The Eastern bank of the Mississippi River, in Northwestern Illinois, is the setting of an American travesty yet again. Historically a pristine wilderness with the longest stretch of sand dunes in Illinois and home to Americas symbol of freedom, the Bald Eagle, until they nearly went extinct. The Bald Eagle is once again nesting along these banks, but only after a 100 year environmental disaster that lingers on and possibly with some new neighbors.
The bald eagle, which is native to Western Illinois, nearby the Mississippi River, was nearly driven to extinction.
The transfer of inmates from the infamous Guantanamo Bay Military Prison in Cuba to the Thompson Correctional Center in Western Illinois is reported by many sources to be a very real possibility. Politicians like the US Senator from Illinois, Richard Durbin, seem supportive of this transfer. Presumably due the the financial gain involved for those associated with the Illinois prison system. As a politician who has spoken out against the Guantanamo Bay Prison, it is revealing to see Sen. Durbin now support the incarceration of its inmates locally.
Arguably, Sen. Durbin’s position regarding the transfer of inmates from Guantanamo Bay to Thompson Correctional Center is one that is in accordance with a majority of Illinois residents. The major concern, as stated in an NPR news release, is security. There is a request for the Defense Department to conduct a security review on all the inmates to be transferred. As a regular newspaper reader and resident of the Chicagoland area, the security threat is probably one that I have heard before: “With many potential targets (including nuclear sites) close to the Thompson Correctional Center, is it too risky to house “known” terrorists?”. This is a reasonable argument only within the context of being involved in a “War on Terror”. While in this “War on Terror”, any action seems reasonable to prevent terrorists from blowing up Chicago buildings and killing our families. This is a continuance of the promotion of fear that reached recent heights under the Bush administration but has been in practice for centuries.
Continue reading What Is News? – Guantanamo Illinois
The cold and dry seasons prove to be a more difficult and challenging time than our seasons of warmth and abundance. Issues with homelessness and hunger become more severe. Impacting these issues will require more than a short article, but alleviating the suffering of those subject to homelessness or hunger is as easy as bringing food or clothes to the nearest person in need. However, humans are not the only creatures who struggle and suffer through these challenging seasons.
We can learn a lot from observing nature. Trees produce nuts that squirrels eat. Squirrels bury nuts, some of which eventually turn into trees. Maybe the tree the squirrel is standing on started out as a nut buried by a squirrel.
An observant look around even the most concrete jungle will reveal a myriad of creatures working for survival. A great benefit can be had by the individual who keeps these creatures in their consideration. When one observes any of these creatures, they will see them engaged in the work of survival. This work provides the daily and future needs of the individual and their family. In this aspect, we as humans can relate to the importance of working for the survival of ourselves and our family.
I think of Kwanzaa and I think of the great things it represents for our community, and then I think of our ancestors and the greatest of the communities of ancient times. These communities have not been rivaled in their splendor or compassion in the modern era.
Monuments such as this obelisk and the pyramids (below) are still a mystery to our modern culture. The meanings behind them and the methods used to construct them are still topics of debate, but the secrets behind them may only be revealed to those who honestly return to their culture.
The Seven Principles of Kwanzaa are linked to our past and are stepping stones to reclaiming not just our dignity but also our greatness. For the first time in literally thousands of years, we have a chance to conquer our pride and take back our cultural values that were once shared by everyone in the world that were known to be good or “on the side of Ra.”
Dr. Maulana Karenga has earned his place in history as one of the individuals responsible for our survival of the holocaust of slavery. His name is mentioned along with those of Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. We thank our heroes for helping us to survive, now it’s time for us to take up the struggle to thrive.
Continue reading Kujichagulia: Self-Determination in the Colonial World
“The Bullet that kills you is the one you don’t see coming,” Master Naba would often say. When we are ill, or injured, we are trained to automatically turn to the modern medical industry for help. What we aren’t told is that the invasive methods of diagnosis and the barbaric, often deadly methods of treatment they offer could be avoided by simply seeking traditional forms of treatment.
Last month, we discussed the dangers of the modern diet. This month, as we turn our focus on the modern medical system, it’s important to understand the connection between all the different faces of the colonial system and how they feed each other. The modern, fast food diet is the leading contributor to disease in this country, both physical and mental. Poor diet is a major, if not the leading contributor to the heart disease, diabetes, and cancers that are ravaging our communities. When our diets make us ill, the modern medical system is lurking like a pack of wolves to devour the weak and defenseless of humanity.
The medical system is an industry. For it to sell its products, it depends on people being sick. The success of medicine companies and hospitals depends their having sick people to treat. Therefore, it’s not in their business interests to really make people better. At best, they want to get people just well enough for them to maintain some level of credibility. Besides, they have to get people back to work long enough for them to pay their medical bills or their health insurance. The goal, however, is to keep their customers coming back just like any alesmen. This is the issue that arises in a capitalist society: The well-being of humanity and the planet always takes a back seat to profits.
Any problem within the body reveals itself in the form of symptoms. A symptom is just the body’s way of letting the mind know thaProxy-Connection: keep-alive
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s a symptom of the body needing food, thirst is a symptom of the body needing water. If a thirsty man decided that, instead of drinking water, he was going to chew gum so that he won’t feel thirsty, we might think something was wrong with him. The man may lose the symptom telling him he needs to drink, but the fact is if he doesn’t drink something, damage will be done to his body and eventually he will die. However, by chewing the gum, what he has done is increased his ability to ignore the problem. Only a person trying to sell gum would promote the message that gum quenches thirst.
