Please read the following post and comments from 4/1/09. http://muslimbushido.blogspot.com/2009/04/geostrategy-nerd-close-proximity-to.html Please also consider ordering some N95 masks BEFORE there is a run on such items. You can find such masks on Amazon.com. I said the following in a comment to the post:
"Do any of us own N95 (NIOSH 95) masks? NO! (In my case, not yet.) From the book I mentioned in the post: 'Most surgical masks and other breathing masks will not protect you against the virus because they allow small particles through. Only the N95 (NIOSH 95) mask can protect you adequately.
N95 is a government efficiency rating that means the mask blocks about 95% of particles that are 0.3 microns in size or larger. It meets the CDC guidelines for protection against anthrax spores as well as most forseeable bioweaponry and avian flu viruses. Anytime you are exposed to the virus, however, you should discard the mask and use a fresh one. It's simply better to avoid other people and exposure.' The Bird-Flu Primer, pg. 86."
People, don't wait until the last moment to get ready.
An effort to stand for justice and oppose the "ruinous traits" listed by Muslim scholars in all their forms: rancor, unhealthy attachments, malice, jealousy, vanity, stinginess, avarice, cowardice, indolence, arrogance, ostentation, heedlessness, anxiety, depression, and oppression.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Why Black Women Should Leave The Helping Professions, Part 2: An Extended Reader's Money Quote From Hagar's Daughter
This essay is contained in my new book. I'm delighted to announce that The Sojourner's Passport site has launched! You can visit it at http://www.sojournerspassport.com/.
Everyone, I can't thank you enough for your ongoing encouragement and support; I truly appreciate it. Your support is what made this possible. And here's a special shout-out to my web designers at Educo Web Design. They're nice people to deal with, and they do outstanding work!
Peace and blessings,
Khadija Nassif
Everyone, I can't thank you enough for your ongoing encouragement and support; I truly appreciate it. Your support is what made this possible. And here's a special shout-out to my web designers at Educo Web Design. They're nice people to deal with, and they do outstanding work!
Peace and blessings,
Khadija Nassif
Saturday, April 25, 2009
A Case Study Of Why Black Women Should Leave The "Helping" Professions, And Seek Their Own Bliss
This essay is contained in my new book. I'm delighted to announce that The Sojourner's Passport site has launched! You can visit it at http://www.sojournerspassport.com/.
Everyone, I can't thank you enough for your ongoing encouragement and support; I truly appreciate it. Your support is what made this possible. And here's a special shout-out to my web designers at Educo Web Design. They're nice people to deal with, and they do outstanding work!
Peace and blessings,
Khadija Nassif
Everyone, I can't thank you enough for your ongoing encouragement and support; I truly appreciate it. Your support is what made this possible. And here's a special shout-out to my web designers at Educo Web Design. They're nice people to deal with, and they do outstanding work!
Peace and blessings,
Khadija Nassif
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
The Renewing Of Our Minds, Part 1
I choose living my higher purpose.
Some of you think that I'm writing and "preaching" from "on high." I'm NOT. I'm dealing with many of the same challenges as the rest of us.
One such challenge is the fact that I've grown disenchanted with my current career and lifestyle. It was what I wanted when I started on this path. It was what I wanted for many years. Until one day it . . . wasn't. At which point, I realized that I need to make a change.
Everything that I am is what has gotten me to this point. Everything that I am is what is maintaining me at this point. I need to make a change. From the inside out. Mary J. Lore, the author of Managing Thought: How Do Your Thoughts Rule Your World? made the following points:
"There is no such thing as the future. The future is an illusion. What we have is a now, followed by a now, followed by a series of nows. We do not suddenly become bankrupt. We have a series of bankrupt now moments. We do not suddenly become a great leader, a great parent, or healthy. We do not suddenly accomplish a goal or fulfill a resolution. We have a series of great leader, great parent, or healthy now moments. When we have experienced enough of these moments, goals are accomplished, bad habits are broken, and resolutions are fulfilled." Managing Thought, Amazon Kindle Location, 275-88.
"Without self-awareness, self-mastery, and being on purpose, we live each day as we did yesterday. And then a year goes by, two years, five years, and then ten, and we wonder what happened. We have the same frustrations and experiences over and over with different jobs, partners, customers, coworkers, employees, children and spouses. Essentially, we continue to make the same mistakes." Amazon Kindle Location, 289-302.
"I am not talking about developing rah-rah motivational goals, mission statements, and resolutions. I am talking about developing self-awareness, being aware of our thoughts and feelings and making subtle, yet powerful, changes that result in ideas, desires, intentions, and ultimately actions that bring us peace and inspire us." Amazon Kindle Location, 320-32.
"By managing thought, we consciously choose our futures. When we manage our thoughts, we take a proactive approach instead of being led around by our habitual attitudes and self-limiting beliefs. We are able to use our thoughts to proactively affect those very stressful episodes that we formerly reacted to defensively. In doing so, whole new vistas of options emerge and we experience very different results. Instead of wasting our time, money and energy on reactivity, we focus on what matters to us---the reality we want." Amazon Kindle Location, 358-71.
Ms. Lore's book has a chart about the power of thoughts. [Amazon Kindle Location, 581-89]. Some thoughts are inherently weak and disempowering. These thoughts are inherently disempowering because they contain self-condemnation and force:
I have to be more . . .
I need to be more . . .
I should be more . . .
I need to . . .
I should . . .
Why can't I . . . ?
What should I . . . ?
When will I . . . ?
Other thoughts are weak because they are thoughts of the (non-existent) future and are not in this moment.
I have to . . .
I need to . . .
I should . . .
I will . . .
I am going to . . .
I choose to . . .
How will I . . . ?
What will I . . . ?
Powerful thoughts help us feel joy, thankfulness and possibility in the present moment.
I am . . .
I choose . . .
What can I . . . ?
How can I . . . ?
The first step to creating a new future for ourselves is to better manage our thoughts. The first step to managing our thoughts is to take an inventory of our thoughts. Ms. Lore suggests a beginning exercise where you take a deep breath and then plug a positive attribute (for example, "focus") into the above sentences, and say the sentences out loud. ("I need to be more focused." "I choose focus." "I will focus, etc.")
Do you feel the difference in your bodily sensations with these different thoughts? I did. I've also been taking inventory of my habitual thought patterns. I've noticed that a LOT of my thoughts are framed in the "I need to . . ./I have to . . ." pattern. If you look, you'll see this thought pattern expressed in several statements near the beginning of this essay. I deliberately chose not to edit those statements. Like I said, I'm not talking about these various issues from "on high," I'm dealing with them too. [LOL!]
These "I need to . . ./I have to . . ." thought patterns lead to feeling heavy and trapped. They are part of The Overly-Responsible Person Trickbag that I'm releasing my grip on. I choose empowering thoughts.
Are you willing to pause and examine your daily thoughts?
Are you willing to take an inventory of your habitual thought patterns?
Are you willing to manage your thoughts?
Are you willing to let go of disempowering thought patterns and embrace powerful ones?
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Wildest Dreams Checklist: Reboot Your Life By Becoming "Unreasonable"
This essay is contained in my new book. I'm delighted to announce that The Sojourner's Passport site has launched! You can visit it at http://www.sojournerspassport.com/.
