a very simple person who is up for a good laugh or a book and enjoys living in the moment. Dolline also writes for her small personal blog called ‘Swatches of Beauty’ and contributes to a radio show called a ‘A Chat with Elle Celeste’.

Twitter: @ceraz_x

Why Is Black Hair Political?

Common Sense Contributors
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By Benedicta Denteh.

Now, as I write about black hair, I’m not simply talking about hair of a darker pigment, but specifically the ‘kinky’ or ‘coily’ diverse strands that grow on the scalps of those of African and Caribbean descent. For centuries, black hair has been a source of identity, taking on different shapes and styles for a plethora of reasons. From tribes in West Africa in the 1400s to the Black Panther Party in 1960s America, black hair has been a statement of culture and identity, but can black hair really be seen as political?

1. Bans and regulations within schools

High schools throughout the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and South Africa have been known to place bans or punishments on black students who wear their natural hair. The following schools have been under the eye of the media in recent times: Butler Traditional High School in Louisville, Kentucky, St. Gregory’s Catholic Science College in Melbourne, Mystic Valley Regional Charters School, Malden, Massachusetts, Pretoria in South Africa. Each of these institutions have all reported incidents of members of staff asking students to straighten or chemically perm their hair or to take out styles such as braids, cornrows and dreadlocks.

Beyonce. Source: astrostyle.com

Reasons provided for these kind of styles being deemed unacceptable have largely been based on opinion than issues of fact. For example, excuses such as not wanting to encourage “gang related” hairstyles and claiming that braids “did not represent” the establishment to these hairstyles being deemed “extreme” or “distracting” for other students in classes.

Many schools have argued that their uniform policies aim to promote equality amongst all students and therefore desire to have styles that do not inhibit their ability to concentrate during lessons. The problem? It completely disregards cultural differences between students and so these kinds of rules incite indirect or subconscious racial discrimination. Braided hairstyles such as cornrows and braids (examples above and below) are not only deeply embedded into familial traditions amongst black people in the African diaspora but also form part of the natural upkeep of black hair. For this reason, this lack of integrating policies which take into account multiculturalism, often makes students who are targeted feel a sense of otherness in an institution where  arguably one of its primary goals is to install a sense of unity into society’s future members.

Many of the schools mentioned have accordingly decided to take into consideration different cultural practises whilst reviewing and amending their policies after media attention and high court interventions. Be that as it may, coming into question is the whether other schools throughout the world and other places with these types of uniform rules, will follow suit in order to create an environment of inclusivity.

2. A question of professionalism in the workplace

Source: britishcurlies.co.uk

We have all heard anecdotes of sexism in the workplace whereby women have encountered some type of a ‘glass ceiling’. This is the idea that there is only so far a position they may be able to reach in any given job in comparison to their male counter parts. Take for example Nicola Thorp. Nicola was let go from her receptionist temp job for failure to comply with ‘office rules’. These rules subsequently included women having to wear a skirt and high heels and it is without doubt that this kind of discrimination must be challenged and denounced.

However, in addition, we should also be extending this investigation of what is and isn’t professional in the workplace to black hair. There have been several accounts of black women being told to chemically perm their hair or be encouraged to wear weave in the workplace and of women being unable to secure jobs in the UK in places such as Harrods and Knightsbridge and these are not isolated incidents.

Hair being too “distracting” or “unprofessional” is often the reason behind employers asking employees to alter their hair. This has led to some resistance but also some compliance as no person wants to lose out on new job opportunities or be let go from their job/career. This discrimination feeds into division of employees; the ways in which rules are the same for all but not suitable for all. It creates a problem that often comes when there is an attempt to treat everyone the same although they are not the same. Equality over equity (equity being equality which recognises differences and that all cannot be exactly the same i.e. different rules suited for different people). As a result, these ‘rules’ in the workplace not only advocate for a Eurocentric idea of professionalism, but also encourage indirect institutionalised racism. As said by Anna Birtwistle, a partner at CM Murray LLP “an employer who prohibits afros in the workplace risks the allegation that they are discriminating against black employees”.

This discrimination has extended to places such as the military where it wasn’t until 2014 that Defence secretary Chuck Hagel announced that the military’s prohibitions on black hairstyles such as twists and cornrows had been lightened due to special considerations for racial differences, i.e. black hair. Although the intervention of women affected (among the 26,000 black women who served in the military at the time) and the congressional Black Caucus (a political organisation which was established in 1970) this issue calls into question the willingness of the United States, the UK and many other western countries to adjust regulations in order to be more inclusive and promote multiculturalism, especially for those who are willing to die for their country.

This undated image provided by the US Army shows new Army grooming regulations for females. New Army regulations meant to help standardized and professionalize soldiers’ appearance was under criticism by some black military women, who said changes in the requirement for their hair were racially biased. The Army had issued new appearance standards, which included bans on most twists, dreadlocks and large cornrows, all styles used predominantly by African-American women with natural hairstyles. More than 11,000 people signed a White House petition asking the then President Barack Obama, the commander-in-chief, to have the military review the regulations to allow for “neat and maintained natural hairstyles.” Source: AP Photo/US Army

So why does this all make black hair political?

Black hair is a part of African and Caribbean racial identity. For hundreds of years dating back to the seventeen hundreds black hair has been deemed to be outrageous and bizarre which furthers feelings of otherness amongst black people in the African Diaspora and even those in countries with large black populations. This has led to black people altering their hair textures in order to fit into western and westernised societies (although there are other reasons to change one’s hair texture such as to improve the simplicity of the upkeep of hair).

We should take a leaf from members of the Black Panther Party of the 1960s and 70s who embraced their natural hair and afros as a political statement that hair like black people of the time, should be truly free and unrestricted. It subsequently became a popular style and was often worn in protest rallies. Similarly, encouragement for change should be taken from the “black is beautiful” campaign which called for black people, specifically women, to wear their hair out, coils and all. Regardless of where it started, natural hair and hairstyles are becoming more and more embraced, symbolising acceptance and challenging the idea that has been maintained for so long that natural hair is improper and un-uniformed.

