Author says black people are like chickens being fed into the prison industrial complex

November 19, 2013 admin Leave a comment

By: Dr. Samori Swygert

Chicken has long been an international staple in the dietary menus of many humans for centuries. Chicken provides a high source of protein in its daily nutritional value. In America, blacks have somehow been pegged with the stigma of chicken and watermelon eating folks (but we know that’s nonsense). However, if prepared correctly, this avian delicacy can play a part in a savory meal for all ethnicities in America, and yes whites are included!

However, the culinary processing of poultry is not what this article is about! There is a deeper tie in to this correlation between blacks and chicken. First, before taking offense, I challenge you to look deeper and have an honest introspective review of us as blacks in contemporary times, and the plots on our lives. The question I challenge you with is this, “Are you a chicken or an Eagle”?

Scan your local city terrain, and you will see pigeons, in parks you may see or hear the presence of owls and other birds that fly around. However, you will not see a chicken flying around the streets of L.A., Harlem, D.C., Miami, Chicago and etc. Chickens like Owls, Ravens, Eagles, Hawks, Doves, and Pigeons, have wings to fly, but you don’t see them flying. You can even go camping in your nearest forest or State Park, and you will not see a chicken flying around. Why is that?

Chickens have been mentally conditioned that they can’t fly, and/or don’t have the ability to engage in prolonged flight, or are fattened to the point that their wings can’t support their weight. Subsequently, they spend the majority of their life walking the grounds subjected to the will of their farmer. THEY HAVE BEEN DOMESTICATED! The farmer controls the farm and has constructed a chicken coop to warehouse his commodity, the chicken.

The chicken is unassuming and unassertive and relies on the farmer to provide chicken feed for its food supply. The farmer does not feed the chicken because he is nutritionally philanthropic. The farmer has goals and financial objectives for each stage of life of each chicken in his coop. The savvy farmer routinely feeds the chicken to fatten and plump it, to the maximum desirability for the consumption of his customers and profitability of his business. When the chicken is at maximum potential, it produces the highest quality and quantity of eggs and meat.

The unassuming chicken allows its offspring to be taken, processed, and sold to the market. The other plumped chickens are sold for the slaughter of wings, breast and thighs. Lastly, a select few are choicely preserved for the continuum of breeding and preservation of his business. By preserving some live chickens, he will always have production. When he slaughters or sells eggs, he will create two markets of commerce. This is quota control and inventory management. The chickens and eggs grow under a well regulated and controlled environment specifically for the financial aggrandizement of their master.

Furthermore, the female chicken is referred to as the Hen and the male chicken is the Rooster. The Rooster is known throughout the farming community for being a polygamous fowl and will have many Hens nesting at one time. The Rooster is also referred to as the, “c**k”. The farmer also will sell Roosters or breed Roosters for entertainment purposes of, “Cockfights”! This is where other Roosters fight each other and the winning owner gets paid.

Because chickens are unassuming of their ability, potential, and independence they are captured, caged and domesticated, and subsequently their whole lineage is subjected to domestication. In human terms, domestication equals incarceration and control.

Who are the customers of this farmer? The customers are now the private prison corporations, the military, careless educational systems, and other correctional facilities.

What does this American farmer feed his chickens to plump them for maximum desirability? The chicken feed is Crack-cocaine, alcohol and other designer drugs that keep us unassuming, noncompetitive, complacent, docile, and in violation of the law (fattened and prepared for prison).

Who are the Hens that watch over and control the coop? The Hens are preselected black leaders and entertainers that urge us to remain in the coop, or men that exert physical control of homes and communities, but provide no quality influence over family and community structure or future progress. We are engaged in “cockfights” as military soldiers for big government desires for global control, and domestic benefit of slave labor in prison when we kill each other.

I believe we are eagles, capable of our own freedom of flight, and keen perception of independence to feed and provide for ourselves and families. Eagles build their own nest, determine their future, and will fight to the death for their offspring. I favor the story of Rev. CL Franklin about The Eagle Stirs Her Nest. I encourage us all to be eagles and teach the power of flight to our fellow friends, and family to get off this farm. Peace!

African American Legacy

The irony behind Nelson Mandela’s hospitalization

November 19, 2013 admin Leave a comment

The Irony behind Nelson Mandela’s hospitalization

by: Dr. Samori Swygert

Nelson Mandela earned his international notoriety by boldly confronting and condemning the racist system of apartheid in South Africa. He is revered by many as a beacon of courage, fortitude, and resilience. During the mid 1940’s to the early 1990’s, the National Party, a political party comprised of Afrikaners that maintained a racist and segregationist socio-political philosophy commanded the South African government. The ideologies and philosophies were endowed to white supremacy that extended from prior Dutch colonial rule of the South African region.

Nelson Mandela was a persistent agitator that sought to dismantle this oppressive regime. He was eventually jailed as a political prisoner for his activities. Nelson Mandela earned a two-year diploma in law which enabled him to utilize his training in his pursuit to disrupt the oppressive system of apartheid. He also established the first black law firm in South Africa with an associate called Mandela and Tamblo. He was arrested several times for conducting, and participating in what would be termed “sedition”. In the system of apartheid, resources were reallocated and redistributed to enrich the privileged, and deprive the underprivileged. The racism permeated all institutions (financial, educational, political, labor, law and etc). The heads of South African apartheid regimes conducted acts of removal, where approximately 60,000 black people were forcibly moved from Johannesburg to Soweto. Black African communities were bulldozed and rebuilt to construct white communities. Laws and policies were preferentially skewed in favor of the National Party such as the Public Safety Act of 1953, where mass arrests were enforced upon nonviolent, civil disobedient protestors of apartheid. Ultimately, Nelson Mandela was arrested in 1962 and started a 27 year prison term. When released he became the first Black South African president in history. Mandela’s story is extremely compelling and complex, but there is an ironic twist to this.