Everyone, I can't thank you enough for your ongoing encouragement and support; I truly appreciate it. Your support is what made this possible. And here's a special shout-out to my web designers at Educo Web Design. They're nice people to deal with, and they do outstanding work!
Peace and blessings,
Khadija Nassif
Everyone, I can't thank you enough for your ongoing encouragement and support; I truly appreciate it. Your support is what made this possible. And here's a special shout-out to my web designers at Educo Web Design. They're nice people to deal with, and they do outstanding work!
Peace and blessings,
Khadija Nassif
Friday, April 17, 2009
Welcome, New Readers! Please Catch Up With the Previous Solution-Intensive Conversations
I'm delighted to announce that The Sojourner's Passport site has launched! You can visit it at http://www.sojournerspassport.com/.
Everyone, I can't thank you enough for your ongoing encouragement and support; I truly appreciate it. Your support is what made this possible. And here's a special shout-out to my web designers at Educo Web Design. They're nice people to deal with, and they do outstanding work!
Peace and blessings,
Khadija Nassif
_________________________________________________
Before anything else, let's be clear about the gravity of our collective situation as African-American women. Please start with the following post, "The Last Embers Of A Dying Flame: Will YOU Make It Out Before Darkness Falls?" http://muslimbushido.blogspot.com/2009/07/last-embers-of-dying-flame-will-you.html
I firmly believe that this era is the time of reckoning across the planet. ALL of the issues that have been arrogantly ignored and "blown off" are coming back with a vengeance. From environmental pollution, to the oil dependency that Pres. Carter warned Americans about 30 years ago, to the economy. ALL of it. This reckoning includes Black folks across the globe.
Specifically in terms of African-Americans it includes:
(1) The mass self-hatred and lack of racial pride that we've papered over with slogans about multiculturalism, biracialism, etc. This self-hatred has metastisized into the openly Black-hating statements of creatures like Yung Berg, Ne-Yo, Kimora Lee, Tiger Woods, etc. ALL of this has come back to bite us in the buttocks.
(2) The unaddressed misogyny in the Black collective, which has caused unprecedented levels of violence against Black women and girls. This has metastisized into OPEN, VEHEMENT support for woman-beaters like Chris Brown. Open, vehement support for pedophiles like R.Kelly.This has also morphed into OPEN, VEHEMENT support for BM exploiting and refusing to marry BW. African-Americans' acceptance of unfettered misogyny has accomplished something that even slavery couldn't do: This is what has caused the FINAL DEATH of the African-American family. All of this is the end result of catering to Black men's wounded egos.
(3) The unchallenged anti-intellectualism among the African-American collective. This has morphed into African-Americans lifting up, and celebrating, ignorance and depravity as "acting Black."
(4) The refusal to hold our (mis)leadership class accountable for their failures and trespasses. This has resulted in a current leadership cadre that is filled with jackals, buck-dancing Crossover Negro Politicians who cater to White racists, and impotent tv talking heads [i.e,. the "usual suspects" who are invited to Tavis Smiley's annual book promotion fest].
This is the time and the day when ALL of these things that we've collectively refused to address are coming to a head. All of these things will be the death of most African-Americans. Most African-Americans will form a permanent underclass in this country.
The permanent underclass "flood waters" are already around our necks, while our people continue on with business as usual.Those few African-Americans who will survive and thrive despite the flood must start building Arks and/or looking for seats on somebody else's Ark. Right now!
Let's also be clear about the fact that African-American women are utterly ALONE in carrying the "I've got to narrow my options in order to maintain what I've been told is racial loyalty" banners. This topic was explored with the the following post, "An Open Letter To African-American Women Who PUBLICLY State That They Would Never Date/Marry Outside The Race: A Reader's Money Quote From Felicia." http://muslimbushido.blogspot.com/2009/06/open-letter-to-african-american-women.html
If you are currently burning yourself out in a "helping" profession, you probably need to GET OUT NOW and seek your own bliss. We discussed this with the following post, "A Case Study Of Why Black Women Should Leave The 'Helping' Professions, And Seek Their Own Bliss." http://muslimbushido.blogspot.com/2009/04/case-study-of-why-black-women-should.html
In terms of detailed solutions, that's what we've BEEN talking about here! LOL! For those who are unfamiliar with this blog, I suggest you start with the following solution-intensive posts and discussions:
1-"Geostrategy Nerd: An Extended Reader's Money Quote From Beverly" http://muslimbushido.blogspot.com/2009/02/geostrategy-nerd-extended-readers-money.html
2-"If You're Not on One of These 10 Roads to Riches, You're Heading Toward the Poorhouse." http://muslimbushido.blogspot.com/2009/03/if-youre-not-on-one-of-these-10-roads.html
3-"Comment Overflow for the Post, 'If You're Not on One of These 10 Roads..." http://muslimbushido.blogspot.com/2009/03/comment-overflow-for-post-if-youre-not.html
4-"All Colored People That Want to Go to Kansas, Part 2: An Extended Reader's Money Quote From Sister Seeking/Miriam/MaryAnn" http://muslimbushido.blogspot.com/2008/12/all-colored-people-that-want-to-go-to.html
Furthermore, the Wildest Dreams CHECKLIST conversations usually involve specific ideas and suggestions. There's no "expiration date" on these conversations. Please feel free to jump in at any time!
Everyone, I can't thank you enough for your ongoing encouragement and support; I truly appreciate it. Your support is what made this possible. And here's a special shout-out to my web designers at Educo Web Design. They're nice people to deal with, and they do outstanding work!
Peace and blessings,
Khadija Nassif
_________________________________________________
Before anything else, let's be clear about the gravity of our collective situation as African-American women. Please start with the following post, "The Last Embers Of A Dying Flame: Will YOU Make It Out Before Darkness Falls?" http://muslimbushido.blogspot.com/2009/07/last-embers-of-dying-flame-will-you.html
I firmly believe that this era is the time of reckoning across the planet. ALL of the issues that have been arrogantly ignored and "blown off" are coming back with a vengeance. From environmental pollution, to the oil dependency that Pres. Carter warned Americans about 30 years ago, to the economy. ALL of it. This reckoning includes Black folks across the globe.
Specifically in terms of African-Americans it includes:
(1) The mass self-hatred and lack of racial pride that we've papered over with slogans about multiculturalism, biracialism, etc. This self-hatred has metastisized into the openly Black-hating statements of creatures like Yung Berg, Ne-Yo, Kimora Lee, Tiger Woods, etc. ALL of this has come back to bite us in the buttocks.
(2) The unaddressed misogyny in the Black collective, which has caused unprecedented levels of violence against Black women and girls. This has metastisized into OPEN, VEHEMENT support for woman-beaters like Chris Brown. Open, vehement support for pedophiles like R.Kelly.This has also morphed into OPEN, VEHEMENT support for BM exploiting and refusing to marry BW. African-Americans' acceptance of unfettered misogyny has accomplished something that even slavery couldn't do: This is what has caused the FINAL DEATH of the African-American family. All of this is the end result of catering to Black men's wounded egos.
