Contemporary gun control concerns: Part 2

The ignored gun control conversation: Part 2

(Click here to read Part 1 of this discussion)

by: Dr. Samori Swygert

We are not addressing the real issue when it comes to gun control legislation.  We are failing to conduct a thorough root-cause analysis of American violence.  Why are so many people growing frustrated, and choosing to lash out in acts of MASS VIOLENCE on innocent citizens?  That is the proper and appropriate question.

Many believe that disarming citizens is the answer, but this is far from the truth.  There’s a myriad of methods that sick sinister individuals may exact their vengeance on innocent American citizens.  Let’s examine this quickly: 1) A man got frustrated in California and plowed his car through a crowd of people at a Venice Beach festivity — he mowed down scores of party goers and killed some of them.  2) We’re familiar with Ted Kaczynski who was sending off mail explosives.  3) We saw Timothy McVeigh conduct the Oklahoma City Bombing.  4) What about the Olympic Park and Boston Marathon bombings?  5) We had the one sicko that was mailing poison to state officials.  6) There was a knife attack at a daycare.  7) A Georgetown University student was recently caught for making the deadly chemical Ricin in his dorm. 8) Do you remember the Sarin gas attack in the Chinese subway station? [Note: I haven’t even mentioned arson, and food poisonings.]

So with that said, are they going to ban cars, gasoline, knives, envelopes, etc.?

Furthermore, how are we going to defend ourselves against a home invasion with a seven shot gun clip?  The legislators that make these laws act like they have successfully fended off each and every home invasion personally with seven bullets.  When home invasions occur, it typically involves multiple intruders that are sufficiently armed.  Seven shots won’t cut it, and this is why cops don’t carry a seven shot gun clip.  I mean you don’t need a bazooka but let’s be sensible.

Let’s keep it real

What is the game plan to account for guns that are already in circulation, unregistered, and buried in the woods, compounds, Neo-Nazi camps, and secret arsenals?  Have you seen the arsenal of these DOOMSDAY PREPPERS, gun enthusiasts, and militias?  Will the government conduct door to door household reconnaissance with search and seizure intentions?  I can understand that regulation is a step toward reduction of gun violence, but what about law-abiding citizens that legally purchase their firearms, use them responsibly, and store them safely?  Should the average law abiding gun owner have to forfeit their fire arms and constitutional right to defend themselves?

We really need in depth discussions on coping skills, conflict resolution, effective communication, respect, love and let’s not forget the biggie, POVERTY AND UNEMPLOYMENT.  Individuals are less prone to rob, steal, and kill someone for their belongings when they have the purchasing power and ability to purchase their own; and when they don’t have the ever-present mental stress of poverty, deprivation, and a “survive or die” mind state.

We are not addressing the violent movies, video games, and TV shows that give many people a step by step instruction manual and demonstration on how to plan attacks and shooting to kill.

However, legislators are willing to take away our rights to adequately defend ourselves, but say nothing to the TV and Hollywood moguls that pervert the idea of gun ownership.  They introduce some of the most violent content into the psyche of our youth.

Talking loud and ain’t saying nothing

Moreover, if legislators are not going to be physically present at my house at 3am during a home invasion to provide immediate, real time security and demonstrate their seven shot marksmanship, I don’t want them limiting the options to defend myself and my family.  However, I doubt Diane Feinstein, Al Sharpton, Michael Bloomberg, and other anti-gun legislators will provide personal backup and patrol on your front porch and backdoor when it all goes down.

There also needs to be gun control on these cops having firing squads on citizens like Sean Bell, Amadou Diallo, and handcuffed men shooting themselves in the back of squad cars.

What say you???

Read Part 1 of this discussion here

A Historical argument about gun control : Part 1

A Historical argument about gun control : Part 1

by: Dr. Samori Swygert

This first installment of a two-part blog will address the historical concerns and implications of guns and what gun legislators routinely dodge.

The gun control debate is a persistent item on the American socio-political agenda.  Politicians, activists, lobbyists, and American communities have very legitimate arguments for gun control.  Time after time we hear about neighborhoods plagued by gang violence, drug wars, and mass shootings in schools and other social establishments. However, anti-gun advocates tend to miss, overlook, or intentionally disregard alternative perspectives on the issue.