In recent years Mandela has been hospitalized, discharged and readmitted for numerous physiological ailments associated to general aging, and secondary ailments associated with the harsh environmental conditions of his prison facilities. He’s battled prostate complications, pneumonia, and other pulmonary illnesses. This week he has been readmitted to Pretoria Hospital in South Africa, and listed in a “serious but stable” condition. What is significant and ironic about this prominent leader staying at Pretoria Hospital?

Historically speaking, the majority of South Africa was once inhabited and controlled by the famous Zulu Tribe. During the 1800’s, a group of Dutch emigrants called the Voortrekkers from the Cape Colony traveled into the South African region controlled by the Zulus. The Voortrekkers tried to arrange a geographical settlement between themselves and the Zulus. The supposed agreement deteriorated and resulted in the Zulus killing approximately half of the Voortrekkers. The remaining Voortrekkers that were focused on conquest engaged in a retaliatory strategy against the highly skilled Zulu warriors. The emigrant Dutch resurfaced with superior weaponry, guns! They literally circled their wagons and had a 2-3 man reloading system, and when the Zulus approached with spears and other subpar weapons, approximately 15,000 Zulus were slaughtered and only 3 Voortrekkers were injured. This was known as, The Battle of Blood River. Subsequently, the descendents of the Voortrekker lineage have maintained power and control over South Africa ever since. The National Party had genealogical and philosophical heritage directly linked to the Voortrekkers. The leader of the Voortrekker assault on the Zulus at The Battle of Blood River was named, Andries Pretorius. There is a whole region of South Africa named Pretoria after the Voortrekker general, and so is the hospital that Nelson Mandela is currently staying. The same bloodline that usurped and commandeered the South African region from the Zulus started the system of apartheid. This is the very same system Mandela fought against, and now at the tender age of 94 his health is in the hands of healthcare practitioners in the hospital named after the patriarchal leader of this oppressive regime. If you would like more info on this topic, I encourage readers to buy the book or watch the documentary entitled: Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond. He clearly explains the timeline of events and historical perspectives.

Socio-Cultural Commentary

Genesis 3:9 –ADAM WHERE ART THOU? ( A Father’s Day question)

November 18, 2013 admin Leave a comment

By Dr. Samori Swygert

As Father’s Day approaches, I pondered about this question God asked Adam in the Garden of Eden. I feel this is an apropos question during these times. We’ve grown accustomed to news reports and police briefings about children that have been kidnapped and/or abducted. Local and statewide authorities will typically issue an Amber Alert to the public to make citizens aware of the abduction. What happens when the parents blatantly disregard their offspring and abandon their children?

Many parents have surrendered, forfeited, neglected, and purposefully defaulted on their call to duty of parenting. There is an alarming trend of parents in both genders that have chosen the AWOL and MIA pill. However, the child is left to swallow and experience the side effects of their parents’ choice. The irony of this scenario is this, as humans we struggle to prove independence, maturity, and adulthood. We walk around the city, workplace, neighborhood, and demand respect from strangers, colleagues, friends and family, but yet some of us aren’t performing the duties worthy of the title of man, woman, father, and mother.

The terminology of man and woman is often distinguished from boy and girl by age, physical maturation, and more importantly, ownership of responsibilities. Have we morphed into a society that condones adult s*x, but reneges and relinquishes responsibility, when it comes to caring for the life created from our own tissue that didn’t volunteer to be here?

There are understandable explanations at times, but there are also unacceptable excuses. Some parents may be subjected to violent spousal abuse, and this can be both physical and psychological. I wouldn’t encourage anybody to remain in a violent and volatile environment where their psychological hygiene and physical being are at risk of destruction.

However, there are derelictions of duty on the premises of selfishness, laziness, fear, incompatibility, anger, finance, new romantic interests, and a myriad of other excuses. Excuses are easily exposed by a simple question from the child to the parent in question. Why did you leave me? If the answer revolves around the prior list, then you probably made an excuse for a dereliction of duty. It is understandable, and real that some people are just not meant to be together, however it is not a get out of parenting free card.

When parents agree to terminate the relationship, they should fortify the plans for consistent involvement in the child’s life. Many children are left to the streets and unpredictable acquaintances of their surrogate guardians. Many kids today grow up in an environment where the mother is the TV, the father is the computer, the sister is the cell phone, the brother is the radio, and the grandparents are the streets.

These precarious familial structures often result in social tragedy and mental instability for many youth today. There is often no concrete accountability to the child, and at any given moment the streets and the new interim guardian can turn their back on the child, and leave the child feeling betrayed and broken hearted. This domestic dynamic is occurring in several homes in many communities across America.

However, on a more positive note, this domestic quagmire can be fixed and repaired. When these situations arise, the child must become top priority. Children are our seeds, and seeds need watering to grow. Both parents must put aside any and all excuses, accept reality and hydrate the child with the love it deserves. A flower will not grow by one glass of water once a week in the face of sunshine.