(3) The unchallenged anti-intellectualism among the African-American collective. This has morphed into African-Americans lifting up, and celebrating, ignorance and depravity as "acting Black."
(4) The refusal to hold our (mis)leadership class accountable for their failures and trespasses. This has resulted in a current leadership cadre that is filled with jackals, buck-dancing Crossover Negro Politicians who cater to White racists, and impotent tv talking heads [i.e,. the "usual suspects" who are invited to Tavis Smiley's annual book promotion fest].
This is the time and the day when ALL of these things that we've collectively refused to address are coming to a head. All of these things will be the death of most African-Americans. Most African-Americans will form a permanent underclass in this country.
The permanent underclass "flood waters" are already around our necks, while our people continue on with business as usual.Those few African-Americans who will survive and thrive despite the flood must start building Arks and/or looking for seats on somebody else's Ark. Right now!
Let's also be clear about the fact that African-American women are utterly ALONE in carrying the "I've got to narrow my options in order to maintain what I've been told is racial loyalty" banners. This topic was explored with the the following post, "An Open Letter To African-American Women Who PUBLICLY State That They Would Never Date/Marry Outside The Race: A Reader's Money Quote From Felicia." http://muslimbushido.blogspot.com/2009/06/open-letter-to-african-american-women.html
If you are currently burning yourself out in a "helping" profession, you probably need to GET OUT NOW and seek your own bliss. We discussed this with the following post, "A Case Study Of Why Black Women Should Leave The 'Helping' Professions, And Seek Their Own Bliss." http://muslimbushido.blogspot.com/2009/04/case-study-of-why-black-women-should.html
In terms of detailed solutions, that's what we've BEEN talking about here! LOL! For those who are unfamiliar with this blog, I suggest you start with the following solution-intensive posts and discussions:
1-"Geostrategy Nerd: An Extended Reader's Money Quote From Beverly" http://muslimbushido.blogspot.com/2009/02/geostrategy-nerd-extended-readers-money.html
2-"If You're Not on One of These 10 Roads to Riches, You're Heading Toward the Poorhouse." http://muslimbushido.blogspot.com/2009/03/if-youre-not-on-one-of-these-10-roads.html
3-"Comment Overflow for the Post, 'If You're Not on One of These 10 Roads..." http://muslimbushido.blogspot.com/2009/03/comment-overflow-for-post-if-youre-not.html
4-"All Colored People That Want to Go to Kansas, Part 2: An Extended Reader's Money Quote From Sister Seeking/Miriam/MaryAnn" http://muslimbushido.blogspot.com/2008/12/all-colored-people-that-want-to-go-to.html
Furthermore, the Wildest Dreams CHECKLIST conversations usually involve specific ideas and suggestions. There's no "expiration date" on these conversations. Please feel free to jump in at any time!
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Beware of Advice From Outsiders Who Want You to Do As They SAY, and NOT as They DID For Themselves
Gina, the blog host at What About Our Daughters, has held a series of conversations that have touched on the culture war among African-Americans. The topics of Black women saving their own lives through fleeing Black residential areas and divesting from all non-reciprocating entities (most Black organizations, Black men who are not protecting and providing for Black women and children, etc.) came up during these discussions. Please read through these conversations.
http://www.whataboutourdaughters.com/2009/04/somebody-declared-a-black-culture-war-and-didnt-let-me-know-about-it-naacp-endorses-tyler-perry/
http://www.whataboutourdaughters.com/2009/04/we-ignore-these-%e2%80%99small-insults%e2%80%99-to-our-peril/
http://www.whataboutourdaughters.com/2009/04/tyler-perry-and-pol-pot-when-you-begin-to-consume-your-own-you%e2%80%99re-done/
http://www.whataboutourdaughters.com/2009/04/how-do-your-define-the-ark-and-divesting/
You'll note that there's one particularly strident commenter calling herself "Seattle Slim" who is insisting that African-American women should not, and must not, divest. And that we should not, and must not, get on any "Ark" to save our own lives.
Well, it's interesting to discover that this same individual got on an Ark herself, and LEFT her BLACK country to come to majority-White America. And apparently, Ms. Slim still has NOT gone back to live in her Black country!
http://happynappyhead.blogspot.com/2009/04/im-getting-banned-oh-well.html
Obviously, there must be some sort of a problem in her Black country. Masses of people don't just leave their own country for no reason. Seattle Slim didn't "stay and fight" to improve conditions in her Black country. Her immediate family didn't "stay and fight" to improve conditions in their Black country. THEY LEFT.
It was okay for her and her family to "cut and run" from their Black country to seek a better life in majority-White America, but she demands that African-Americans "stay and fight" to improve conditions in U.S. Black residential areas.
When a commenter points out to Ms. Slim that she divested herself, and is part of a "brain drain" fleeing her own Black country, she's quick to justify it: She still gives back to her Black country, yadda, yadda, yadda. Okay, fine. I don't have a problem with people seeking out what's best for themselves. My issue only starts when these same individuals want to block MY people from seeking out what's best for ourselves. If it wasn't "defeatist" for her and her immediate family to seek out a better life AWAY from her Black country, it's equally not "defeatist" for African-American women to seek out better lives AWAY from Black residential areas.
Unfortunately, this isn't the first time that outsiders have deliberately given African-Americans advice that they didn't follow for themselves. Many Jewish-Americans did the same thing throughout the 1960s. Jewish-Americans did not solve their problems with anti-Semitism by having protest marches. They solved their problems through education, and building Jewish businesses that could offer employment to Jewish people. However, whenever African-Americans attempt the same strategies, Jews (and other White Americans) have been quick to tell us that this is "separatism" and something that we shouldn't do.
The true test of what people really think is a good strategy is what they do for THEMSELVES. If somebody is telling you that you must do something other than what they did for themselves, watch out! And examine this person's motives. They probably don't wish you well.
http://www.whataboutourdaughters.com/2009/04/somebody-declared-a-black-culture-war-and-didnt-let-me-know-about-it-naacp-endorses-tyler-perry/
http://www.whataboutourdaughters.com/2009/04/we-ignore-these-%e2%80%99small-insults%e2%80%99-to-our-peril/
http://www.whataboutourdaughters.com/2009/04/tyler-perry-and-pol-pot-when-you-begin-to-consume-your-own-you%e2%80%99re-done/
http://www.whataboutourdaughters.com/2009/04/how-do-your-define-the-ark-and-divesting/
You'll note that there's one particularly strident commenter calling herself "Seattle Slim" who is insisting that African-American women should not, and must not, divest. And that we should not, and must not, get on any "Ark" to save our own lives.
Well, it's interesting to discover that this same individual got on an Ark herself, and LEFT her BLACK country to come to majority-White America. And apparently, Ms. Slim still has NOT gone back to live in her Black country!
http://happynappyhead.blogspot.com/2009/04/im-getting-banned-oh-well.html
Obviously, there must be some sort of a problem in her Black country. Masses of people don't just leave their own country for no reason. Seattle Slim didn't "stay and fight" to improve conditions in her Black country. Her immediate family didn't "stay and fight" to improve conditions in their Black country. THEY LEFT.
It was okay for her and her family to "cut and run" from their Black country to seek a better life in majority-White America, but she demands that African-Americans "stay and fight" to improve conditions in U.S. Black residential areas.
