Abuse of Power A Disease Of The World

There are many forms of power that can manipulate and cause people to conform to the will of another. There are powers of Government, police, legal systems and power through abuse, be it mental or physical.  The one thing that always seems to puzzle me is how some people knowingly follow a corrupt society, person or group as if they had no mind of their own.

One example was a reverend by the name of Jim Jones, a 47 year old Christian Cult Leader who in 1978 convinced over 914 people to commit mass suicide.  Not all of the 914 cult members went to their death freely.  There were 638 adults and 276 children.  Some of the cult members were shot as they ran from the camp.  Other cult members were injected with cyanide; while others were forced to drink Kool-Aid laced with cyanide and sedatives.  It is sad to know that so many people could be manipulated by ONE man.

Jim Jones was a man who abused prescription drugs and was extremely paranoid.  He treated his members as though they were in a concentration camp. He was the typical abuser.  He took everything from these people and like most cowards he took his cult members with him to the grave.

  

Then there is power to instill fear and indecision in human beings by another.  This is the power of abuse. There are many victims in our society and many of them are woman, children, and even men.  Some are fortunate enough to get counseling to gather the strength to leave the abuser. While others are not so lucky.  The unlucky souls almost always end up abused physically to the point of death.   Those that suffer emotional abuse and survive on occasion take their own lives due to the extensive nature of the abuse.  It is fear that keeps the abused person in an abusive relationship. Even though they want to leave with every part of their being they cant.

To continue, there is also abuse in power within Governments; such as in the case of Saddam Hussein the former President of Iraq.  He was tried and convicted for committing crimes against humanity.  He committed on of the most horrific crimes against humanity, "genocide."  He ordered the murder of over 400,000 people.  His victims were shot and placed in 270 mass graves.  Many of the victims' bones were wrapped in  white bundles.  Some of the skulls still had the blind fold over their eyes.  Saddam's regime denied allegations by the United States of mass murder for years.

Then on November 20, 2003 British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced that the mass graves containing the bodies of 400,000 Kurds, Shiites, Sunnis, Egyptians, Kuwaitis,  and Iranians had been discovered.  Each group murdered for different reason like ethnicity, religion, and political views.  The victims' freedom to live and breath was taken away from them with one order.  Many of the victims were entire families of which included men, women and children.  The victims were his people.  These were people he was supposed to protect.  Saddam abused his power over his people.  Saddam was convicted and on December 30, 2006 he was executed by hanging.

Then there is Social Abuse.  Social abuse is defined as, " The coercion of an individual in a public setting or by a collective group of people toward an individual.  The power to a group to embarrass and intimidate."   There are so many examples of this type of abuse.  There are people even in a workplace that thrive and enjoy humiliating another person or persons.  These people consistently demean and publicly put people down.  Most of the time it is because these people have a low sense of worth and self esteem and feel that they can redeem themselves at the expense of another human being.

The effects in the work place however are subtle and can be viewed as the norm for all the people involved.  Some co-workers may view it as, "That person is new and everyone is treated that way in the beginning."  The victim is expected to shrug it off and go about their day as if nothing was wrong.   The unknown fact that cannot be immediately detected is that the abuser in this case will yell, spread rumors about the victim and may even blog about them on the internet.  The victims' psychological effect is that they will call in more just so they don't have to endure anymore abuse.  The victim will use up their vacation days and sick days because they are no longer accepted by their peers.  The victims' freedom to have peace of mind in the work place and a sense of belonging has been eradicated, while the abuser feels triumphant.

Finally, people such as these only have the power we give them.  There is always a solution.  We just have to look harder for it.  In the case of Jim Jones, someone in his cult knew there was a problem but either did not act or was not heard.  Abused persons by a husband, boyfriend, mother, father or child can get counseling.  Families need to speak up and speak out against this type of behavior before the problem escalates.  We can campaign more on radio, T.V. and in schools or workplace.  "Fear," is an ugly emotion that can inhabit a person from peaking out against abuse, oppression and unjust confinement.