The sun will eventually dehydrate the flower, and too much water without sunshine will drown the flower. A proper balance of sunlight and water must be applied for proper cultivation.

This metaphor exemplifies the mandatory balance of both parent’s influence in the child’s life. Parents should exhaust every effort to provide the child with the love of a parent or stepparent without confusing it with the desires, expectations, animosity and resentment of a love once enjoyed, but currently defunct. A good relationship with your child’s mother is not a prerequisite to caring for your child, and caring for your child should not be contingent upon the mother being with you.

There are many good, strong black men that are actively fathering in a two parent household. There also men that are separated from the mother of their child, but still handle their fatherly responsibilities with diligence. Kudos and accolades should be granted to these men during this upcoming holiday. HAPPY FATHER’S DAY TO THE MEN THAT ARE FATHERS! However, to the transient male that has produced a child, Genesis 3:9 has a question for you to answer. Adam where art thou?

Science & Technology

Rise of the new police state: Predictive Policing in effect!

November 18, 2013 admin Leave a comment

By: Dr. Samori Swygert

We are at the dawn of a new era in law enforcement. There is an expansive and proliferating trend that grants unprecedented authorities and capabilities to our police. This year we’ve witnessed the supreme court ruling, that authorizes cops to take and warehouse the DNA of individuals that have been arrested (more so for “serious crimes”) in a database.

We’ve seen the re-implementation of STOP and FRISK policing on the public. We’ve seen the New York State Senate pass a bill that Okays the arrest of a citizen that annoys, and even harasses a cop, with a punishment of up to 4 years in jail and a felony conviction on their criminal record.

I posted an article that discussed how a new gunshot recognition system records the video, photo, biometric facial scan, and audio of individuals once a shot is fired in the city. We’ve seen the use of license plate scanners mounted on police patrol cars to identify the status of the car, and identify the respected driver.

Police departments across the country have now added a new tool in their crime fighting efforts. This is called PREDICTIVE POLICING, and the company developing the program is known as PredPol. This system is currently in use in California, Washington, South Carolina, Arizona, Tennessee, Illinois, and even the United Kingdom.

The system is data driven, and uses the information from prior crimes, and current crimes. The company has specific modeling algorithms that compiles: date, time, type of crime, geographic location and other data parameters. Statistical analysis allows the system to generate the probability of a certain type of crime in a specific location and time. These locations and time stamps are referred to as HOTSPOTS. The hotspots are then marked on maps of the city for police to patrol and do reconnaissance work if they are not involved in an active pursuit.

Many police departments like the system because it grants a virtual or real time circumstance where they can exercise proactive interventions of criminal activity. The software is accessible on their cellphones and laptops. Pete Cribbin, Assistant Chief of Tacoma, Washington Police Department, was quoted as saying “we have had several successes of catching the offender ‘red-handed’ and making arrests.” The police departments like the PredPol system also because it conserves monetary resources. They’ve not had to hire more officers and waste time on general patrols, because they have hotspots and projected potential crime scenes based on data analytics.

My Thoughts

This seems a bit like the movie Minority Report to me, where you are almost anticipating and forecasting behavior. I understand data driven software models, but this seems a bit much! The articles I read said that the developer did not design this to profile individuals. However, I have numerous questions. Who inputs the data? How do you remove or compensate for bias or prejudice of the data user? Won’t you eventually develop a profile if you implement this in Hotspot? For instance, if you set this up in a highly populated African American community that is plagued with unemployment, drugs, and crime, won’t you eventually say that police should look for a black male, on this date and time,. And find someone that fits the description a computer generated? They just have to add race to their parameter (I’m sure they have, but just haven’t disclosed it in the articles I’ve read), and you will have a racially based system of patrol. This can turn unwitting innocent citizens into potential suspects by just being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

This really makes me believe that this is tied to a guaranteed 90% occupancy of private prisons. The police departments and states can furnish this data, and crime statistics to bolster their support for the construction of more private prisons. When you can predict, forecast, anticipate, and project crimes that have yet to crystallize, you are walking on thin ice. The system can generate the hotspot, but when the officer arrives and encounters a potential suspect, the imperfect human factor gets introduced into the equation, and that’s the wild card! Thus, we must also factor in several components such as: police and community relations, race relations, financial incentives, influence of elicit and illegal drugs or alcohol in the patrolmen, dirty cops, quotas, and the psychological state/condition of the officer on duty. We can find ourselves in a situation where officers are trying to make arrests to fit the data generated by the system, or “make the ends justify the means”! This can result in thousands of Trayvon Martins, Sean Bells, and Amadou Diallos (innocent men targeted).

There are also things that the system can’t account for such as: people’s morals, values, ethics, religious principles, moments of clarity, character, and standards that may abort an individual’s involvement in a crime.

So in closing, we have STOP and FRISK, DNA extraction, Felony for harassment, Real Time gunshot audio, video, photo, and facial scan technology, license plate scanners, the NDAA, and now predictive policing under our law enforcement umbrella. This seems like the rise of the new state of the art American Police State to me. The strategies above seem to provide safety benefits, but they also have a duality of potential perversion and abuse of authority that was unaccounted for and not calculated into the system. We should definitely keep an eye on this, and query our local police departments and city council if they plan on implementing this. Okay be blessed!!! Next article………..TATTOO DATABASES

REFERENCES

Science & Technology

Dr. Samori Swygert: Will you be jobless in 2 years?