When a commenter points out to Ms. Slim that she divested herself, and is part of a "brain drain" fleeing her own Black country, she's quick to justify it: She still gives back to her Black country, yadda, yadda, yadda. Okay, fine. I don't have a problem with people seeking out what's best for themselves. My issue only starts when these same individuals want to block MY people from seeking out what's best for ourselves. If it wasn't "defeatist" for her and her immediate family to seek out a better life AWAY from her Black country, it's equally not "defeatist" for African-American women to seek out better lives AWAY from Black residential areas.
Unfortunately, this isn't the first time that outsiders have deliberately given African-Americans advice that they didn't follow for themselves. Many Jewish-Americans did the same thing throughout the 1960s. Jewish-Americans did not solve their problems with anti-Semitism by having protest marches. They solved their problems through education, and building Jewish businesses that could offer employment to Jewish people. However, whenever African-Americans attempt the same strategies, Jews (and other White Americans) have been quick to tell us that this is "separatism" and something that we shouldn't do.
The true test of what people really think is a good strategy is what they do for THEMSELVES. If somebody is telling you that you must do something other than what they did for themselves, watch out! And examine this person's motives. They probably don't wish you well.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Wildest Dreams Checklist: Will You Be Ready For Your Breakthrough Moment When It Arrives?
This essay is contained in my new book. I'm delighted to announce that The Sojourner's Passport site has launched! You can visit it at http://www.sojournerspassport.com/.
Everyone, I can't thank you enough for your ongoing encouragement and support; I truly appreciate it. Your support is what made this possible. And here's a special shout-out to my web designers at Educo Web Design. They're nice people to deal with, and they do outstanding work!
Peace and blessings,
Khadija Nassif
Everyone, I can't thank you enough for your ongoing encouragement and support; I truly appreciate it. Your support is what made this possible. And here's a special shout-out to my web designers at Educo Web Design. They're nice people to deal with, and they do outstanding work!
Peace and blessings,
Khadija Nassif
Friday, April 10, 2009
General Wildest Dreams Check-In
I've been continuing my research on different ways that people have leveraged the new media in support of their aspirations. In an earlier post I mentioned how some enterprising authors are growing an audience for their fiction by podcasting, and creating video trailers for, their unpublished novels. As I mentioned, author Scott Sigler has used this method. Another podcasting author named J.C. Hutchins has made even more innovations for promoting his FIRST print book:
"J.C. Hutchins will make his print debut in June 2009 with Personal Effects: Dark Art. Hailed as "the future of storytelling" by CSI creator Anthony E. Zuiker, "compelling" by director Gore Verbinski and "impossible to put down" by Final Destination writer Jeffrey Reddick, this new supernatural thriller series combines the experience of a traditional novel with an Alternate Reality Game." http://jchutchins.net/
"Clues in the novel — and items that come with the novel, such as ID cards and photos — propel readers into an online experience where they become protagonists themselves.
. . . Call the phone numbers: You’ll get a character’s voicemail. Google the characters and institutions in the text: You’ll find real websites. Examine the art and other printed artifacts included inside the cover: If you pay attention, you’ll find more information than the characters themselves discover.
Personal Effects: Dark Art is the ultimate in voyeuristic storytelling, representing a revolutionary step forward in changing the way people interact with novels." http://jchutchins.net/site/personal-effects/
It seems that several of these authors were only able to get agents and their work published AFTER they had built an audience through podcasting their unpublished novels. It's a shrewd strategy.
I've noticed that those who peddle toxic waste among us (such as "ghetto/street literature") are very creative in spreading their poison. Meanwhile, those of us who have better things to offer tend to passively wait for somebody else to make our novel, non-fiction book, film, etc. happen. Those of us who have worthwhile things to offer have to do better than that. We have to be at least as enterprising as the garbage peddlers.
What's going on with you? How are your Wildest Dreams (of any type, not just fitness/health related) coming along?
"J.C. Hutchins will make his print debut in June 2009 with Personal Effects: Dark Art. Hailed as "the future of storytelling" by CSI creator Anthony E. Zuiker, "compelling" by director Gore Verbinski and "impossible to put down" by Final Destination writer Jeffrey Reddick, this new supernatural thriller series combines the experience of a traditional novel with an Alternate Reality Game." http://jchutchins.net/
"Clues in the novel — and items that come with the novel, such as ID cards and photos — propel readers into an online experience where they become protagonists themselves.
. . . Call the phone numbers: You’ll get a character’s voicemail. Google the characters and institutions in the text: You’ll find real websites. Examine the art and other printed artifacts included inside the cover: If you pay attention, you’ll find more information than the characters themselves discover.
Personal Effects: Dark Art is the ultimate in voyeuristic storytelling, representing a revolutionary step forward in changing the way people interact with novels." http://jchutchins.net/site/personal-effects/
It seems that several of these authors were only able to get agents and their work published AFTER they had built an audience through podcasting their unpublished novels. It's a shrewd strategy.
I've noticed that those who peddle toxic waste among us (such as "ghetto/street literature") are very creative in spreading their poison. Meanwhile, those of us who have better things to offer tend to passively wait for somebody else to make our novel, non-fiction book, film, etc. happen. Those of us who have worthwhile things to offer have to do better than that. We have to be at least as enterprising as the garbage peddlers.
What's going on with you? How are your Wildest Dreams (of any type, not just fitness/health related) coming along?
Monday, April 6, 2009
Wildest Dreams Checklist: Are You Leveraging The New Media to Make Your Dreams Come True?
I just bought the Amazon Kindle version of Scott Sigler's book, Infected: A Novel. What I find even more exciting is the backstory of how he grew an audience for his fiction by podcasting his novels. Aspiring authors take note:
From Wikipedia:
"EarthCore was originally published in 2001 by iPublish, an AOL/Time Warner imprint. With the novel doing well as a promotional ebook, Time Warner was planning on publishing the novel. With the economic slump following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Time Warner did away with the imprint in 2004, Scott decided to start podcasting his novel in March, 2005 as the world's first podcast-only novel to build hype and garner an audience for his work. Sigler considered it a "no brainer" to offer the book as a free audio download. Having searched for podcast novels and finding none, Sigler decided to be the first. Sigler was able to get EarthCore offered as a paid download on iTunes in 2006.
After EarthCore's success (EarthCore had over 10,000 subscribers), Sigler released Ancestor, Infection, The Rookie, and Nocturnal via podcast. Currently he is producing a weekly podcast with Contagious, his current podcast novel (Podiobook).
Pushing boundaries, Sigler released an Adobe PDF version of Ancestor on Monday 19 March 2007 through Sigler's own podcast as well as others. Ancestor was released on April 1, 2007 to much internet hype and, despite having been released two weeks earlier as a free ebook, reached #7 on Amazon.com's best-seller list and #1 on Sci-Fi, Horror and Genre-Fiction on the day of release.
Sigler is leveraging new media to keep in-touch with his fans, regularly talking with them using social networking sites, via email, and IM.