In matters such as these, the word that I prefer to choose is "Courage."  Stand tall for yourself, your country, friends and family.  Stand tall with courage for what is right and just.  Think and research before you give power to one human being over others.  We have the power within ourselves to change things.  Lets' evoke our own power!

References:

Doble DeGaris, Richard, Types and Categories of Abusive Behavior, 2006 (social) http://www.abusivelove.com/abuse_type_1_20.html.>

Morrill, Dan, "Abuse in the Work Place" Abusive Love.com, (social) 2006 April

http://www.infosecwriters.com/text_resources/pdf/Abuse_DMorrill.pdf

Robins, B.A. "Destructive cults The people's Temple, Led by James Warren (Jime) Jones"

Religious Tolerance, 9th April 2007

http://www.religioustolerance.org/dc_jones.htm>

"Trial of Saddam Hussein" Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, pl. 3rd October 2007

U.S. Agency of International Development, "Iraq's Legacy of Terror Mass Graves", "A Vast Human Tragedy" 

Originally written 9th October, 2007

By Donna C. Ledesma

Copyright (C) 2010

All rights reserved.
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I would like to personally thank Buford, Mountainview, Robstown and Columbus foe being such loyal readers of my blogs.


God bless you and may your dreams come true too.  May the angels be beside you on this long journey of life.


Sincerely
Donna C. Ledesma
Writer
"Disease of the World"

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Bird Flu A Pandemic - Real or Hype

What in the world is Bird Flu? Every morning or at the end of day I sit at my computer.  Sometimes I blog and other times I try to keep with news and current events.  


On November 12th, 2005 I ran across an article pertaining to Bird Flu on MSNBC Health News.  I was intrigued by the caption "Bird Flu" and a photo of man dressed in a blue bunny suit holding a muddy swan.  My first thought was, "What will they think of next? Bird Flu? Please! Then I began to read the article in depth.


What I've learned is that rapid spread of bird flu among chickens and other fowl has caught the attention of global health authorities.  There is good reason to be concerned about the old resurfaced disease.  The Avian Influenza Flu has been around since 1918 (MSNBC).  The potential of a high mortality rate is great; the rate is 89% percent among those younger then 15 years of age in Thailand.  Most of the infected patients are young healthy children or adults (TNEJOM,Sept.29, 2005). Currently half of all person who are infected with the disease die within 9 to 10 days after the onset of the illness.  Most die of progressive respiratory failure, secondary to multiple organ failure.


Scientist in Hong Kong declared they may have explained why the Bird Flu (H5N1) virus has affected so many young adults.  Its causes proteins knowns as cytokines to rush to infected lung tissue, causing a fatal immune storm. (ABC NEWS, Nov 11th).  In effect the virus enters an individuals's body, breaks into a cell, and hides from the immune system.  Then within a few hours; the virus hijacks all the cell's life materials and replicates itself at a rapid rate.


The once single virus becomes several hundred thousand reproductions swarming in search of healthy new host cells.  They cause fluid to flood the lungs, then death comes from any number of secondary problems (VF, Nov 2005-pg 270).




A similar flu occurred in 1918, killing tens of millions of people worldwide.  Experts also say that it may not be quite as extreme but will be very dangerous (CNN-May 26, 2005).  Representative, Michael Gurguson R - New Jersey, said at a hearing, "We're staring down the barrell of a loaded gun and that gun is ready to fire".  The health officials at the hearing agreed the  flu pandemic is inevitable and will most likely begin with the bird flue spreading in Asia.


A Deadly Bird Virus
This disease affects birds, and has been recently found in cats and pigs.  The bird flu is categorized as an Avian Flu.  There are currently 15 different types of Avian Influenza.  The recent outbreak is caused by a strain known as H5N1, which is very contagious among birds.  Tigers and leopards are also included in the list of animals affected by this virus.  The felines were fed raw  infected chickens, which caused them to be infected with the deadly disease (TNEJOM, Sept 29, 2005).