November 18, 2013 admin Leave a comment

By: Dr. Samori Swygert

We are being replaced by technology. The creations and innovations that bring us tremendous convenience and speed are reducing human utility into obsolescence. Automation, digitization, robotics, and software engineering are replacing humans at lightening speed.

The news outlets routinely report and forecast the unemployment rate. We are also familiarized with the influx of immigrants, and competition with foreigners in this global economy. However, we must address our silent competitor, TECHNOLOGY!

First, it’s important to understand that owners and employers don’t create jobs as a moral obligation to society. Owners and CEOs only hire because an employee is an essential liability to produce their products or operate the services they provide. Owners would be exuberantly thrilled if they could keep the money spent on payroll as revenue and profit! I’m going to share the impetus and reasons why employers are addicted to this downsizing and phasing out of human capital.

Why use technology over humans?

Robots, machines, software, and automation don’t require scheduled lunch breaks. Employers don’t have to worry about holiday schedules or holiday pay. Job productivity is easily predictable, uniformed, measured, consistent, and non-emotional. Theft and employee shrinkage is a nonissue with an inanimate object. Computers can get viruses, but employers don’t have to worry about pregnancy and maternity leave. Attendance is a nonissue because all equipment is onsite 24/7, and this eliminates call-ins, and tardiness.

Moreover, employers are not responsible for provision of health insurance, supplemental life insurance for the employee, and their family. Robots, software and the like, don’t get injured, and thus this relinquishes any responsibility of the employer in worker’s compensation cases. Employers are not bogged down in battles between labor unions, because the employer’s workforce is not based on human resources.

Furthermore, with the use of technology employers eliminate the issues of whistleblowers, insubordination, workplace violence, and s****l harassment. Technology also reduces the legal risks of the employment process for owners, because it eliminates religious, racial, gender, and age discrimination lawsuits.

Oh, I almost forgot, all the payroll money is converted to revenue, or small time insurance/warranty policies that pale in comparison to the cost of a fulltime employee. Technology is void of emotions and is programmed for precise algorithms and protocols of production. Technology lacks poor habits, and is easily upgradable and updated seamlessly.

Samori show me the proof!

This transition of culture in the work environment is happening as I type. Think of the following cases. Blockbuster video used to hire human employees, and now we rent from a Redbox, Netflix, or download our movies. We used to book vacations using a travel agent, and now we use Travelocity or the plethora of online travel sites. Grocery store cashiers have been replaced with automated express checkout lanes. The surge in ATMs starts reducing the need for bank tellers. Courtroom stenographers can be easily replaced by voice to text software like Dragon. Secretaries are now in the palm of executive’s hands with a smartphone, because they have calendars, schedules, alarms and contacts at the tap of the screen. When we call the businesses that we have an account with, we typically get an automated greeting, and the Rosetta Stone assisted language of choice if you press a specific number.

Allow me to be more current, and in depth with the illustration of my argument, consider these developments. What is the use of the Airforce or pilots if we now have drones? Furthermore, the United Nations is currently petitioning countries to stop making robot soldiers (yes they have robot soldiers).1 Bars, lounges, and restaurants are now ushering in robot bartenders (so long to the cute bartender with the good convo fellas, unless you like Computer Love).2 MIT’s technology review reported how Toyota is currently developing robotic nurses.3 Forbes magazine produced an article in November 2012 that detailed how driverless trucks are being used in mining and other transportation endeavors.4 How will this affect the vast number of human truckers, bus drivers, cabs, limo drivers, and train conductors in America? DARPA is under The Department of Defense (DoD), and has created so many mind blowing robotic innovations that you have to ponder your job security. Will we literally evolve into the “Hunger Games”, where our only use is the shear entertainment of the wealthy in the years to come?

I say develop laser like focus on the needs, wants, and demands of society, become your own boss. Acquire resources now, and create an independent impenetrable network of like minded individuals to facilitate some sort of sustainability in our communities. Develop our own systems of commerce, trade, and production. Corporate greed is not concerned about the implications and ramifications of human substitution.

References

1.http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/31/world/europe/united-nations-armed-robots.html?_r=1&

2.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/01/monsieur-drink-robot_n_4017095.html

3.http://www.technologyreview.com/view/426090/meet-toyotas-robotic-nurses/

4.http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2012/11/26/dont-tell-the-teamsters-but-driverless-trucks-are-already-here/

5.http://www.darpa.mil/our_work/tto/programs/darpa_robotics_challenge.aspx

Health and Fitness

Life and death is in the tongue [Part 1]

November 18, 2013 admin Leave a comment

By Dr. Samori Swygert

We are being marked for deαth. Currently, we are engaged in a nutritional, chemical, and environmental war on our bodies. As consumers we are targeted by profit driven competitors in the food industry. This is the battle of WEALTH vs HEALTH! I highly encourage you to read this top to bottom and share with friends and family.

The quality and source of our food supply is being compromised by environmental pollutants that result from oil spills (BP, Exxon), nuclear radiation leaks (Fukushima Reactor), Fracking (hydraulic fracturing), by products of industrial manufacturing, and other environmental manipulation.

Furthermore, our dietary consumption has become inundated with steroids, antibiotics, pesticides, and genetically modified organisms (GMO). The food industry, FDA, and Biotech industry has morphed into an almost clandestine triad with fraternity like partnerships. Each component supports the others at the ignorance of the consumer.