Dancer’s Donning Afro Hairstyles in Beyonce’s Formation Music Video. Source: Pintrest

Freedom to wear our hair naturally out or in natural styles shouldn’t be something banned within workplaces and other establishments such as schools. And what should also be put into perspective is that it is not an ‘act of kindness’ for these establishments to allow these hairstyles, it is a right that has been long overdue.

Paradoxically, “to wear our hair naturally shouldn’t be a political statement”, however, it will continue to be as long as there are restrictions of one’s opportunities in jobs and discrimination in learning environments because of the natural way one’s hair grows/is up-kept.

Benedicta is currently studying Arabic and French at the University of Manchester and hopes to become a linguist and broadcast journalist in the future. In her free time, she enjoys learning about African development and issues to do with race, society and culture. Benedicta also takes pleasure in acting, travelling and promoting plant-based eating.

Twitter: @BenniDenteh

Democratic Socialist Unseats 10-term Congressman

Alex Davenport
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Democratic Socialist Unseats 10-term Congressman

With the US midterm elections mere months away, we have seen perhaps the first significant indication of how the electoral tide may be turning. This indication was provided by the voters of New York’s 14th congressional district, who opted to back insurgent left-wing candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez over veteran congressman Joe Crowley by a margin of 57.5% to 42.5% in the district’s Democratic primary. Ocasio-Cortez will now go on take challenge Republican Anthony Pappas for the seat in November, and will certainly go into the race as a heavy favourite.

 

Ocasio-Cortez, a former volunteer for Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential bid, offered a similar policy platform to that of Sanders, with a distinctively socialist ideological slant. Among her policies were the introduction of universal healthcare, the scrapping of college tuition fees and the abolition of the controversial Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, which has been at the centre of much controversy for its separation of migrant children from their parents at the border. These policies certainly appear to have chimed with voters in the district, many of whom come from ethnically diverse and socially deprived backgrounds.

Her opponent Crowley, meanwhile, had served 10 terms as the New York district’s Congressman. He had not even been challenged in a primary for 14 years and was expected by many to win with ease, with campaign finances more than 10 times those of Ocasio-Cortez. Crowley had been touted by many as a candidate for one of the top jobs in the Democratic Party, with his name even being linked to the position of Speaker of the House should the incumbent Nancy Pelosi choose to step down. Yet his illustrious career and dreams of moving on to bigger things have been suddenly cut short by this result.

 

Many have pointed to Crowley’s apparent complacency in running re-election as part of the reason for his defeat. According to Democratic strategists he did not appeal to any of his allies in the party for help during the campaign, confident that he did not need help to win. He also failed to show up to a debate with Ocasio-Cortez, citing scheduling conflicts, much to the ire of his opponent.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez being congratulated after her shock victory (Source: Getty Images)

Yet it is difficult to overlook the importance of wider reasons in understanding this result. Ocasio-Cortez’s victory seems to conform to a common theme of political change taking place in various countries, where establishment figures have lost out to insurgents from the left and right. In these cases, political prestige counts for little and ideology counts for much. As Crowley’s campaign for re-election showed, many of the things that used to count for a significant advantage in elections, such as a well-funded campaign and backing from party elites and big business can easily become millstones around a candidate’s neck, allowing them to be portrayed as part of an insular cabal. Ocasio-Crowley’s grassroots-led campaign, on the other hand, could point the absence of big-money donors and high-profile support as evidence of its ideological purity, free from malign interests.

For many, Ocasio-Cortez’s victory over Crowley will have come as a significant shock. This is true for nobody more so than Ocasio-Cortez herself, who appeared stunned and lost for words as the announcement of her victory came through on a big screen at her headquarters. She has certainly joined the long list of political upsets to take place over the past few years. The main question to be asked now, as the political tide seems to be irrevocably turning, is how long this list of upsets has to get before we stop considering them upsets.

BET Awards A Step Up From Last Year?

Afoma Andrea
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BET Awards A Step Up From Last Year?

For a few years now it feels as if the BET Awards has lost its essence, granted the 2017 Awards was a step up from previous years but with viewership decreasing year after year it has become painfully obvious that the show was in need of a real shake up and reinvention. High hopes were held for a more entertaining ceremony, with the announcement of Jamie Foxx as host for this years Awards.

Jamie Foxx, this year’s BET Awards Host

It is safe to say that 2018 has been a year of Black Greatness. This year we saw Black Panther smash box office records,  Beyonce deliver a historic performance at Coachella and Ghanaian fashion designer Virgil Abloh being appointed artistic director for Louis Vuitton which is the highest position a designer of colour has ever had. Black Excellence was the phrase of the night with lead host Jamie Foxx repeating the phrase repeatedly throughout the show. Though he did have his share moments of stale jokes (the Wanda Wakanda skit was definitely not needed!), as a host Jamie was enjoyable but its clear that his talents lay more in music. Foxx is a talented singer and it was a joy to watch him deliver a special tribute to Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Anita Baker with the help of talented singers Ledisi, Marsha Ambrosius and Yolanda Adams.

On the night, we had performances from the likes of Migos, Nicki Minaj , Miguel and others. The Migos delivered a not great start to the ceremony. The rappers had no energy and looked tired, the backup dancers often looked like they were in and out of sync with one another thus creating a rather underwhelming performance

Performing a medley of her recent hits “Chun Li” and “Rich sex”, Minaj’s return to the BET stage was an anticipated one. The rapper ascended the stage in a eye catching latex kimono with a crew of dancers to perform  “Chun Li”. After a quick wardrobe change, Minaj strutted her stuff in a eye catching red latex dress and displayed some rather innovative dance moves by crawling on all fours for the remainder of the medley which only hyped the crowd more. The rapper concluded her sub-par set with a guest spot on YG’s performance of his new song “Big Bank” featuring Big Sean and 2 Chains.