Scott Sigler was featured in a New York Times article on March 1, 2007 by Andrew Adam Newman which was covering authors using podcasting innovations to garner a broader audience."
http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geu8svldpJToIBD81XNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEzNTdwY2JqBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMQRjb2xvA2FjMgR2dGlkA0RGRDVfMTE5/SIG=11t0iu07u/EXP=1239148207/**http%3a//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Sigler
http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geu9LMldpJkoABQNdXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEzNTdwY2JqBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMQRjb2xvA2FjMgR2dGlkA0RGRDVfMTE5/SIG=11bq8spmp/EXP=1239148364/**http%3a//scottsigler.com/
Ladies, these are exciting times for those of us who take FULL advantage of what's available. Fortune favors the bold!
From Wikipedia:
"EarthCore was originally published in 2001 by iPublish, an AOL/Time Warner imprint. With the novel doing well as a promotional ebook, Time Warner was planning on publishing the novel. With the economic slump following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Time Warner did away with the imprint in 2004, Scott decided to start podcasting his novel in March, 2005 as the world's first podcast-only novel to build hype and garner an audience for his work. Sigler considered it a "no brainer" to offer the book as a free audio download. Having searched for podcast novels and finding none, Sigler decided to be the first. Sigler was able to get EarthCore offered as a paid download on iTunes in 2006.
After EarthCore's success (EarthCore had over 10,000 subscribers), Sigler released Ancestor, Infection, The Rookie, and Nocturnal via podcast. Currently he is producing a weekly podcast with Contagious, his current podcast novel (Podiobook).
Pushing boundaries, Sigler released an Adobe PDF version of Ancestor on Monday 19 March 2007 through Sigler's own podcast as well as others. Ancestor was released on April 1, 2007 to much internet hype and, despite having been released two weeks earlier as a free ebook, reached #7 on Amazon.com's best-seller list and #1 on Sci-Fi, Horror and Genre-Fiction on the day of release.
Sigler is leveraging new media to keep in-touch with his fans, regularly talking with them using social networking sites, via email, and IM.
Scott Sigler was featured in a New York Times article on March 1, 2007 by Andrew Adam Newman which was covering authors using podcasting innovations to garner a broader audience."
http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geu8svldpJToIBD81XNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEzNTdwY2JqBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMQRjb2xvA2FjMgR2dGlkA0RGRDVfMTE5/SIG=11t0iu07u/EXP=1239148207/**http%3a//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Sigler
http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geu9LMldpJkoABQNdXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEzNTdwY2JqBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMQRjb2xvA2FjMgR2dGlkA0RGRDVfMTE5/SIG=11bq8spmp/EXP=1239148364/**http%3a//scottsigler.com/
Ladies, these are exciting times for those of us who take FULL advantage of what's available. Fortune favors the bold!
Friday, April 3, 2009
Wildest Dreams Check-In, Week 13-Final Power 90/P90X Wrap-Up
Today is Day 88 of the Power 90/P90X program. And this is my final check-in that I devote to talking about workouts.
Gold Star Wrap-Up
I'm looking forward to the short break that I'm going to take from working out after I finish the 90th day. After the break, I plan to do another 90-day training period completely made of up P90X workouts. The plan is to keep going until I get myself totally "tight and right." I'm much closer to where I want to be than when I started, but there's still work to do. Like I've said before, I'm in this for the long haul. I press on!
Looking back, I think the most important thing for me about the past 88 days is that I've broken the back of my previous eating habits. The "thrill is gone" when it comes eating poorly. I'm settling into a regimen of eating raw food before dinner. It's strange. I didn't realize how addicted I am to cooked food before I started doing this. I'm considering doing an all-raw detox at some point.
I've also made progress on some other "wildest dreams" fronts that I haven't been talking about as much. I decided to make a point of sprinkling more vacation days throughout the year to give myself more frequent 3-day weekends. Today is one such vacation day, and it feels good! I'm transitioning to making more of a conscious effort to spend more time on what I want, and much less time on what I don't want. The same with my mental energy.
What's going on with you? How are your Wildest Dreams (of any type, not just fitness/health related) coming along?
Gold Star Wrap-Up
I'm looking forward to the short break that I'm going to take from working out after I finish the 90th day. After the break, I plan to do another 90-day training period completely made of up P90X workouts. The plan is to keep going until I get myself totally "tight and right." I'm much closer to where I want to be than when I started, but there's still work to do. Like I've said before, I'm in this for the long haul. I press on!
Looking back, I think the most important thing for me about the past 88 days is that I've broken the back of my previous eating habits. The "thrill is gone" when it comes eating poorly. I'm settling into a regimen of eating raw food before dinner. It's strange. I didn't realize how addicted I am to cooked food before I started doing this. I'm considering doing an all-raw detox at some point.
I've also made progress on some other "wildest dreams" fronts that I haven't been talking about as much. I decided to make a point of sprinkling more vacation days throughout the year to give myself more frequent 3-day weekends. Today is one such vacation day, and it feels good! I'm transitioning to making more of a conscious effort to spend more time on what I want, and much less time on what I don't want. The same with my mental energy.
What's going on with you? How are your Wildest Dreams (of any type, not just fitness/health related) coming along?
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Portraits in Activism: Larry Kramer
Larry Kramer is one of my activist heroes. I believe that aspiring activists can learn a lot from his example. He helped found both Gay Men's Health Crisis and ACT-UP. Here are some excerpts from FRONTLINE: the age of aids: interviews: larry kramer/PBS [My comments are in blue]: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/aids/interviews/kramer.html
"In 1978, your novel Faggots caused a lot of controversy in the gay community. What was its core message?
Faggots is basically about a person looking for love at that time in our history and not finding it. He comes to the conclusion at the end of a weekend of high living that having so much sex makes finding love impossible.
I question that it's always called controversial; it really wasn't. It created a big stir and made a lot of people quite angry, but it also made a lot of people very happy, and I got thousands of letters from gay people saying, "Thank you for telling it like it really is." The controversy such as it was came from the entrenched people who believe that f***ing is a civil right and that I was imposing on that. ...
It's always been very difficult to criticize -- and this is one of the main problems that caused AIDS -- it's been very difficult to criticize what we do publicly because it's considered a civil right and a private thing, which it certainly is. But when you start killing everybody, it sort of passes on into another category.
[(emphasis added) I agree. When irresponsible promiscuity (and its products such as out of wedlock births) starts KILLING people and DESTROYING communities, then it slips out of the private matter category and becomes a matter of public safety. Go, Larry!]
... How and when did you become aware that a mysterious illness was beginning to strike down gay men?...What made you so alarmed? It was just a few indicators at that point.
Because the article pointed out something that if you had half a brain you would begin to put two and two together. All of the [cases] had a similar history of communicable diseases. We'd all had syphilis, gonorrhea, amoebas mainly. ... So when I saw this business about [Kaposi's sarcoma], I said, "It's like the next bump up the ladder." It just made so much sense to me, [complete] and utter sense. I knew from day one. I just knew it, and I just to this day can't understand why everybody else didn't know it. Everybody had to be blind not to know it, especially when they said, "We think it's a virus."
No one said that loud enough, unfortunately, and gays refused to believe it, because they took the stand of "Oh, they're just saying that to interfere with our civil rights again; they're trying to take away our sex life," ... the most stupidest thing, the most destructive thing gays have ever done, people have ever done, in the entire history of man, by taking that attitude, by refusing to think, hey, I will cool it until they find something. ... I was a pariah because I said, "Cool it." People would cross the street rather than walk on the same side of the street with me.