Our babies, children, and ourselves are consuming food that has been adulterated with artificial sweeteners, preservatives, dyes, additives and other ingredients. When you read the ingredients of a food product, it almost sounds like you are reading the back label of a hair care product. We then wonder why we are experiencing and witnessing such high rates of cancer, endocrine disorders, and cardiovascular disease.

Let’s Get Specific

The availability and accessibility to grocery stores with an adequate supply of nutritious and organic produce at affordable prices are sparse to scarce in low income communities. However, a ubiquitous and ever-present covenant of fast-food chains are standard fixtures in middle to low income communities. The usual suspects (KFC, McDonald’s, Burger King, Taco Bell, Popeye’s, Pizza Hut, and etc), can all be found within a 1 mile radius of each other in low income landscapes. The main menu items are processed foods that are loaded with salt, sugar, fat, cholesterol, and cooked in grease. However, their products are strategically formulated, tested, and streamlined to the desirability of our taste buds.

You may be dismissive of this, but I encourage you to think of the cumulative amount of diseases and ailments over time. Individuals in middle to low income communities with fast-food chains in close proximity to their homes have a high incidence rate of strokes, heart attacks, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, high cholesterol, kidney disease, and obesity.

The Veil of Secrecy

It has become fashionable for companies and governmental agencies to say, “we are about transparency now”! Our health institutions encourage us to always, “know your status“, “be informed”, “get tested”, “ask your doctor”, but their actions are paradoxical. The FDA, congress, and food industry has yielded and pandered to biotech firm money.

These firms have lobbied, and encouraged the suppression of labeling GMO based foods. This removes the ability of the consumer to make an independent, well informed decision about their health. The FDA says that GMO foods are safe for consumption, but has yet to furnish any long-term study results to substantiate their position. How can you say these products are safe, and you have no 5, 10, 20 years studies on humans that consumed GMO over an extended period of observation?

Some of the biotech and fast-food companies use food industry sponsored researchers to conduct studies, and this introduces biased results that are skewed in favor of the companies. This type of research also leads to the censoring of negative results.

Members of congress quietly allowed passage of the Monsanto Protection Act into legislation. Why are they conducting policy and operations in such a clandestine, insidious, and surreptitious manner? WHERE IS THE TRANSPARENCY THAT YOU PROMISE? If you will not afford the public the opportunity to make informed dietary choices, and indirectly force these foods on us by not labeling them, then we all need free health insurance for life! We don’t know what the long term effects will be, and we should not have to pay a dime for any ailment linked to these foods in the future.

Real Talk!

To my Muslim and Jewish readers, are you aware that the citrus industry is in the process of making GMO oranges, and they are going to either use the genes from spinach or the pig to modify the orange? Will they be transparent about this on the labeling? The engineers believe that splicing these pig genes into the current genome of oranges will help combat the Citrus Psyllid disease that has ravaged the Florida Orange Groves.

To my seafood lovers, a company named Aqua Bounty is in the process of gaining approval from the FDA to market and sell genetically engineered Salmon. Furthermore, Fracking spill-off in a Kentucky stream has killed off a whole line of fish according to a U.S. Geological Survey and Fish /Wildlife Services.

To my sweet toothr’s and diabetics, high amounts of sugar, corn syrup, and fructose load our sodas, soft drinks, milkshakes, and candy. Are you aware that research has found that the main energy source for the growth of cancerous tumors is glucose? The growth of cancer malignancies may be linked to excessive sugar intake in our diets.

To my water lovers, we must be conscious at all times. We are in a climate when a prescription is generated for anything. There has been a surge in the diagnosis, and prescriptions for ADHD medication in our children. However, are you aware that the consumption of lead, even in small amounts, manifests the exact same symptoms of ADHD. It is quite possible that lead paint, and plumbing that our children drink and bathe in can be causing ADHD symptoms, but our children are just victims of a toxic and polluted environment.

To my chicken and fried rice lovers, Arsenic has been found in vast amounts of rice supplies and the chicken line of our poultry chain. The FDA and other food regulatory agencies choose to take a cavalier dismissive approach about the levels in the food. I would like people to remember that these are chemicals and should not be present. It would only be right to try and downplay the issues to avoid public hysteria, and massive amounts of litigation in court cases. Arsenic is a cancer causing agent.

This will conclude Part 1 of Life and Deαth in the Tongue. I will post part 2 later this week. I will illuminate more environmental and corporate assaults on our health and how others are profiting off our planned misfortune and disinformation. Until then, be safe, and choose to be healthy, God Bless!

Health and Fitness

Life and Death is in the tongue: [Part 2]

November 18, 2013 admin Leave a comment

By: Dr. Samori Swygert

This week I wrote a post detailing the various ways in which our health is under attack by profit driven corporations. I encourage you to read part 1. Let’s jump right into the final part.

What’s at stake/or at “steak”?

Two pharmaceutical classes of drugs are being introduced into our dietary consumption (antibiotics and hormones). The regulation appears to be insufficient. Have you noticed the recurrent meat recalls? Do you question the logistics behind the cause?

Think of all the farms that raise cattle, hogs, chicken, and etc. These are just farmers, they are not doctors! However, farmers are dosing our meat supply with antibiotics. As a healthcare practitioner, I understand how diseases are assessed, and how antibiotics are prescribed. A patient will enter the hospital, and may receive a prophylactic dose of antibiotics (ABX). However, if the patient is fully admitted, the M.D. will order blοod and sputum cultures to find out what specific infection the patient has, and what drugs the organism is susceptible or resistant to.