Miguel dressed in what can only be described as his best Puff daddy white suit performed an excellent fusion of “Sky Walker”, “Come through” and “Chill”.  The singer returned later to the stage with Meek Mill to debut the powerful single “Woke” which placed a spotlight on police violence. Meek in a dark hoodie with images of recently deceased rappers XXXTentacion and Jimmy Wopo on both front and back, delivered a dramatic performance that highlighted issues with police brutality and his own issues with the criminal justice system. The performances of the night, however, would have to go to H.E.R.

Though she may not be as well known as bigger artists such as J.cole or Nicki minaj, H.E.R held her own and captured the audiences attention from the start to the end of her performance. Standing in front of a blue and purple tinged backdrop, H.E.R started her set with a smooth rendition of her song “Focus”. Showing that she is talented not just vocally, we saw the songstress flawlessly shred an electric guitar before bringing out Daniel Ceaser to perform their duet “Best Part”.

Tiffany Haddish Wins The Award For Best Actress

Winners of the night included SZA (who after her Grammys snub well deserved to win as Best New Artist), Cardi B and Tiffany Haddish.

Overall the show though not as energetic as last years show, was an enjoyable one and delivered on what it had set out to do – reminded us what Black Excellence could be.

Fallon vs Trump

Emmabelle Nwadikwa
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Fallon vs Trump

Since becoming the 45th President of the United States of America, Donald Trump has found himself in more than his fair share of arguments with his fellow celebrities, the latest of which is the Tonight Show’s Jimmy Fallon.

In 2016 Fallon interviewed Trump and, as most things concerning Trump seem to do nowadays, the interview had a viral moment. A short clip of Fallon ruffling Trump’s hair became a moment loved by few but overall hated by masses. In a recent interview Fallon expressed regret over how he had handled his interaction with Trump. He also opened up about the backlash he had since received and the low ratings that his show has had since the interview aired.

THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON (Photo by: Andrew Lipovsky/NBC)

This didn’t go down so well with Trump who took to ranting first on twitter and then at a rally in South Carolina.

In the tweet Trump claimed that Jimmy called him and implied the call was to thank him for the “monster ratings” that the show had received and he went on to tell Jimmy to be a man and to “stop whimpering”

Jimmy responded using is monologue during the Tonight Show. He opened by giving a shout out to their ‘Number 1 fan’ – the President of the United States. He went n to say “As you may have heard, last night the President of the United States went after me on twitter. So Melania, if you’re watching, I don’t think your anti-bullying campaign is working”. Fallon also asked if Trump didn’t have anything better to do than tweet him and then in retaliation he made a donation in Trump’s name to RAICES – the Refugee and Immigrant Centre for Education and Legal Services.

Fallon also separately addressed the issue of the call during the show. He alleges that the call never took place and that he had never used the term “monster ratings” and he also implied that his ratings actually got worse, not better as a result of their interview.

However, in true Trump fashion, a tweet didn’t suffice. During his speech at a rally in South Carolina he went into details about how the hair ruffling moment came about and spoke briefly about the phone call that he claims took place and explained that the “be a man” tweet was due to the fact that Jimmy had apologised for “humanizing” Trump. He didn’t stop there though, Trump then went on to call the Late Show host Stephen Colbert a lowlife and Jimmy Kimmel terrible.

Colbert, Fallon and Conan O’Brien banded together to make a comedic video response addressing Trump’s comments at the rally. They make reference to Trump’s comments by addressing each other as “Lowlife” and “Lost Soul” with Conan acting as though he’s completely unaware that Donald Trump, or as he refers to him in the video “the real estate guy who sells steaks” has even become President.They even found a way to tie in a joke about meeting for lunch at Red Hen, the restaurant that Trump’s Press Secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked to leave.

This isn’t the first time that Trump has found himself tweeting celebrities, in fact, it happens so frequently that it’s hard to keep up. Whether it’s some sort of power move or a cry for attention, we’ll never know but we’ll try our best to keep you updated.

A Sunday Kind of Love: A Review of Sport

Common Sense Contributors
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A Sunday Kind of Love: A Review of Sport

To start off, England demolished Panama in their World Cup Match. It’s only the group stages and fans have already began chanting the “It’s coming home” slogan. To be fair to the desperate masses, it’s about time England live up to it’s name as the class leading location to play. It has the talent, they need to mesh and that’s working out at the moment. To kick off the proceedings, John Stones scored his first ever goal for his Nation by the 8th minute. Taking advantage of a momentary Ashley Young block off, Stones uses his pace to get away and intercept the corner in a prime position. Stones duly scored at the 40 minute mark to pick up a Sterling miss.

Harry Kane completed a Hat-trick, first by taking after Stones’ goal in the 20th minute. He converted a penalty after a foul on Jesse Lingard who took revenge by putting another one past with some absolutely stunning precision. Rio Ferdinand said, “The whole of England’s play here is what you want to see from us, patience and confidence and everyone showing for the ball. With the finish, this is where Jess is unbelievable – this finish was exquisite. I have seen this from this boy since he was 11 years old at Manchester United. People always questioned ‘is he going to be big enough, is he going to be strong enough’, but when you have the intelligence and game management that this kid’s got, you can be two foot tall and get through. Jesse is that intelligent, he is that good, he understands the game, and when he gets in like this, although we didn’t see it the other day when he wasn’t clinical, we all said that when he gets the chances again he will put them away, and he certainly did. That finish there – a generation of kids will remember that goal.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GDd_QcBFZo

Kane converted penalty number 2 after the Panama defense. He followed up with a cheery on top deflection off Walker to net it past Panama for the 6th time. Chelsea legend Frank Lampard summarized it best. “He just keeps producing. Nothing is a problem for him – even when they hit him on the heel, they go in – that’s when you know everything is going your way, but sometimes you make your own luck.” Panama could only score once in the second half. Which was all about not getting complacent about their first half performance as far as England were concerned.