If we look at the way the modern doctors treat disease, we can see that it’s often similar to prescribing gum for thirst. If we take the case of headaches, almost anything can cause a headache, however, modern doctors have one solution: Painkillers. The reality is that the headache is a symptom of a problem in the body, a signal for a person to take action to correct it. The painkillers only take the pain away, but this does nothing to solve the problem, it only makes the person feel better so they can go back to work to pay for more painkillers. However, this will only
ensure that the cause of the problem is ignored and the problem may intensify without the person knowing.
The same strategy is used to treat a cold. Medicines are prescribed to stop the coughing, sneezing and runny nose. However, in the case of a cold, these symptoms come as defenses of the body when it is fighting a cold. These medicines actually hinder the body’s ability to fight disease.
When person gets the flu or pneumonia, the doctors often prescribe antibiotics. The antibiotics do not make a distinction between the body and the infection. They enter the body and kill everything in their path. This behavior is similar to the strategy of modern armed forces. By prescribing the antibiotics, that doctor is basically hoping the infection will die before the patient does.
Unfortunately, the antibiotics, like many other modern medications, also weaken the immune system. They attack the whole body, which weakens everything, including the immune system. They also do the immune system’s job of fighting the infection. The immune system will only be strong if it regularly faces the challenge of fighting infections. It’s like using a wheelchair when one is capable of walking. The legs will become weak from lack of use and the person will become dependent on the chair. Through the widespread use of antibiotics, once again the medical industry ensures that their patients will be incapable of caring for themselves by rendering their immune systems helpless.
As a general rule, every medicine offered by the medical industry has side effects. Considering the fact that their medicines never actually cure anything, even the common cold, these side effects only serve to add to the ailments of the patient. When a patient does recover from their ailments, usually it is a credit to their body recovering naturally despite the interference of the medicine. Unfortunately, too often patients are given a medication that they are supposed to take on a long term basis, this medication causes a side effect that is treated by another medication, which causes another side effect, which is treated by another medication, etc. Eventually, body parts lose their ability to function and the patient is trapped in the system for the remainder of their days. Older people are especially vulnerable because their bodies are less able to cleanse themselves of the toxic chemical medicines. There may be no more apparent example of the ignorance and barbarism of the medical industry than the case of surgeries. Often surgeries are performed to remove or replace organs and limbs because the doctors don’t know how to re-
store health to the body. Surgeries and transplants are deemed necessary after prolonged and extensive damage is done to the body parts, usually from inside the body, either by toxic food or toxic medicine.
The job of a healer is to preserve life. This means preserving the body’s ability to function normally and fend for itself. We can see from the above examples that the medical industry has no interest in preserving life:
Painkillers – Killing the pain eliminates the warning signs, enabling the patient to recklessly continue to damage the body.
Antibiotics – Anti = against, Bio = Life.
Surgery – Cutting out vital parts of the body that don’t grow back doesn’t sound intelligent at all!
When we include these examples with the fact that the medical industry has not cured any disease since polio, even with the billions of dollars hustled for cures for cancer, AIDS, diabetes, heart disease and every other disease we have a name for, some eyebrows should begin to raise. Even after they spend all this money, they can’t seem to develop any medicines that don’t have side effects. Can we call a substance that causes disease and doesn’t cure anything a medicine?
A critical look at the numbers will reveal the severity of the problem. According to a 2004 Center For Disease Control Study, 47% Americans are taking at least one prescription drugs, with 20% taking at least 3. We see that this only increases with age with 87% of Americans of 65 taking at least one medication and 60% taking at least 3. The report also showed that 6% of children are taking anti-depressants and 14% of boys are taking stimulants (often to treat Attention Deficit Disorder). All of these numbers are up significantly from 10 years prior. Over half of doctor’s visits are by patients with chronic illnesses, with an average of 2 medications being dispensed per visit. If the medicine was working to cure the illness, why would these numbers be so high? The fact is, diabetes, depression and hypertension are all up substantially since 1996. Meanwhile, last year there were 588,000 doctors visits by patients experiences adverse effects of medications and surgeries. That’s well over twice the number of visits for intentional injuries, including all forms of violence and self inflicted injury! What sense does it make to put our health in the hands of this system given these facts?
Fortunately for those of us concerned with preserving life, traditional healing systems still stand worldwide as an alternative to the medical industry. These systems were developed without the goal of profiting from their patients. Instead, they make the people’s well being their priority. Traditional healers treat the sources of disease and have effectively been able to cure every disease known to man. Isn’t it time we put our health in the hands of capable, proven healers instead of amateurs and con-artists?
Next month we will dissect the medical conspiracy against humanity. Stay alive until then…
1) We complain about US schools but can we really expect a foreign system to teach us, about us? This system will only provide us with leaders that embody their values.
2) In the U.S. we have built an identity of athleticism, entertainment and servitude based on what we’ve been taught by this system.
3) Nature gives us an identity defined by where we come from. Our heritage has an education system which teaches us the values that are important to us.
4) That education system brought to the world astronomy, geology, mathematics, agriculture, government, architecture, language, etc. leading us towards human genius and perfection, isn’t it time we returned to what works?
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