Does each farm in the United States have an onsite veterinarian that assesses each and every animal, and prescribe the appropriate drug for each specific infection? The answer is no! Nationally, we have farmers untrained in the medical field that may be giving animals inappropriate drugs for infections.

August 2013, NPR did an interview with doctors from the University of Minnesota, and researchers at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State University.¹They confirmed that there is overuse of antibiotics with no true oversight. They revealed that the FDA only releases an annual report of how many types of antibiotics are sold to animal farms. However, that doesn’t reveal how much is used, or if the drugs are given at the right dose per animal, or if it is for the right infection. Imagine being given Penicillin to treat HIV! This is contributing to drug resistant bacteria in our food supply.

The researchers said the agricultural and pharmaceutical industry don’t think this is causing harm to humans. Well, in July 2013 there was 50,000 pounds of beef recalled due to E. Coli contamination by National Beef Packing Company, and this same company recalled 23,000 pounds of beef in June 2013 for E. Coli contamination.²

Furthermore, the beef industry has been adding a pharmaceutical class of drugs to beef called, Beta-Agonists. This drug is used in humans to treat asthma, but in cattle it’s shown to add 15-30 pounds of beef in the last phase of fattening (~3 weeks). However, Guy Loneragan, a professor of food safety and public health at Texas Tech University, revealed data at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association proving that the cattle receiving this drug are dying faster than the cattle that weren’t .³The drug maker, Merck, still thinks that the drug is safe.

Too Chicken to talk about this!

Just a few days ago, Foster Farms has come under tremendous scrutiny because 300 people in 17 states got sick from a multidrug resistant strain of Salmonella bacteria. Three of their processing plants are under investigation, and being evaluated by the CDC. However, according to an article by Consumer Reports, the company expressed that the chicken should just be cooked well, and they have not officially declared a recall!⁴

You’re not “slick”!

NPR published an article in August 2013, which detailed how the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has allowed oil companies to dump their oil waste in the Wind River of on an Indian Reservation in Wyoming.⁵A tribal leader, Wes Martel, had a legitimate point. He basically pondered the legitimacy of this, because this runoff goes into the drinking water, land irrigation, cattle feed, and aquatic wildlife of their reservation. Rob Jackson, a professor of environmental science at Duke University, assessed the situation and revealed that this runoff is contaminated. The samples he evaluated contained metals, radioactive elements like radium, and benzene. He also stated that the levels have been “150 times of that allowed for drinking water”.⁵

Tying it all together!

Corporate industries have very little regard for our heαlth, and are willing to cμt corners, cheat, cover-up, and deceive us just to get a buck! We are being victimized by a cabal of industries, and it all starts from our taste buds! I believe 7 industries are profiteering from our taste buds.

Prolonged consumption of fast-food or contaminated food will eventually result in hospitalization. This will occur by food poisoning, heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, hypertension, obesity, or cholesterol. The Kaiser foundation stated that the average hospital admission costs up to $14,662, and up to $27,100 for surgical admissions.⁶ The food industry gets their cμt first, then the healthcare industry gets a c*t due to hospitalization (diagnostics, admissions, surgeries). Next, the doctor prescribes medication, and thus the pharmaceutical industry gets a c*t. Let’s not forget the pharmaceutical industry gets paid twice from the antibiotics and hormones they sell to farmers! The insurance industry then gets a cμt, because we become a high risk policy holder due to our diseases. They then sell us high insurance premiums. The diet and fitness industry then takes a cμt, because we must have a lifestyle change. This lifestyle change makes billions from Atkins, South Beach, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Slim Fast and etc. The fitness component gets a cμt through the latest workout DVDs like: P90x, Hip Hop abs, Insanity, Tae-Bo, or even fitness equipment like the Ab-Roller, Total Gym, or Nordic Track. The clothing industry gets a c*t by selling the sneakers, sweat suits, fitness apparel, and even the new wardrobe as our weight fluctuates. Lastly, the TV industry makes off like a fat rat, because it costs millions just to have a 90 second commercial or infomercial.

Lastly, don’t be fooled when certain government agencies and biotech companies tell you that certain foods are okay and safe. Think for yourself and be logical. Watch this YouTube link about Camel Cigarettes from 60 years ago, and see how they had doctors telling us smoking was okay and preferred by them. YouTube link

References

http://n.pr/19DksYA
http://huff.to/17svu1V
http://n.pr/16dTvcb
http://bit.ly/1bJnFgQ
http://n.pr/19Os7cj
http://bit.ly/KV7TQg

Science & Technology

Genetically Modified Babies: Is man playing God?

November 18, 2013 admin Leave a comment

By: Dr. Samori Swygert

We’ve arrived at a benchmark in our science and technological advances. The scientific community has already mapped and sequenced the entire human genome. This allows for breakthrough cures, remedies, and treatments. Stem cell research and gene therapy is giving individuals with life threatening conditions another chance at a healthy and fruitful life.

However, with each new discovery comes the potential for corruption, and perversion of an initially noble motive. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted a California based company a patent for a technique that allows them to specifically target and select gene traits for babies.¹

The author, Gau Tam Naik, explained that the company, 23andME, will be able to select genes for hair color, eye color, and etc. The potential donor of an egg or sperm can be screened for any genetic abnormalities, and predisposed genes. This was already being performed in fertility clinics but on a more nonscientific basis. Potential parents could preview profiles of donors and make choices based off info supplied to their profile, but they never had the donor’s full genetic sequence! This new patented technique will screen out individuals with undesirable traits. This gives potential parents choices on both disease related traits, and cosmetic non-disease traits.