[Does this attitude of "How dare you criticize us for being promiscuous AND irresponsible?" sound familiar?]
What were the consequences of the Reagan administration's inattention to AIDS?
Seventy million people have now been infected with AIDS. He's not the only one. Every president who has been in the White House since has had the same attitude. ...
And when he died, I think you called Ronald Reagan "Adolf Reagan."
Adolf Reagan, yes, responsible for the death of more gay people than anybody in the world, than Hitler. I believe it, and I can't see why people challenge me when I say these things. He's that much a beloved a**hole. ... This is the worst disaster in history that you're talking about. You cannot talk about it calmly, and any of your people who talk about it calmly, you shouldn't listen to; you really shouldn't.
[Being "reasonable" isn't always a virtue. In the face of certain atrocities, it's a sin.]
... Why do gay activists find themselves at loggerheads with the FDA [Food and Drug Administration]? What was the nature of the argument?
When stuff started to need to be tested and approved, when ACT UP literally broke into the FDA offices in Rockville, [Md.], we discovered horrendous things. Foremost among them was that every report was written in longhand. They didn't have computer[s]; they didn't have typewriters for all we could tell. And it took 10 to 12 years on average to get a drug approved of any kind for any illness. People want to know why it took so long? That's why. Stupid things like that.
Well, we didn't have 10 or 12 years, and during the reign of ACT UP, we reduced that 12 years to less than one. That's what ACT UP accomplished. It took us a long time, took us a lot of screaming and yelling, a lot of protest. ... [Breaking into FDA offices. That's BOLD] ...Joe Papp, my great producer at the public theater, had his shop make an effigy of Frank Young, who was head of the FDA, and we hung him in effigy from gallows that we erected outside of the stock market... [{chuckling} I bet as the head of a normally non-controversial agency, Mr. Young never expected to find himself hung in effigy. That probably caught his attention.]
But do you think ACT UP's tactics alienated general public opinion?
Who gives a s***? I'm so sick of that. You do not get more with honey than you do with vinegar; you just do not. If it makes them angry enough, maybe they'll say why are they angry. I mean, we were in jail all the time -- I cannot tell you how many. We had a cadre of lawyers who did nothing but get us out of jail. ... Professional people were leaving their jobs to come and be activists, because it was getting desperate and they were frightened, literally. The legal work that GMHC was turning out at that time was being done by partners from major New York law firms. It was amazing; it was totally amazing. These two organizations changed history. AIDS would never have been attended to without GMHC, and the drugs would not be out there if it had not been for ACT UP.
[This is the bottom line. A LOT of people (including Blacks) owe their lives to the fact that ACT-UP was NOT "reasonable" or "nice."]
...A very strange thing has happened in the post-AIDS generation. I don't know what to call them; it's not really post-AIDS, but let's call them the healthier, younger ones. They don't want to know. They don't want to know the old people; they don't want to know the history; they don't want to acknowledge that the people who died were even part of their history. I talk about this a lot. How can you dare to ignore everything that happened? These people died so that you could live. Those drugs are out there because people died for them. [It's] shocking what's going on now in the gay population. I have lost a great deal of pride in being gay. ...
I don't think people are as frightened of getting infected now because all these medicines are out there, so if by chance they get drugged up and their guards are down that night and they don't use a condom, they're prepared to take that chance occasionally. That's just so dumb.
While the new drugs are marvelous compared to the old drugs, they are still incredibly complicated to take. Not everybody can take them. I'm lucky. There are side effects with all of them. Women particularly have a terribly hard time with these drugs, because these drugs are all developed on men, which is a whole other issue. ... You can go nuts on some of the drugs. I had to go off one because literally my lover and I just fought over and over again. I had no idea why. It just makes you manic in some people. But it's a very effective drug, and it's very useful to people who can take it. ...
This is the devil's bargain you make for all this. To get a drug approved quickly, the drug has not been tested as long as they used to test drugs -- years and years and years and years before they would approve them. What we're discovering now is that all of these drugs -- and there are a great many of them, thank God -- have different interactions with each other, a lot of them not very good, and you have to stay on top of them and have your blood constantly monitored, and you have to constantly find new ways to monitor them and new tests to take. ...
So living with these drugs is no bed of roses.
It isn't, and that's why I say yes, they certainly are easier to take than the old ones, but it's no bed of roses. "
I always liked the first two sentences of ACT-UP demonstration chants, "ACT-UP! Fight back!" The "Age of AIDS" is still with us. Along with so many other life-threatening circumstances that confront us. With all of these issues, there is NO cavalry riding to the rescue for Black women. Maybe we should rescue ourselves. Black women: ACT-UP! Fight back! Live well!
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Geostrategy Nerd: Close Proximity to DBRBM and Their BF Enablers = Increased Probability of Death During the Next Pandemic
We're Already Due For The Next Pandemic
From the WHO (World Health Organization) Influenza Pandemic Handbook for Journalists:
"A pandemic is an outbreak that affects the entire world. The avian influenza outbreaks in Southeast Asia remain largely geographically limited in scope and confined primarily to animals. But if the avian influenza virus changes into a fully transmissible human pandemic virus, it will most likely spread worldwide, affecting all populations, regardless of national boundaries or socio-economic status.
Influenza pandemics are rare but recurring events. They have typically occurred every 10-50 years throughout recorded history. In the 20th century, there were three pandemics: 1918 (caused approximately 40 million deaths), 1957 (caused more than two million deaths) and 1968 (caused approximately one million deaths). Because they bring an abrupt surge in illness and deaths, pandemics frequently overwhelm health services, and can cause severe social disruption and economic losses.
Once a fully transmissible human pandemic virus emerges, it is expected to encircle the globe within three months. Because a pandemic strain would be of a new subtype that had not previously circulated in humans, it is thought that it would be dangerous since the vast majority of the population would have no immunity to it." WHO Influenza Pandemic Handbook for Journalists, pg. 1 (emphasis added). http://www.who.int/csr/don/Handbook_influenza_pandemic_dec05.pdf
Nobody Knows, Or Nobody's Telling, How Many People Could Die in the Next Pandemic
In response to anyone wondering why the World Health Organization (WHO) keeps talking about potential pandemics, the handbook explains:
"Unfortunately, no one is able to accurately predict whether H5N1 [Khadija speaking: "H5N1" refers to the current bird flu strain] will actually trigger a pandemic--and if it does, we have no idea how long it might last or how deadly the virus will be. As a global public health organization, WHO has a responsibility to alert the international community when it appears that the world is moving closer to a pandemic.
It may be years before a pandemic hits the world, and it may ultimately be sparked by a virus other than H5N1. While WHO recognizes that openly talking about a pandemic threat may raise concerns worldwide, we would not be fulfilling our public health mandate if we were not to warn the world of this evolving threat." WHO Influenza Pandemic Handbook for Journalists, pg. 4.