Current proposals

A myriad of gun control proposals are currently being examined.  Some want an all-out gun ban.  Some want a ban on automatic rifles.  Several states want reduced gun magazine capacity. Some advocates push for extensive background checks, and others want mental health screenings.  Some states have proposed extended waiting periods before firearm purchases are granted.  Some states limit the amount of guns that can be purchased within a certain period of time.  Future technologic advances propose biometric activation of firearms in order to fire a gun.

Historically Speaking

Historically speaking, guns have always been the deciding factor in the establishment of history since it was invented.  The gun is one of many Pandora boxes on Earth.  Since its’ inception, it allowed civilizations to manipulate the course of history by exerting dominance over others by instant deadly force.  The following are just a few examples:

How successful would Hitler have been if all Jewish families had equivalent or superior weaponry to his regime, or guns at all?  The Jewish and other European groups were systematically disarmed, and left defenseless against Hitler’s tyrannical authoritarian regime.

How successful would the system of slavery in America have been if each African brought to the North American continent was equipped with the same or better firepower of the slave traders and plantation owners?

Let’s even examine the Civil War because we are constantly bombarded with unprovable statements that American citizens have nothing to fear from the government:  Within our own country, we had war between the North and South.  Cousins were literally fighting their own cousins and family in battle.  Why?  Let’s make it simple without getting bogged down in historical facts — there was a difference in belief between citizens, and both sides were committed to their ideology and prepared to fight for it.  The ability to arm and defend themselves prevented one from easily overpowering the other.

However, the contrast to the Civil War is that the American military utilized the threat of firepower to usurp the land of Native Americans.  In 1829, President Andrew Jackson called for the INDIAN REMOVAL ACT.  This resulted in the forced, militarized mass exodus of Native Americans off their land, LITERALLY AT GUNPOINT.   Yes, lack of adequate, equivalent firepower makes a difference between life and death, slave or free.

We also saw how Cecil Rhodes ( yes the Rhodes scholarship is named after him), went into Africa with the MAXIM GUN THAT FIRES 600 ROUNDS PER MINUTE, and this led to the slaughter of thousands of Africans in the Matabele War of Rhodesia (yes named after him for colonizing).  Thanks to Cecil Rhodes and the MAXIM GUN, the exploitation of diamonds occurred and Cecil Rhodes formed Debeer’s Diamonds.  Rhodesia is now known as Zimbabwe.

We can also see how the gun was used by King Leopold II of Belgium to take control of the Congo, and exploit the land for its ivory, rubber, diamonds, and other precious resources.  It is estimated that 10 million African NATIVES were slaughtered during his invasion and reign.

Stay tuned for part 2

Medicine in the Matrix- the future of healthcare: Part 1 (the Red Pill)

Medicine in the Matrix- the future of healthcare: Part 1 (the Red Pill)

By: Dr. Samori Swygert

The future of medicine will undergo a revolutionary transformation.  I purchased a copy of U.S. News & World Report 2014 January-May edition.  I also read a captivating article in the Wall Street Journal: How digital medicine will soon save your life, by Robin Cook and Eric Topol.  When I finished reading this article and magazine expose, I said to myself “welcome to the Medicine Matrix”.

First, the goals in future medical practice are centered on everyone having a fully sequenced genome.  This means that your full DNA is completely mapped out, and analyzed.  This will reveal any and all genetic defects, or variances in certain genes.  This will supposedly allow for more precise dosing of drugs, and more specific drug selection.  Drug selection is important because some individuals have enzymes in their liver that breakdown drugs faster in some people, but slower in others.  This can lead to toxicity or ineffective treatments.  Furthermore, some individuals may produce more or less receptors for drugs to bind to, and that affects overall therapy.

Secondly, the main focus of these two pieces of literature is prevention.  Prominent researchers, institutions, and biotech companies have collaborated expertise to create an anticipatory and prevention based arsenal of therapies.  For instance, if an individual has their genome sequenced, and carries the gene that codes for Cystic Fibrosis, the CFTR gene, a drug designed by Vertex Pharmaceuticals will target that specific mutation and alter it.  Some patients that take the drug Abacavir to manage HIV, but maybe predisposed to a fatal drug reaction.  Thus, a genetic test would be conducted to see if Abacavir is appropriate for this patient before administration. Lastly, cancer patients can see what drugs will and won’t work based on the gene mutation they may possess.  This will allow physicians to tailor and streamline drug regimens.