According to the article, Catherine Afarian, a spokeswoman for the company, indicated that cosmetic trait selection is not the premise for this patented technique. However, even though that is not the intention, the patent approval is there and this can be practiced in the future, legally.

Positive Implications

As a healthcare practitioner that sees critically ill patients on a routine basis, I understand the role and importance in genetic testing and engineering. Many patients and an overwhelming demographic of the U.S. population suffer from genetic diseases such as: Down Syndrome, Sickle Cell Anemia, Huntington’s Disease, Cystic Fibrosis (CFTR gene), Breast Cancer (HER2 gene), and specific Diabetes types. These advances can save many lives, and prevent many diseases if implemented and utilized appropriately. This can save money, cμt health insurance premiums, and give a peace of mind to parents.

My Concerns

Several concerns come into play when I think about the potential perversion of such a powerful scientific capability. I think of this wave of obsession with Botox lip injections, Breast Augmentation, Gluteal (Bμtt) Implants, and the physical and psychological impact on individuals. I think of eugenics and Hitler’s Nazι experimentations to breed a so called “superior race”. I think of the silly recurrent debates of light skin versus dark skin, “good hair” and “bad hair”. How will this affect our love relationships and marriages when it comes to family planning?

This reminds me of a novel I read by Aldous Huxley called, Brave New World, and individuals were no longer being born, but bread in lab and assigned to a particular social class based on genetic superiority or inferiority that was predetermined by the ruling class.

Moreover, as science continues to progress, the potential to gain an advantage comes into play if more discoveries of intellectual and physical traits can be illuminated. Based on the current financial predicament, those that have adequate finances to use this service may have a “one up” on individuals that can’t afford to get the appropriate genetic remedy, and once again, poorer children would suffer unnecessary health conditions based off the lack of money.

I think of ethnic cleansing, and the current climate, and racial tension in America today. WE HAVE A SEVERE RACE PROBLEM THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SOLVED, AND PEOPLE ARE SCARED AND UNWILLING TO MATURELY AND PUBLICLY ADDRESS IT. I feel this denial, and avoidance to have a mature public discourse on the resolution of racism in America will be the main downfall of our nation.

The article also says that “a patient would first specify certain traits that he or she wants in a child, and based on the patient’s own genetic profile, a computerized system then performs inheritance calculations pertaining to the traits of interest and identifies one or more preferred donors for the recipient”.

I think this concept applied with the specific medical purpose of disease management has a place, but I also fervently believe that strict and stringent governance, guidelines, reviews, and audits should be routinely enforced to restrict abuse of this power.

What are your thoughts on this? Please read the article by visiting the link below. God Bless, and have a wonderful day!!

Reference: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303492504579113293429460678

Business & Financial News

The reason companies are trying to buy up Detroit and Your Home Too

November 18, 2013 admin Leave a comment

By: Dr. Samori Swygert

This week, an article was posted on YOURBLACKWORLD.NET, about an African American homeowner that lost his home due to unpaid property taxes.⁹ Investors are buying tax liens and obtaining ownership of residential properties nationwide. This strategy is very disheartening to the unfortunate homeowners that may not be able to afford to pay their taxes for whatever reason. This is compounded when we factor in urban renewal, gentrification, and gerrymandering of political districts.

There are hedge-funds, and private equity firms that are buying these properties by the bulk! Their goal is to purchase as many homes possible, and turn them into single family rental homes. These companies are not looking to sell the homes. These firms are maintaining ownership and keeping them as rental assets.¹

What does this mean? This means there will be fewer residential properties available for you to purchase. Land and homes are tools that generate wealth, because you can rent them as they are, also the monies you pay in mortgage go to actually owning property. Renters can pay monthly rent and when the lease is up, you own zero. Houses, land, and estates can be transferred to generations to manage, expand, use as collateral for investments, and convert into home businesses.

You can grow trees and plants, but you can’t grow earth, and this is the dilemma of the haves and the have nots.

Who are the players?

The largest private equity firm, The Blackstone Group (owners of the Hilton Hotel chain), Colony Capital LLC, Cerebrus Capital Management, Oaktree Capital Group LLC, KKR &Co, GTIS partners, Och-Ziff Capital Management LLC, and Waypoint Real Estate Group LLC are the main players in this game of real life Monopoly.^1,3,4,5,8 However, there are small investment groups and individual investors that are participating in this “LAND GRAB”. The head of The Blackstone Group, Stephen Schwarzman, is a heavy donor to Republican Superpacs.

What are they doing?

During the housing crisis, so many single family homes went into default, foreclosures, and homeowners went into bankruptcy. Communities across America were decimated when the housing market crashed. Many homeowners had to perform short-sales to try and salvage any piece of investment and dignity of homeownership. Many just walked away from their homes. Now private equity firms such as Blackstone are buying all these foreclosed homes and tax delinquent residences by the bulk.³ The aims of these firms are to own the property, and strictly rent them to single families. The Blackstone Group has been purchasing through foreclosure auctions, short sales and cash in hand buyouts from smaller local real estate companies.^1,2,7

What are the facts and figures?