In response to anyone wondering how many people could die in the next pandemic, the handbook explains:
"We don't know. It is impossible to predict how lethal the pandemic strain might be, so we can only guess how many people might die in the next pandemic. During past pandemics, the numbers of deaths varied greatly: in 1918, approximately 40 million people died, in 1957, more than two million people died, and in 1968, approximately one million people died. [I would think that the volume and pace of international travel in 1968 was much less than it is in the 21st century. I believe that it's important to note the huge numbers of people that died in pandemics before everyday people were flying around the world.]
Modelling research using today's global population has projected that at a minimum, between 2 and 7.4 million people might die in the next pandemic. More deaths are certainly possible, but until the pandemic strain emerges and we are able to determine its lethality and attack rate, it will be difficult to predict its impact worldwide.
Higher projections of deaths are in general based on extrapolations from the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. More people died in 1918 from influenza than in a similar period from any other infectious disease ever, including smallpox and the plague. Thus, because the 1918 pandemic was the single most devastating infectious disease outbreak ever recorded, WHO does not feel it is appropriate to project future pandemic numbers based on such an exceptional event. [Gee, whatever happened to erring on the side of caution and preparing for worst-case scenarios?]
Still, however many people die in the next pandemic, there will be many more who become ill and require hospitalization." WHO Influenza Pandemic Handbook for Journalists, pg. 5 (emphasis added).
Obviously, You Don't Want to Get Caught Up in The Next Pandemic-The First Step is To Avoid Infected People
Obviously, you don't want yourself or your loved ones to get caught up in the next pandemic.
"If a pandemic occurs, it's incumbent on you to do all you can to be prepared and to prevent becoming infected. Do not rely on the government or anyone else to do so since it is unlikely they can protect you adequately . . . The first thing to do is avoid contact with the flu virus. Since the virus is spread through coughing, sneezing and contact with surfaces that contain the virus, you should do all you can to avoid people with flu symptoms and avoid the places where they have been." The Bird-Flu Primer: The Guide to Being Prepared and Surviving an Avian Flu Pandemic, pgs. 83-84 (by Dr. Larry H. Altshuler, M.D.).
Also keep in mind that "people with influenza are often contagious before they are symptomatic." WHO Influenza Pandemic Handbook for Journalists, pg. 6 (emphasis added).
Guess Who'll Probably Be First Among the Infected & Contagious: People With ALREADY COMPROMISED Immune Systems. This Means People Living With HIV/AIDS. Guess Who's Disproportionately Infected with HIV/AIDS?
I'm sure to offend many readers in this section. However, keep in mind that I'm speaking from the point of view of healthy people who are determined to remain healthy. Even if this requires facing some harsh realities.
I need not repeat the appalling statistics concerning African-Americans and HIV/AIDS. Those of us who are paying attention already know that, in some areas of the U.S., our AIDS rates rival some African countries.
In their fact sheet, HIV/AIDS and the Flu, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have noted that "[p]eople with HIV/AIDS are considered at increased risk from serious influenza-related complications. . . . Other studies have indicated that influenza symptoms might be prolonged and the risk of influenza-related complications higher for certain HIV-infected people." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Fact Sheet, HIV/AIDS and the Flu, pg. 1.
Reality Check: Common sense dictates that you're more likely to get sick if you're already sickly.
Who among us has an increased risk of being infected with HIV/AIDS?
Reality Check Answer: Various categories of Damaged Beyond Repair Black men and the Black female enablers who have sex with them.
Black male jailbirds, dope fiends, "down low" individuals*, and "players." AND the foolish and/or naive Black women that they infect.
[*Men who refuse to admit to themselves that they are gay/bisexual (and therefore refuse to self-identify as gay/bisexual) are less likely to respond to public service announcements and public health measures directed toward "gay/bisexual" men.]
People WON'T Behave Responsibly During a Pandemic-It's On You to Protect Yourself and Your Loved Ones The Best Way You Can
We can see this right now in terms of how reckless so many Blacks are regarding sexually transmitted diseases. Black male jailbirds don't disclose that they were sexing other men in jail. Black male players don't disclose their infidelity. Lots of HIV-positive people (both genders) don't disclose their positive status before having sex with others.
We can already see that many Black women choose to live on Fantasy Island ("My man is faithful to me. He only 'stepped out' once when that h* tried to 'steal' him, and he was careful. I know he was locked up, but he ain't no 'punk.'") instead of protecting themselves against STDs. This is why HIV/AIDS is rampant among African-American women.
The unspoken part of this is that more than a few HIV-positive people are deeply resentful of healthy people, and don't mind spreading the infection out of bitterness. It's taboo to say this out loud. Not everybody gracefully faces disease like the Tom Hanks character in the movie Philadelphia. I've seen this with more than a few of my clients. I've had clients who deliberately tried to bite social workers and police officers in hopes of infecting them. I've had clients whose attitudes about telling their sexual partners of their HIV/AIDS status were "Somebody gave this to me. F%#$ them all."
A certain percentage of people will have this same attitude during a pandemic, and will deliberately cough and sneeze in other people's faces. Don't we see people already doing this? Do we really expect behavior to improve just because people are dying? NO.
If you live in a Black residential area, there are probably droves of people living with HIV/AIDS around that you don't know are infected. Many of us have relatives that we don't know are infected. Often, there's no way for you to tell. Some infected people don't appear sick. There are also methods of concealing the effects of illness. For example, there are products available called facial fillers (injections and implants) that help conceal the facial lipoatrophy (facial wasting) that is often a complication of HIV/AIDS. http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geu.Wh1tJJzv0AlytXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEzZ210Z2RmBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMwRjb2xvA2FjMgR2dGlkA0RGRDVfMTE5/SIG=12f745bgo/EXP=1238640673/**http%3a//www.drmosser.com/press_sculptra_HIV_lipoatrophy.html
You don't know their HIV status, but you DO know if a Black female relative/friend/acquaintance is involved with a jailbird, drug user or player.
You don't know their HIV status, but you DO know if a Black male relative/friend/acquaintance is a jailbird, drug user or player.
All of this is something to consider when the next pandemic arrives. If you value your life, you might consider cutting these people loose. You might also consider reading up on avian flu and taking steps to prepare BEFORE the next pandemic breaks out.
From the WHO (World Health Organization) Influenza Pandemic Handbook for Journalists:
"A pandemic is an outbreak that affects the entire world. The avian influenza outbreaks in Southeast Asia remain largely geographically limited in scope and confined primarily to animals. But if the avian influenza virus changes into a fully transmissible human pandemic virus, it will most likely spread worldwide, affecting all populations, regardless of national boundaries or socio-economic status.
Influenza pandemics are rare but recurring events. They have typically occurred every 10-50 years throughout recorded history. In the 20th century, there were three pandemics: 1918 (caused approximately 40 million deaths), 1957 (caused more than two million deaths) and 1968 (caused approximately one million deaths). Because they bring an abrupt surge in illness and deaths, pandemics frequently overwhelm health services, and can cause severe social disruption and economic losses.