We now move on, 3574 km west to Paul Ricard in France.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTyqqjMyxlk

The ensuing first lap carnage saw Lewis Hamilton in the lead from Max Verstappen and home team Renault up to 3rd with Carlos Sainz. Who looked very racy initially but fell to fourth after Daniel Ricciardo made quick work of him. Also running high up were Kevin Magnussen, Charles Leclerc, Kimi Raikkonen and  Romain Grosjean in that order behind Sainz. Perez and Hulkenberg were 9th and 10th respectively and on Soft tires, while the others were on used rubber.

Raikkonen cleared Magnussen and Leclerc with little effort and sadly for Renault, Sainz followed but was still on for big points. Meanwhile at the rear, Vettel and Bottas were clawing their way up the field all while Hamilton was streaking into the distance. Before long the charging Vettel cleared the lone Force India of Perez and the second Renault Hulkenberg. he eventually scythed past the cars ahead to sit at fifth.

A slightly odd awardee considering Hamilton dominated and we witnessed a clinical drive from Raikkonen and Verstappen. But a charge from the rear to 5th was great nonetheless. Leclerc scored a 10th cementing himself as a star in the making. The Renault’s increased their lead in 4th by finishing 9th and 10th. Magnussen was 6th scoring 8 valuable points for Haas.

Moving on to Manchester, England at Old Trafford. The English cricket side have already sealed the series against Australia. This however saw something special from player of the series Jos Butler. Australia set 206 to win. Aaron Finch and Marcus Stoinis departed in the 6th over after Moeen Ali caught them off again. Travis Head kept the innings going by knocking the ball to all parts off the park before being dismissed for 56 at the 11th over, relatively early. Alex Carrey and DArcy Short carried the load of scoring by contributing 44 and 47 respectively. Captain Tim Paine had yet another poor performance being dismissed cheaply after a solitary run. Ali wrapped up proceedings by sending Billy Stanlanke back to the hut and hence the Aussie’s were shot out for 205 in the 34th over. England started off poorly as well, losing half their side cheaply. At the same point in time the Aussies were double England’s total.

A mega Sunday for sports lovers saw England Sportstars come out on top in three different parts of the world. All three groups appear well set for accolades in their respective fields.

by Rutvik Bhaskar Perepa
Rutvik Bhaskar Perepa is a student at The University of Manchester working towards a MEng in Mechanical Engineering hoping to be on a placement after Year 3. He has had the privilege to travel around his home country, India and discover the rich heritage and diversity. His personal interests include Food and travel, history, Sport among many others. Often found in discourse on various issues ranging Engineering to Religious Practices, he never shy’s away from being expressive. He believes in being open minded, empathetic and analytical is the key to problems posed on a daily basis.

How ‘Allowing It’ Leads To Deaths

Emmabelle Nwadikwa
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How ‘Allowing It’ Leads To Deaths

XXXTentacion, Jimmy Wopo & 6ix9ine: Has allowance culture gone too far?

On June 18th 2018 rappers XXXTentacion, 20, and Jimmy Wopo, 21, were shot dead in their respective cities. The incidents were unrelated but they lead us to a much needed discussion to have about ‘allowance culture’.

XXXTentacion

XXXTentacion led a lifestyle that it was impossible not to disprove of. His personal actions made it hard for some people to sympathise with his death. One of Jimmy Wopo’s most popular songs, a song titled “lost” talked about being “lost in the lean” and drugs. For years now there has been a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy  and the deaths of these two young men have become yet another reason why this culture is toxic and in some cases, fatal.

There’s such a comfort that some people take in the idea that things are done “just for the music” or “mistakes” that we’ve collectively stopped holding people accountable for their actions. Violence, abuse, drug use and gang affiliations are ‘accepted’ more now than ever before in the sense that even though there are more movements against toxic behaviour, the need for the movements came from the underlying allowance of it.  Young men and women across the globe have been accepting of these things under the notion of “freedom of expression” and “free thought”, so much so that they seem to have forgotten that whilst you’re free to express your thoughts, that doesn’t mean that you’re free from consequence.

6ix9ine

These consequences should never be death. However, in a day and age when new school rappers such as 6ix9ine are running around with a sense of entitlement, provoking people at every corner, you can only wonder, what will it take for the violence to end. When do we step in and say that enough is enough? When do we hold ourselves and others accountable? It’s time for our online activism to match our real life actions.

It is no longer enough for people to turn a blind eye to the actions of those around us because if we continue to do so we’ll end up with many more situations just like this one. Eventually we have to become the change that we wish to see in the world. A key point is being made by fans and non-fans alike about the people around XXXTentacion when he died, they were all so caught up in filming him that they didn’t stop to check his pulse or call for emergency services.

https://twitter.com/Victoria__Paige/status/1008833095649386496

This is the real issue at hand. The allowance has turned into a complete lack of care. There’s a need for re-education. Most of us firmly believe in the principle of ‘each one, teach one’. When you’ve been taught something, it should be your duty to teach someone else, that’s how the world learns. Nelson Mandela said that “education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world” We need to use the tool that is education to create a change. It’s time for the allowance to end before anymore lives do.

Playlist: World Cup Edition!

Emmabelle Nwadikwa
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Playlist: World Cup Edition!

In honour of the 2018 FIFA world cup tournament, we here at TCS have put together a playlist of some of the best songs to come from the world cup over the years. Sit back, relax and listen to some good music.