Let’s talk technology

Everybody’s cellphone will become their medical watchdog.  The tech industry and medical community have created apps and programs that will be installed on your smartphone.  Individuals will have nanobots dispersed into their bloodstream that will conduct internal surveillance of EVERYTHING inside your body.  A nanobot is a small digital device that is 10-9 in size (like a millimeter is 10-3), this is extremely small.  However, these nanobots will detect your body’s: pH, blood count, signs of infection, temperature, glucose levels, drug levels, serum protein, HCG hormone (detect pregnancy), testosterone and estrogen levels, change in blood chemistry before a heart attack, pre-cancerous signals, microorganisms, and more.  All of this data will be transmitted to your doctor and your phone.

In addition to the nanobots in your bloodstream, our smartphones will be able to read your ECG and tell your physician if a heart attack is impending.  The nanobot-smartphone alliance will also serve as a sentinel to monitor patients that have been recently discharged from the hospital or clinic and cut length of stay, while still allowing physicians to monitor their progress.

The FDA has approved a “smart watch” called, Visi.  The watch measures breathing rate, blood pressure, oxygen levels, and the electrical conductivity of your heart.

Telepresence will be another medical biggie.  A motorized physician avatar will be suited with GPS, monitors, microphones, speakers, and sensors.  This high tech apparatus will have travel around the hospital from unit to unit, and room to room, but here’s the catch, a real-time screen with the physician is attached.  Physicians can check on their patients from a remote location like their home, or while on a trip. A high definition, high resolution camera will allow doctors to zoom in and out for surface exams.  The doctor can conduct real-time conversations and interviews with patients and staff.  The robot avatars can also consult with other doctor avatars, so you may see 2-5 robots “huddling” as they think about care plans for a patient.  The telepresence aspect has also been touted as an advantage for underserved or rural areas that lack adequate physician access.

The abundance and ever burgeoning amount of medical data can be overwhelming to many practitioners.  I can vouch for that as a critical care hospital pharmacist.  Every other month new drugs are hitting the market, and you must learn these drugs, or at least understand the use, dosing, side effects, and contraindications.  This also applies to physicians because they have to prescribe the drugs, understand the diseases and conditions patients have.

Well IBM developed, “Watson”, yes the computer that humans played against in jeopardy.  This will be integrated in healthcare systems around the country.  Volumes upon volumes of research, textbooks, guidelines, case studies, and etc will be installed in this device to help healthcare practitioners arrive at faster, accurate, and more well informed decisions.  Technology experts predict that by 2020, Watson will contain the equivalent of 500 billion four-drawer file cabinets worth of medical information.

Dr. Showme Da Money

Lastly, to finish off this part, I have included direct excerpts from the U.S. News and World Report expose.  We must discuss financial and economic aspect of this digitized upgrade.  Healthcare is big business.  This past January the Federal Communications Commission reported that it has allocated $400 million annually for creating broadband networks to facilitate communication between rural areas and “urban medical hubs”.  BCC research has predicted a doubling of the telehealth market from $11.6 billion to $27.3 billion in 2016.

AT&T has invested $1 million in funding to help develop the telehealth market.  The NIH estimates the cost of sequencing a person’s genome at approximately $5,700, so multiply that by the number of individuals that are to receive medical care and all the babies to be born!  President Obama proposed $100 million for brain research. The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York already invested $3 million for their genomic supercomputer.   There is much more to discuss but far too lengthy for a blog post.

Stay tuned for part 2 as we go more in depth to this digital medical revolution.

Source

1. http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303973704579351080028045594

2. http://health.usnews.com/health-news/hospital-of-tomorrow/articles/2013/11/05/telemedicine-vast-potential-increased-efficiency

3. http://health.usnews.com/health-news/hospital-of-tomorrow/articles/2013/11/05/the-push-to-personalize-medicine