Once a fully transmissible human pandemic virus emerges, it is expected to encircle the globe within three months. Because a pandemic strain would be of a new subtype that had not previously circulated in humans, it is thought that it would be dangerous since the vast majority of the population would have no immunity to it." WHO Influenza Pandemic Handbook for Journalists, pg. 1 (emphasis added). http://www.who.int/csr/don/Handbook_influenza_pandemic_dec05.pdf
Nobody Knows, Or Nobody's Telling, How Many People Could Die in the Next Pandemic
In response to anyone wondering why the World Health Organization (WHO) keeps talking about potential pandemics, the handbook explains:
"Unfortunately, no one is able to accurately predict whether H5N1 [Khadija speaking: "H5N1" refers to the current bird flu strain] will actually trigger a pandemic--and if it does, we have no idea how long it might last or how deadly the virus will be. As a global public health organization, WHO has a responsibility to alert the international community when it appears that the world is moving closer to a pandemic.
It may be years before a pandemic hits the world, and it may ultimately be sparked by a virus other than H5N1. While WHO recognizes that openly talking about a pandemic threat may raise concerns worldwide, we would not be fulfilling our public health mandate if we were not to warn the world of this evolving threat." WHO Influenza Pandemic Handbook for Journalists, pg. 4.
In response to anyone wondering how many people could die in the next pandemic, the handbook explains:
"We don't know. It is impossible to predict how lethal the pandemic strain might be, so we can only guess how many people might die in the next pandemic. During past pandemics, the numbers of deaths varied greatly: in 1918, approximately 40 million people died, in 1957, more than two million people died, and in 1968, approximately one million people died. [I would think that the volume and pace of international travel in 1968 was much less than it is in the 21st century. I believe that it's important to note the huge numbers of people that died in pandemics before everyday people were flying around the world.]
Modelling research using today's global population has projected that at a minimum, between 2 and 7.4 million people might die in the next pandemic. More deaths are certainly possible, but until the pandemic strain emerges and we are able to determine its lethality and attack rate, it will be difficult to predict its impact worldwide.
Higher projections of deaths are in general based on extrapolations from the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. More people died in 1918 from influenza than in a similar period from any other infectious disease ever, including smallpox and the plague. Thus, because the 1918 pandemic was the single most devastating infectious disease outbreak ever recorded, WHO does not feel it is appropriate to project future pandemic numbers based on such an exceptional event. [Gee, whatever happened to erring on the side of caution and preparing for worst-case scenarios?]
Still, however many people die in the next pandemic, there will be many more who become ill and require hospitalization." WHO Influenza Pandemic Handbook for Journalists, pg. 5 (emphasis added).
Obviously, You Don't Want to Get Caught Up in The Next Pandemic-The First Step is To Avoid Infected People
Obviously, you don't want yourself or your loved ones to get caught up in the next pandemic.
"If a pandemic occurs, it's incumbent on you to do all you can to be prepared and to prevent becoming infected. Do not rely on the government or anyone else to do so since it is unlikely they can protect you adequately . . . The first thing to do is avoid contact with the flu virus. Since the virus is spread through coughing, sneezing and contact with surfaces that contain the virus, you should do all you can to avoid people with flu symptoms and avoid the places where they have been." The Bird-Flu Primer: The Guide to Being Prepared and Surviving an Avian Flu Pandemic, pgs. 83-84 (by Dr. Larry H. Altshuler, M.D.).
Also keep in mind that "people with influenza are often contagious before they are symptomatic." WHO Influenza Pandemic Handbook for Journalists, pg. 6 (emphasis added).
Guess Who'll Probably Be First Among the Infected & Contagious: People With ALREADY COMPROMISED Immune Systems. This Means People Living With HIV/AIDS. Guess Who's Disproportionately Infected with HIV/AIDS?
I'm sure to offend many readers in this section. However, keep in mind that I'm speaking from the point of view of healthy people who are determined to remain healthy. Even if this requires facing some harsh realities.
I need not repeat the appalling statistics concerning African-Americans and HIV/AIDS. Those of us who are paying attention already know that, in some areas of the U.S., our AIDS rates rival some African countries.
In their fact sheet, HIV/AIDS and the Flu, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have noted that "[p]eople with HIV/AIDS are considered at increased risk from serious influenza-related complications. . . . Other studies have indicated that influenza symptoms might be prolonged and the risk of influenza-related complications higher for certain HIV-infected people." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Fact Sheet, HIV/AIDS and the Flu, pg. 1.
Reality Check: Common sense dictates that you're more likely to get sick if you're already sickly.
Who among us has an increased risk of being infected with HIV/AIDS?
Reality Check Answer: Various categories of Damaged Beyond Repair Black men and the Black female enablers who have sex with them.
Black male jailbirds, dope fiends, "down low" individuals*, and "players." AND the foolish and/or naive Black women that they infect.
[*Men who refuse to admit to themselves that they are gay/bisexual (and therefore refuse to self-identify as gay/bisexual) are less likely to respond to public service announcements and public health measures directed toward "gay/bisexual" men.]
People WON'T Behave Responsibly During a Pandemic-It's On You to Protect Yourself and Your Loved Ones The Best Way You Can
We can see this right now in terms of how reckless so many Blacks are regarding sexually transmitted diseases. Black male jailbirds don't disclose that they were sexing other men in jail. Black male players don't disclose their infidelity. Lots of HIV-positive people (both genders) don't disclose their positive status before having sex with others.
We can already see that many Black women choose to live on Fantasy Island ("My man is faithful to me. He only 'stepped out' once when that h* tried to 'steal' him, and he was careful. I know he was locked up, but he ain't no 'punk.'") instead of protecting themselves against STDs. This is why HIV/AIDS is rampant among African-American women.
The unspoken part of this is that more than a few HIV-positive people are deeply resentful of healthy people, and don't mind spreading the infection out of bitterness. It's taboo to say this out loud. Not everybody gracefully faces disease like the Tom Hanks character in the movie Philadelphia. I've seen this with more than a few of my clients. I've had clients who deliberately tried to bite social workers and police officers in hopes of infecting them. I've had clients whose attitudes about telling their sexual partners of their HIV/AIDS status were "Somebody gave this to me. F%#$ them all."
A certain percentage of people will have this same attitude during a pandemic, and will deliberately cough and sneeze in other people's faces. Don't we see people already doing this? Do we really expect behavior to improve just because people are dying? NO.
If you live in a Black residential area, there are probably droves of people living with HIV/AIDS around that you don't know are infected. Many of us have relatives that we don't know are infected. Often, there's no way for you to tell. Some infected people don't appear sick. There are also methods of concealing the effects of illness. For example, there are products available called facial fillers (injections and implants) that help conceal the facial lipoatrophy (facial wasting) that is often a complication of HIV/AIDS. http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geu.Wh1tJJzv0AlytXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEzZ210Z2RmBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMwRjb2xvA2FjMgR2dGlkA0RGRDVfMTE5/SIG=12f745bgo/EXP=1238640673/**http%3a//www.drmosser.com/press_sculptra_HIV_lipoatrophy.html
You don't know their HIV status, but you DO know if a Black female relative/friend/acquaintance is involved with a jailbird, drug user or player.
You don't know their HIV status, but you DO know if a Black male relative/friend/acquaintance is a jailbird, drug user or player.
All of this is something to consider when the next pandemic arrives. If you value your life, you might consider cutting these people loose. You might also consider reading up on avian flu and taking steps to prepare BEFORE the next pandemic breaks out.