According to an article in Bloomberg News, Blackstone has spent more than $2.5 billion on 16,000 homes to manage as rentals from $13.3 billion it raised last year. Blackstone already owns $1 billion worth of homes in October 2012, and Blackstone chairman Stephen Schwarzman said that the company is spending $100 million a week on houses.¹ The conversion of private property to single family rental homes is projected to be approximately a $3 Trillion market.⁷ Blackstone is currently the largest investor of single family homes for rent in the following 9 markets: Chicago, Northern and Southern California, Detroit, Miami, Tampa, Phoenix, Atlanta, and Las Vegas.^1,3 Blackstone is also leveraging their strategy by getting a $600 million dollar line of credit from the Deutsche Bank.^1,3To understand how strong Blackstone’s money is, they acquired Sam Zell’s Equity Office Properties Trust for $39 billion including assumed debt.¹A report by Keefe Bruyette & Woods, says that $ 6 to 8 Billion dollars can buy 40,000 to 80,000 properties.³

DETROIT, MICHIGAN is the bulls-eye, and ground zero for these investors, and the individual investor. The following case studies were published in a Bloomberg News article.² A 32 year old man, Peter Grosso purchased 29 Detroit homes for $90,000. Nate Heaps, a 32 year old investor purchased 290 Detroit properties for $189,600. Sameer Beydoun, 33 years old, purchased 1,000 Detroit properties for approximately $5 Million with his investment group. Jasmine Mc Morris purchased 332 Detroit homes and paid an average $2,500 per property and sells them to larger real estate investors. There are even investors from England, Cambodia, China, and Australia that are buying into the market.²

I would like to inform our audience that there is a formal blueprint for Detroit that these investors are acting off of. The name of the blueprint is Detroit Future City; this is a 50 year plan to bring Detroit back to recovery.^2,6 The plan is to have green space and farms, and is assuming the Detroit population will drop to 615,000.²

Take Home Message

All individuals that own property need to keep their property. We as African Americans need to practice group economics and purchase this land like Dr. Claud Anderson says.¹⁰ We need to talk with our parents and grandparents and make sure all taxes are paid. Parents don’t buy your son or daughter a car for graduation; purchase them some of these properties to own. Lastly, we need to B.M.F., and not drug deal, but, B.M.F. (Buy. More. Foreclosures). By owning these properties we can actually help struggling families regain wealth buy selling them at a fair market price, as opposed to just a system of rental Feudalism.

References

Science & Technology

Dr. Samori Swygert: Asteroid has so much gold that it’s worth $20 Trillion Dollars!!

November 18, 2013 admin Leave a comment

By: Dr. Samori Swygert

I’m very passionate about sharing knowledge with people. I fervently believe knowledge should be shared and not hoarded for personal gain. I would like to share some info about Gold that many of you may not be aware of. There is Gold in space, and tons of it!

Have you ever wondered what NASA does in space? We routinely hear how a new shuttle has launched into space off of Cape Canaveral, and later we welcome it back to earth to much fanfare for a safe return. The news outlets never really go into depth about what they discovered in space. Yes we understand that they have built spacestations, there may be life on Mars, new planets have appeared in our galaxy, but that is typically the extent. What they don’t fully disclose, but you have to research, is the amount of wealth this country and others are competing for, a literal STARS WARS.

What’s it worth in $?

The United States is no longer focused solely on “their GOD” (Gold. Oil. Diamonds). These material items are not my GOD. However, the United States is “Asteroid Mining”. According to an article from the BBC, an asteroid named, Eros, has been noted to contain 20,000 million Tonnes of Aluminum, and equal amounts of Gold, and Platinum. This data that I’m reporting is old news to the space community, because that article was published July 22, 1999. The asteroid itself is quoted to be worth $20,000bn. Yes the numbers, commas, and units of monetization are correct; please view the original article at your leisure from reference number one.¹ Scientists report that an asteroid less than a mile in diameter could be worth $20 Trillion dollars, because of the precious and industry metals within it.² Brent Spiner reported to Forbes Magazine, that there approximately 9,000 asteroids in Earth’s vicinity that are available for mining.³

Who are the players?

Many billionaires and privately owned mining firms are jumping into these unbelievable expeditions. A few of these companies are: Space X, Planetary Resources, and Deep Space Industries. Google executive Larry Paige and ex-presidential candidate Ross Perot have even invested with the company, Planetary Resources.^4,5 The precious metals are not the only things these aerospace explorers and investors are interested in. The companies are also using crowd funding as methods of fundraising for their endeavors. Many of these asteroids contain copious amounts of hydrogen and oxygen. This reservoir of these elements expands the possibility of water resources for fueling and other uses.^4,5 Deep Space Industries already have two spacecrafts ready for launching and mining called, The Dragonfly and The Firefly.⁶ These companies and executives are set to become the new Vanderbilts, Fords, Rockerfellers, Carnegies, and Morgans of the space frontier.

The take home message

These companies have imagined, studied, planned, and are now executing their plots. As blacks, I see no reason why this should be an exclusive domain to a few. Based on this information, I think we should definitely encourage our children to become active competitors and participants in this field. We already had Dr. Mae Jemison (a black female medical doctor and astronaut). Also, these can be good investment opportunities for those that have the money or practice group economics. Lastly, this is motivation to think BIG, and don’t think anything is impossible. There are other links you can access to read up on this, and view some videos.^7,8Be blessed, motivated and share the knowledge. God Bless!

References