It’s only right to start with this years song, “Live It Up” by Nicky Jam feat. Will Smith and Era Istrefi. This upbeat song is perfect for hyping anyone up before watching a match. The energy levels in the video are unparalleled and with it’s mix of English and Spanish it becomes the perfect party starter.

Next up we have “We Are One (Ole Ola) – Pitbull feat. Jennifer Lopez and Cláudia Leitte. Again we have a bilingual song that you can not only pump your first to, but you can actually cheer parts of at matches! Score!

Of course we couldn’t forget the infamous “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)” by Shakira. This is one of the few solo artist world cup songs but it’s just as big of a hit as the others with Shakira encouraging us all to get up and dance!

Next we have Ricky Martin’s 1998 “La Copa de la Vida”.  The song and the video will have you wishing that you were a part of that crowd. It’s impossible not to mention this song, the majority of it may be in Spanish but Ricky made certain to include other languages too and on top of that the instruments and the styles in which they were played transport us to other parts of the world too.

You’ve clicked the link above and you’ve smiled because you’ve finally found the song you’ve been looking for for years. Sergio Mendes feat. Black Eyed Peas “Mas Que Nada” is a song that everyone either knows or has a faint memory of but most people have forgotten the name of over time. Well look no more, we’ve got you covered.

Whilst this song may not have been the best musically, it’s an undeniable part of British football culture and if, like most of us, you came to this song for John Barnes, he starts at 2:30.

The Lightning Seeds – Three Lions 98′ is a song that needs no introduction (even though I just gave it one). The words “It’s coming home, it’s coming home. Football’s coming home” appeal to a side of my soul that I didn’t know existed. This song is nothing less than iconic.

Last but not least, my personal favourite song that the world cup has ever given us K’NAAN –  “Wavin’ Flag (Coca-Cola Celebration Mix)”. This song is amazing for so many reasons but my favourite reason has to be the positive message that comes from this song. K’NAAN encourages us to be free. He encourages us to unite, be strong and to rejoice in the beautiful game that is football.

It wouldn’t be right to end our playlist without at least one special mention and since there has been nothing but support for Nigeria’s world cup team this year with the record breaking pre-sales of the kit and the sponsorship deals (not to mention Friday’s 2-0 win against Iceland). With all of that being said, the non-official world cup song special mention goes to Naira Marley feat. Olamide, Falz, Simi, Slimcase and Lil Kesh with “Naija  Issagoal (Remix)”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=im22OgaMImk

 

NBA: Draft, Trade and Free Agency Special

Common Sense Contributors
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It’s been an exciting and eventful week for the NBA. Here’s a lowdown on the latest developments within the league.

Let’s start off with Dwight Howard,  a former superstar has now been reduced to an “undesirable” trade piece. In spite of the fact that he performs at an All-star level. It’s sad to see this man’s legacy wither away.  But the truth was that the Charlotte Hornets believed in Kemba Walker; The franchise’s only drafted All-star player. They are one of the many teams in limbo. The other being the Brooklyn Nets, whom Howard was traded to.

Brooklyn however are the clear beneficiaries. Not only have they acquired an able player who is great pick and rolls, they also got rid of a lot of financial burdens. Namely, in the form of Timofey Mozgov who was granted highly inflated contract. The Nets have even secured some picks in the 2019 draft and have the space to sign to max players. Last time out it did not pan out the way they hoped it would. Unfortunately,  aging Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce failed to recreate their past glories in Brooklyn.

Trading Season Continues…#NBADraft2018

The first major draft prospect is, Euro league MVP Luka Doncic.  Doncic has every chance to go to the Suns, who are coached by Igor Kokoskov.  He is touted by the Atlanta Hawks who may consider trading Dennis Schroder. The Sacramento Kings visited Doncic at Madrid, however the position of point guard is filled by DeAaron Fox. One would be foolish to not put past the fact that the Kings can move Fox to a scoring guard role, and make Doncic their combo guard. The Hawks hold they keys as Doncic is definitely what Memphis wants, and Dallas as well rather surprisingly. Atlanta could use Schroder, and Kent Bazemore in their trade deals. As roles go, Doncic is a better fit on Phoenix, Memphis, and Atlanta, than the other candidates. Such teams may be willing to trade up sacrificing picks or vets along the way. The teams at the top are understood to be open to trade talks and that’s what makes this draft a blockbuster.

 

The projected/consensus number 1 overall pick slated to go to the Phoenix Suns. Ayton is touted to be a generational talent. We last witnessed such play by Shaquille O’Neal, more recently Giannis Antetokounmpo and Dwight Howard before him, * inserts crying emoji *.

 

 

To put it simply, offensively he is Shaquille O’Neal with a jump shot. He can grab rebounds, do screen and rolls, the lot. He is built and is expected to go toe to toe against NBA players with ease. Defensively he needs work but that comes with the bills of playing in the NBA. He played for Arizona and hasn’t worked out for anyone bar the Suns. He even spent time at the Sun’s gym with Devin Booker, Josh Jackson and more.  One would be foolish to let go of a prospect this bright.

Duke Blue Devil, Marvin Bagley III comes up next. He appears to be Sacramento’s choice at number 2 after much deliberation. He is a perfect fit alongside the fast guard Fox. Bagley moves as fast as any guard, is agile and puts up double-doubles with outstanding efficiency. He is armed with a competitors’ spirit as quoted,

“Absolutely, I want to be the No. 1 pick. By me saying that, it’s not a knock on anybody else in the draft; that’s just the type of player and competitor I am. I want to be the best at anything I do. I don’t want anybody to take that the wrong way when I say I think I should be the No. 1 pick. Anywhere I go I’m going to be willing to put the work in and get better.”

