Today, I received a letter from my daughter’s school principle addressing concerns about the much publicized and seemingly little understood Swine Flu.

“Although we are all concerned about the Swine Flu, we ask our families to remain calm, as no cases of the Swine Flu have been reported in (our) County at this time.” The PDF letter stated in closing. I just tilted my head and sighed.

Panicky parents can’t really be faulted at the moment I suppose, because after being inundated with televised images of mask-wearing Mexican residents, and the media frenzy whipping up hysteria like a meringue, about the flu and the constant count of the people who have contracted it. As I am writing this, it is reported that there have been 10 cases found in California; two in Kansas; 45 in New York City; one in Ohio; and six in Texas. Out of the 306 million US residents, 64 people have this strain of flu.

While Mexico speculates 149 deaths caused by the Swine Flu, none have been confirmed for the US – yet. There is an investigation for two Los Angeles area deaths, as authorities believe it may be linked to the virus. This information peaked my interest and I became interested in how many deaths were caused by last season’s flu. So I went to the CDC (Center for Disease Control) and this is what they said:

“Exact numbers of how many people died from flu this season cannot be determined. Flu-associated deaths (which have laboratory confirmed influenza), are only a nationally notifiable condition among children; however not all pediatric influenza deaths may be detected and reported and there is no requirement to report adult deaths from influenza. In addition, many people who die from flu complications are not tested, or they seek medical care later in their illness when flu can no longer be detected from respiratory samples. However, CDC tracks pneumonia and influenza (P&I) deaths through the 122 Cities Mortality Reporting System. This system collects information each week on the total number of death certificates filed in each of the 122 participating cities and the number of death certificates with pneumonia or influenza listed as a cause of death. The 122 Cities Mortality Reporting system helps gauge the severity of a flu season compared with other years. However, only a proportion of all P&I deaths are influenza-related and, as noted, most flu deaths are not lab confirmed. Thus, this system does not allow for an estimation of the number of deaths, only the relative severity among different influenza seasons. For the 2007-08 season, the proportion of deaths due to pneumonia and influenza was higher than the previous two years, but was similar to the 2004-05 season.”

Let’s use our logical minds for a sec and think about the effects this frenzy will cause. I’m not saying to ignore what’s going on or stop washing your hands or covering your mouth when you cough and sneeze like they recommend ( WHICH YOU SHOULD BE DOING ANYWAY). All I’m asking, is for us all to take a deep breath – even if you’re wearing a mask, keep an eye on what’s going on, and stop freaking out because that’s what they WANT you to do. Take care of yourself.

Think of the Potential... or Disadvantage...



This was sent to me a couple of weeks ago, so I apologize for taking so long to forward it. There is so much information to cover, so many thoughts and ideas that it can be overwhelming at times. No excuses. Please watch this video. If you're getting this message in your email, come to my blog site (http://kobina.blogspot.com) and view the video. Certain things you just have to see for yourself...

Medical Maggots

This is just a tidbit I gleaned from a newsletter I subscribe to called ETR (Early To Rise). This information is not news to me, and you may have heard a little about it before as well, but I still find it fascinating. If you get this blog through your email you might want to pass this along. Or not.

From ETR:

It might sound like something out of the Middle Ages, but it turns out that maggots - yes, icky little fly larvae - are being used to treat hard-to-heal leg ulcers. The maggots feast on the dead tissue surrounding the infection, promoting the growth of healthy cells. And according to University of York researchers, the maggot therapy is as effective as hydrogel dressings, the standard treatment for leg ulcers.

The researchers don't advocate using maggots in every case, but consider them to be a good alternative when hyrdogel dressings are not available. Meanwhile, they are conducting further research into using them to prepare wounds for surgery.

I don't usually write about people at work as a general rule. I already get enough grief from my family (whom I don’t even name) but today I’m about to break my rule. That’s what Anita Baker says they're made for right?

A scientist from Iran has recently joined our company. I won’t even give her a fake name because it’s really not that serious. She’s a sweet woman, very kind, very funny, and a little shy – not with me, but with the owner of the company. One day last week, she and I were talking about her previous job and she was relaying to me how different races in the scientific community reacted to certain situation. Now normally, this type of conversation would be considered taboo, but our company is so small, I think she felt extremely comfortable with me – enough to say exactly what was on her mind, like talking to a friend. I don’t think she knows I blog.

She spoke a few times about Americans and how when they are given an order to do something from their superiors, they don’t argue, they just do it because they know it’s their job. She talked about her previous manager and how she didn’t fight for her to stay at the company she was laid off from, because he’s an American and not a fighter. All kinds of light bulbs started coming on in my head as you can imagine.

My first thought was, as comfortable as she was telling me this, she obviously didn’t see me as an American. It sort of reminded me of the Vietnamese woman at the donut shop who asked me if my daughter’s father was American – which I’m pretty sure translates to: is he White – because I’m Black and therefore cannot be seen as American (sarcasm).

I also thought about her view of Americans. My coworker saw them as passive and robotic. I thought about that heavily for a few days because it intrigued me. We like to think of ourselves as fighters, but the truth is, we don’t fight all that hard, do we? Sure we protest about things every once in a while, but look at all the freedoms that have been taken away. What have we done about it? My coworker was not trying to insult me, she wasn’t saying anything out of malice, she was simply relaying a story to me from her point of view. It was eye opening about how she viewed us…even though she didn’t seem to be talking about me.

I just received an email from Obama’s people – Organizing For America – and they want me to call my elected representative to let them know that I support “a budget that tackles the long-term challenges to our prosperity.” Nice wording. The problem is I don’t support the generation of funds that decreases the value of my IRA. I can’t call it, it hasn’t been laid out for me how this monumental spending will create new jobs. I have a little homework to do.

According to this handy-dandy note, “In just 24 hours, Congress will begin voting on President Obama's budget. It's a big test not only for President Obama, but for our entire movement.”

Regardless of my position, this is my recommendation, take a second and contact your elected representative (whether you actually voted for them or not) and give them an earful of what you think, be it in favor or out of favor of the budget. Part of the problem, I suspect, is that not enough care to find out what’s going on. It requires a lot more effort on our parts and a lot more understanding of the structures set up around us, and we just want to be left alone to our small world.

This is no longer enough. It hasn’t been for a long while, and is part of the reason we have found ourselves in this current predicament.

Even if you don’t know your current position on the budget, contact your representative anyway, and find out their position on it and why, and how this will affect you. Give it some thought, and then call back with your own perspective – you’re new position. If you don’t do anything else proactive this week, this month even, this should be the one thing you take an interest in, because you are NOT free – regardless of what the American motto would have you believe.

Lead, by taking action.