Animal to Human Transmission
This strain can be transmitted to humans causing severe illness and death (MSNBC).  Individuals, who have come in direct contact with the infected poultry such as those who butcher, pluck and prepare diseased birds, handle fighting cocks, play with poultry, consumption of ducks's blood, or possibly undercooked poultry have all been implicated.  Another mode of infection has been identified with oral ingestion of contaminated water during swimming and the widespread use of untreated poultry feces as fertilizer (TNEJOM, Sept 29, 2005)


The Human to Human Fear of widespread Infection
Influenza  viruses are highly unstable and have the ability to  mutate rapidly.  The fear of widespread infection stems from the idea that someone who is already infected with the human flu catches the birds flu. This could cause the virus to mutate, producing a hybrid that could spread rapidly from human to human (MSNBC).  The reason the strain is so dangerous is because most humans have never been exposed to the bird flu and therefore there is no natural immunity and currently no vaccine.




Current Events
As of today the Avian Flu has only spread from person to person twice. But experts believe a pandemic could be imminent.  (CNN-Thursday,May 26, 2005).  Indonesia's first human bird flue case, coupled with more birds dying elsewhere including Russia, Cruasia, China, Vietnam, Canada, Katakstan, and Mongolia are signs of a long dreaded global  influenza pandemic.  Margaret chan, WHO's (World Health Organization) Director stated, "This is perhaps the only time since 1968, which was the last pandemic, that we are getting signs symptoms and warning signs from nature...More and more birds are dying in different parts of the world-this is the kind of signals, and early warning that we are referring to " (China Post - July 23, 2005)


Precautions
Margaret Chan of W.H.O's new director called for influenza preparedness and stepped up disease surveillance among poultry and humans worldwide.  Chan States, "We need to be very vigilant and look for signals or signs of sustained human to human transmission.   We need to advise people from farm to table on what actions they can take or can advise commuinities to do to reduce the risk." (China Post July 23, 2005)


Treatment Solutions or Just Hype
The used of Antiviral Agents is another option such as: Oral Osel-Tamivir and ZanaMivir. (TNEJOM, Sept 29, 2005).  Swiss drug maker Roche will increase production of Tamiflu to make 300 million treatments of the antiviral drug annaully by 2007 in order to meet government orders amid fears of the flue pandemic.  (AP,CDC,WHO, Nature-Nov.7,2005)  Tamiflu has been found to be most effect if used withing the first 48 hours (CNN.Com, May 26, 2006).  Many governments around the world are stockpiling Tamiflu, while scientists are working hard to come up with new ways of combating this deadly virus.  The reason scientist are still working hard to come up with a vaccine is because Tamiflu may be of little or no use whatsoever (MSNBC).


Should we be concerned?
Currently there are some people who believe that this is just a lot of hype.  Dr. Marc Siegal in the Los Angels Times was quoted as saying, "Even if we take the Spanish Flu as a model, we've come a long way since 1918, when "There were no flu vaccinations and no antiviral drugs".  And most Virologists believe that currently the bird flu has a very low chance of jumping the species barrier. and turning into a global nighmare.  Once again, fearmongers have taken a real health threat and blown it out of all proportion - just as they did with SARS, West Nile virus, Anthrax, and mad cow disease.  The lesson of these previous panics is clear: "The worst case is not the only case" (TWM 10/14/2005)


Conclusion
To conclude there should be some concern about this deadly disease.  Education is the answer to resolve current fears about the (H5N1) virus.  We should keep a watchful eye on current events pertaining to this deadly virus.  We should warn our children not to pick up or remove dead animals.  Then if we are in the midst of such a predicament;we should report the dead animal to the proper authorities.


However, until we do or don't see an outbreak, we should remain comforted in the knowledge we are now made aware of a potential outbreak and measures can be taken to prevent such a disaster.


Written by Donna C. Ledesma
Copyright May 2010
All rights reserved

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