Bagley made quite an impression on legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski. Back in January, Coach K called Bagley “the most unique player we’ve had here at Duke during my 38 years. He has everything.” That stands for something. Considering Coach K has worked with legends like Grant Hill who was a generational talent till injuries robbed him, that statement validates his draft stock and the star potential teams see in him.

by Rutvik Bhaskar Perepa
Rutvik Bhaskar Perepa is a student at The University of Manchester working towards a MEng in Mechanical Engineering hoping to be on a placement after Year 3. He has had the privilege to travel around his home country, India and discover the rich heritage and diversity. His personal interests include Food and travel, history, Sport among many others. Often found in discourse on various issues ranging Engineering to Religious Practices, he never shy’s away from being expressive. He believes in being open minded, empathetic and analytical is the key to problems posed on a daily basis.

What Is The Power Of Social Media In 2018?

Emmabelle Nwadikwa
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In a day and age where YouTubers give away houses and Kanye can be “cancelled” one day and have a number one album the next, it’s hard to understand the true power of social media.

How was it possible that Kanye’s comments were able to enrage people to the extent that there was an outcry to boycott his album and yet, when the album came out, it was able to reach the number 1 spot on the charts?

How is it possible that speaking out on social media led to the birth of powerful movements such as  #MeToo or #BlackLivesMatter?

During Kanye’s supposed cancellation, he released the Pusha T album that he was the producer on. On this album was a song directed at Drake due to an ongoing feud between the two artists. In true Drake fashion, he replied to the song twice in less than 48 hours. This naturally had social media in a frenzy. Most of the messages seemed to be people not only shocked by Drake’s songs (which were directed at both Pusha T and Kanye) but also at the fact that he was able to have them ready and released so soon after the album had dropped. Pusha T responded a few days later and his song had people immediately losing interest in Drake’s. Drake didn’t respond after this (supposedly because he was advised by J Prince not to do so) but he did find himself filming a music video to one of the songs with some of his former “Degrassi” cast-mates. In fact, the video had people so nostalgic for the show that they seemed to forget the fact that Drake still hadn’t replied to Pusha T.

All of this begs the same question. What is the true power of social media? Especially for an online community that moves distractedly from one fad to the next.

From a strictly musical standpoint, social media has changed the way that artists create. People who had their starts on Vine, YouTube and even Instagram are now becoming chart-topping radio stars as we’ve seen recently with Ella Mai, Queen Naija, DDG & Ar’mon & Trey (to name a few). These are just some examples of people that have gone from being everyday “social media influencers” to Top 20 artists on Apple Music and Tidal and signing to historic labels.

Being a social media influencer has become a full-time job with people now able to earn a stable income making videos on YouTube and posting pictures on Instagram. Of course, some people will argue that creating YouTube videos is an easy job, but the reality of the situation is that these people have learned to film and edit and have gone on to build followings of millions of people.

They acquired a skill set that allowed them to not only create a platform for themselves, but then use it to create another source of revenue.  People truly have found a way to make a living from other people watching them make a living.

People have realised that the real money is in creating the illusion that people know you, even if they don’t. They feel a connection to you and are more willing to watch your art and share it too.

This, of course, works out differently for different people. Not all YouTubers can boast large followings but those who can are also often seen to be travelling or purchasing lavish items including vehicles and property. People want to know how it’s done and be able to do it themselves.

The real power of social media, of course, comes from the people. Social media was instrumental in helping to establish The Common Sense Network so it’s clear to us that it’s a tool that can change lives.

That being said, I’m not holding my breath that I’ll be buying a mansion any time soon.

Drill Group 1011 on Musical Expression

Afoma Andrea
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Drill Group 1011 on musical expression and The Carters’ (unsurprising) collaborative album

In recent years Drill music has become increasingly more popular in the London capital – bringing some critics along with it.

Debate has ranged from discussions on its influence on knife crime to the removal of various Drill videos on Youtube as requested by Metropolitan Commissioner Cressida Dick who claimed that this was due to the content  “glamorising” violent crimes. It is safe to say that the genre has not been in looked at in a positive light for some time now.

Recently a debate popped up online on whether police should have the power to authorise what Drill artists can and cannot say in their music. The questions around artistic freedom and freedom of speech were brought up. The debate was sparked by the revelation that the Drill group “1011” were given a CBO (criminal behaviour order) – a first of its kind – which banned the group from writing certain lyrics without police approval.

The group was arrested back in November of last year after being found with machetes, baseball bats and a knife. Though claiming the items to be just props, the group were found guilty of conspiracy to commit a machete attack on a rival gang, 12-World, who had created a video threatening members Jordan Bedeau and his brother Micah’s grandmother.

Mugshot of members of the 1011 drill music group (November 2017)

This type of move comes across as lazy and rather very stereotypical of the police as the police have a long history of over-policing music of black origin, for instance in form 696, a risk assessment form deployed by the London Met before licensed events.

The root of the problem is being glossed over by the police. Youth violence has been around before Drill music, so it is inconceivable that the censoring of the genre will somehow magically solve youth crime.

Having said that, one of the more palatable court orders imposed on group forbids future references to the death of Teewiz, otherwise known as Abdullahi Tarabi, who was stabbed in West London last April. Online it is easy to find numerous videos of the group ridiculing Teewiz’s death and in various songs of theirs they have made multiple references to it: “Young Teewiz got a chestshot, just didn’t die like his bro Teewiz” (Kill Confirmed). This was an important legal move to protect the feelings of the family of Teewiz.

The Carters

In other news, the Royal Family from across the pond, The Carters, have returned with the unsurprising release of their album “Everything is Love”.

A still from Jay-Z and Beyonce’s joint album

Anyone could have seen this album coming from a mile away. There had been rumblings in the industry for some time that such a project would be released. Jay-Z himself confirmed this back in November last year with T Magazine.

