Plum foolish

This weekend I was doing my basic cowering of scientific journals from around the globe. For me this is like going to the club or bar hopping. It started because I had these two articles I had to proof for some journals that I wrote – BTW Cardiovascular risk reduction for African American men through health empowerment and anger management will be out soon in Health Education Journal, 67(3)208-218. Stephens et al (2008).

Any who, in my reading I went over the latest press releases from research facilities across the countries because shit like this never makes the news papers. One that struck out involved the possible relocation of the Plum Island Animal Research Center.

Now I first heard of this place in a book, Silence of the Lambs. In the book the white FBI lady was talking to Hannibal Lechter and told jones that if he helped them catch the killer, he would be relocated to Plum Island. Plum Island is where the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in concert with the Department of Homeland Security and selected pharmaceutical companies are conducting research on foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) among other deadly animal toxins and viruses. Smart you would think to have such a research instillation on an Island true. But now, based the urging of The Department of Homeland Security, the Feds want to move the facility inland. Yep, inland for a research facility that holds the world's most contagious livestock diseases.

Plum Island is located approximately 2.5 miles from tip of Long Island a used to be run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) until 2003, when the Department of Homeland Security took over. I just do not get how this could be safer in the eyes of supposedly people who got protecting the security of our country as their first mission. Can we learn anything from the British? I know we knew they were in Iraq for 27 years and eventually had to bail – lesson not learned. Also, there was an outbreak in Britain in 2001 – lesson obviously not learnt (spelling intentional) now this.

I mean from my minor background in infectious disease, I do know that FMD is way more (about 20 times) more infectious than smallpox. Add to that, FMD virus can be transferred via ones breath, saliva, mucus, clothes, or even a car. Sure it aint harmful to people – yet, but jones here eat meat. And I have not even attempted to calculate the economic impact on the country if an outbreak did occur – I like loot too much and the figures I produce may scare me.

The strange thing is that I juts want to know what kind of scientist folk got working for them – the Department of Homeland Security and If I can get a job. Because I would never make a recommendation of such, not on my understanding of disease vectors or behavioral epidemiology, but based on what I know security to mean - freedom from danger. Don’t these folk know they just giving terrorist ideas? Dang folk, now that is plum foolish.

Snitch if u can

First a few house cleaning items before I proceed with my current rant in tractate form. I want to thank Koffee Dyme for the free template design (she said m page was ugly), she is very talented. Second, I say and think and write what I feel, it aint contrived or managed. Sometimes a little research, but I try not to do that here, so if thats your desire; u can read something like this or this. Also, if you put up a post, I’m gone say what I feel and think if I comment. So if you say ask me ANYTHING – I feel free to ask anything (lesson being grasshopper, dont say what you dont mean). So don’t hit me with inappropriate, it was inappropriate for slaves to read so man up if one means what they say.

I know a lot of folks will likely vilify my character, what little I maintain, after I say this. Snitching is cool with me, especially if u owe me loot or if u aint seeming like you gone pay up. But then again what would you expect, I am the kind of person that will tell folks where to find me if I say what they don’t like or consider to be appreciate.

So yea, I’m a snitch and will tell with the quickness, for I can only be accountable for my own dirt and no one else’s. But like most black folk, the government aint down with snitching. After the largest recall of beef and beef-by products (Vienna sausages and potty meat with veins and the likes), the Agriculture Department is considering a measure that would allow for them not to tell the folks afected by such – the public, the names of retailers that may have and may have sold tainted to said aforementioned public.

As it stands, the USDA doesn’t not release or publish or list the names of food retailers that might have received or sold meat that may be hazardeous. This means that if you happened to buy some of this carcenagenic mutated shit, there is no way for you to know if the store you got it from got their meat from one of the slaughter houses putting mad cow disease on the refrigertaed isle at low low prices.

I mean this aint a small deal, we talkin about 143 million pounds of beef. Supposedly the argument is that they fear full disclosure will result in pressure applied to the companies that process and manufacture mad cow and e coli tainted beef. Im like tell, who gives a hoot? Tell and tell all.

In 2007, United Food Group LLC recalled 445,000 pounds based on "unspecified concerns" raised by the California State Department of Health Services which had been shipped to stores in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. I must admit, after some added pressure, the USDA have released the name of the districts impacted by this latest recall, but that’s about it. Like a mutha fucka know what district his meat comes from like it’s a voting or school district or something.

Laws protecting the public good are already super permeable, I mean how else could such meat (about 50.3 million pounds worth) could get into school lunch programs around the country – yep Atlanta being one. So I’m asking yawl to “reconsider, read some literature on the subject” because I love me some meat, and wanna know who got what I purchase frequently, and from where they got it. So promote snitching, say that snitching is good my people. Sure I trust my stomach acids and gastric enzymes, but I still don’t want to eat a tainted steak, that may have anything in it from mad cow to toxic shock (arm above). Cooking I don’t think, kills either.