Their new single Apeshit, however has received a mixed reaction online. Though lyrically engaging, the song comes off as corny and one cannot shake off the feeling that Beyonce and Jay-Z are simultaneously doing karaoke and covering a Migos jump off track (funnily enough Migos did produce the track). The visuals do, however, make up for the lacklustre track. This type of corniness is felt on a few other songs on the album but altogether the album is a strong body of work.

https://twitter.com/ira/status/1008123367822520320?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecut.com%2F2018%2F06%2Fbeyonce-jay-z-album-best-reactions.html

The reaction online though largely positive with many of Queen B’s fans praising her for her constant reinvention of herself as an artist, a good deal of people have pointed out and praised Beyonce for being more explicit on this album. This is an interesting one and offers up a debate on whether American artists are allowed to be more liberal with their work than their British peers. The concept of the album is basically the couple not holding back and calling out not only their critics but also each other(with no f***ks given). Granted the explicitness of some of our Drill artists would make this album PG rated than anything, we should ask ourselves would Beyonce be given a CBO by the police for the mentioning of the Meek Mills case in Top Off or the calling out of the police in Formation.

Musical Chairs in MotoGP : What does the 2019 Grid look like?

Common Sense Contributors
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Musical Chairs in MotoGP : What does the 2019 Grid look like?

The factory Repsol Honda team is a constant in the MotoGP title fight most years. Also a constant, is Dani Pedrosa who joined Honda back in 2006. Touted to be the next Valentino Rossi, he did come close to glory in 2012, but was beaten by eventual champion Jorge Lorenzo. Since then he has been on the decline as he never mustered a solid challenge.

These were his parting words: “I want to thank HRC [Honda Racing Corporation] for all these years of great success,” Pedrosa said. “I have grown not only as a rider but also as a person with them. I will always have HRC in my memories and in my heart. In life we all need new challenges and I feel it’s time for a change. Thanks, HRC.“

Yamaha boss Lin Jarvis meanwhile, speaking to Dorna’s Simon Crafar at Catalunya on Sunday said: “Dani’s situation is something new that has come up in the last couple of weeks. If Dani is available and keen to ride a satellite Yamaha, it would be a really positive thing and a pleasure for Yamaha.
We’ve had discussions in previous years as well, and it’s always been a curiosity in my mind. So if Dani would finally be one of the riders, I think myself and Yamaha would be happy to see that.”

Now that same constant has been evicted by the very team that saw his potential replacing him with his arch-nemesis and compatriot, Lorenzo. His future as of now remains unknown. Meanwhile, the aforementioned 3 time MotoGP champ is looking to make a comeback towards the sharper end of the field after two disappointing seasons at Ducati by his standards. His performance slump mirrors that of former Yamaha teammate Rossi when he switched to Ducati. Teammate Andrea Dovizioso, on the other hand, competed for the 2017 title, which that definitely hurt his stock and arguably his legacy.

Danilo Petrucci has been rewarded the second factory ride at Ducati after a stellar series of performances and displaying a brilliant capability to tame the Desmosedici. With Yamaha being filled out by Rossi and Vinales, this leaves Suzuki with a vacant seat besides Alex Rins, who had a brilliant year in 2017 keeping the measure of his veteran teammate. This means that Australian Jack Miller will become the number one rider at Pramac Ducati Racing.

Aprilia have now confirmed Iannone, who will leave the Hatamatsu-based Suzuki outfit to join Aprilia’s quest to MotoGP relevance. This means Scott Reading has to depart, as will Bradley Smith from the new Factory KTM team. KTM will now field Pol Espargaro who outperformed Smith, and rising star Johann Zarco. LCR Honda has a vacant seat alongside UK star Cal Crutchlow.

This was before the following sequence of events occurred. Top Satellite squad Tech3 headed by Herve Poncharal announced their switch from Yamaha to KTM, announcing Moto2 star Miguel Oliveira and Malaysian Hafiz Syahrin. “We are very happy to join forces with Tech 3 in MotoGP from 2019 onwards,” said KTM motorsport boss Pit Beirer. “The team has many years of experience and achieved a lot of great results in the championship. Their professional structure will make us stronger.“

Undoubtedly KTM have the ingredients to cause some waves in the paddock.

by Rutvik Bhaskar Perepa
Rutvik Bhaskar Perepa is a student at The University of Manchester working towards a MEng in Mechanical Engineering hoping to be on a placement after Year 3. He has had the privilege to travel around his home country, India and discover the rich heritage and diversity. His personal interests include Food and travel, history, Sport among many others. Often found in discourse on various issues ranging Engineering to Religious Practices, he never shy’s away from being expressive. He believes in being open minded, empathetic and analytical is the key to problems posed on a daily basis.

Cancelling Culture Needs to be Cancelled

Common Sense Contributors
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By Tanya Mwamuka.

Much like the fashion industry, social media and today’s modern society continue to have influxes of trends. As political correctness has seen an increased surge of controversy, platforms such as “black twitter” have allowed the flourishing of the new trend of “cancelling culture”.

For those who don’t know, cancelling culture is when a person or an organisation do something that is seen as problematic. The reaction is a group effort from ‘social justice warriors’ to “cancel” said person/organisation. The increase from coverage the scandal gains in twitter, facebook and instagram and other social media outlets results in more people retracting any support to them or their endeavours.

I myself have been a prime contestant of the game. My first cancellation began with me no longer affiliating with fashion brand H&M. This was after their debacle of a campaign where an image of a black boy dressed in a green hoodie with “coolest monkey in the jungle” printed across it was advertised for sale on their website.

The jumper that caused outrage from the public and various celebrities. Source: HM.com 

Most would agree that the pairing of the model to the garment wasn’t an intentional attempt to humiliate and marginalise an entire group. Others suggest that it was a deliberate action to gain publicity; after all any publicity is good publicity.

Nonetheless the failure of the stylist, the photographer, the editor and the marketing team to step back and think about how inappropriate and potentially offensive it was, shows a lack of care and likely reflects lack of diversity within the framework of the company. Were one of those positions held by a black person, I highly doubt they would have let that image slide without warning the team of the repercussions. Those repercussions were certainly impactful as celebrities such as G-eazy and The Weekend immediately stopped their collaborations with them.

Statement from rapper G-eazy following the release of the jumper. Source: Twitter

For the majority of us, we joined the cause by boycotting the store and on this occasion I do believe the cancellation was just. Why promote and spend my hard earned money on a brand who doesn’t take the time to consider cultural sensitivities that affect me daily.

Whilst I do think people should be held accountable for their actions, the question comes to mind how productive is cancelling as a method of improving social awareness? The culture is now turning into a witch hunt; a way of ridiculing rather than a just calling out. Could it be that cancelling culture is more damaging then it is empowering?

Most recently, TV presenter Maya Jama was under fire for the resurfacing of old tweets. These tweets contained a joke where it bashed dark skin black women. Whilst these tweets are a reflection of the trend of degrading dark skin women at the time, I and many others feel this doesn’t excuse this hurtful behaviour. Just because everyone was saying it in 2012 doesn’t give her a free pass.

Source: Twitter

Some people will suggest that cancelling Maya was a huge exaggeration but an important point made by Tolani from the Receipts Podcast was that the tweet, whilst seemingly looking like a mild joke, is part of the constant degradation this group of women face daily. Colourism is present in pretty much all communities excluding whites, but dark skin black girls have arguably been at the forefront of the butt of jokes for many years. So it is expected that many people were angered by Maya’s tweet. Perhaps working to educate and help improve people’s self awareness would be far more productive then simply cutting ties without rehabilitation. On the counter, for those offended groups they’re just too tired of trying to educate people who won’t listen.

This culture has even been spread to our personal lives. When someone in your life has wronged you, common advice steers away from working through the issue but rather cancelling them and cutting them out. Off course, disposing of toxic people out of your life makes perfect sense but this doesn’t give room for people to learn and grow. Instead of speaking to that friend explaining where they went wrong they are simply written off and what’s worse, perhaps allowed to continue that behaviour because no one spent the time to tell them where they went to wrong.

Just like any trend, we seem to cancel someone and move straight on to the next scandal. So realistically, what does all the fake outrage help? Sometimes I wonder if all the internet anger is just a way for keyboard warriors to seem “woke”. Despite the bad publicity, the public apologies and changes made by brands don’t seem permanent and are somewhat superficial. Furthermore, the world isn’t so simply divided between the self aware and the ignorant, there is a definite in between and people are always learning. Take Maya Jama for example, the tweets which are very unlikely her opinions or thoughts in present day. Like many others who have come to validate the significance of colourism, Maya has also acknowledged that the tweets from 2012 are not part of her present reality.

My verdict is that cancelling culture needs to be cancelled. I’m tired of having to cut all ties with everything. Day after day someone will do something wrong and in my opinion we need to spend more time educating rather than binning, especially if they are willing to. And for those who refuse to admit their mistakes … well goodbye to them.

 

Tanya is currently studying Biomedical Sciences at the University of Manchester and hopes to get into science journalism and media after completing her degree. She is an avid lover of fashion and travelling and enjoys learning languages in her spare time. Right now she is learning French and Spanish.

Twitter: @thisnewoldthing

Apple Watch Displays Heart Rate

Common Sense Contributors
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By Dolline Mukui.

An Apple watch could have possibly saved a man’s life.

52-year-old Kevin Pearson’s apple watch alerted him that his heart was not beating properly.

One day Pearson was sat reading a book when his heart began beating as fast as 161bpm when his watch alerted him. Despite that, he wasn’t feeling any symptoms and although doing very little, it suggested he could be having a heart attack. The watch instructed him to sit down as it measured his heart rate over the following couple of minutes and his heart rate showed an irregular pattern, rapidly increasing to as high as 135bpm then as low as 79bpm.

Mr Pearson had been taking his father to the hospital for an appointment and got the attention of a nurse and explained what had been happening with his watch. He said ‘it’s possibly just my watch that’s wrong but can you have a look?’ The doctors told him there was something wrong, possibly an arterial fibrillation where the heart beats fast and irregularly.

More needed to be done, so the doctors fitted Mr Pearson with heart rate monitors, which showed that there was something undeniably wrong and referred him to see more specialists at a local and larger hospital. They did the same thing and found that he was in the middle of what doctors call an ‘event’.

The doctors aren’t sure of what caused his unusual heart rate but same readings could have been an indication of a heart attack, blocked arteries, or something else just as serious.

Health data of heart rate on iPhone. Source: Apple.com

The Apple watch takes regular heartbeat readings and sends it to the phone meaning it can spot something out of the ordinary, and because this information was stored on his phone, Mr Pearson could share that information with his doctor.

“I felt nothing,” he said. “My initial reaction was that there might have been a problem with the Watch. I felt absolutely fine.

“Even now, if I hadn’t put my Watch on, I wouldn’t know if I was having a similar sort of event.”

His watch will keep monitoring his heart rate which will allow him to alert doctors if he has the same symptoms.

“They’re monitoring now, and I’ll let them know if it ever spikes again. The watch is set up so that it will tell me if my heart rate ever goes over 120bpm,” he said.

“I’ve used my Apple Watch for calendar events, to complete its targets by exercising, and using it to lose weight,” he said. “The heart rate wasn’t really of any particular value, and I didn’t even know it could alert you if it was too high.”

Mr Pearson is grateful that his watch saved his life and hopes that more people can be saved by not only the watch, but by partaking in studies being done with health information taken from them.

 

Dolline is an MA Broadcast Journalism graduate and an ITV Breaking into News finalist. Currently she is a voluntary co-host/contributor on show called ‘A Chat with Elle Celeste’.

Twitter: @ceraz_x

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