There are many articles, books, and countless conversations of what traits create a great leader or what we're calling a SuperBoss.
So what makes a SuperBoss? My research on Superbosses led me to a well-known academic and writer named, Sydney Finkelstein, a professor at Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business. In essences, a SuperBoss has a unique charter with limited egos and surrounds him or herself with the best talent, even if this talent is more refined or advanced than that of the boss. For the SuperBoss, the recruitment process starts with seeking out people with the highest intelligence, creativity, and flexibility. Creating a team of winners is the only priority. The Superbosses job is to coordinate the team creating a spirit of camaraderie towards the goals. A team's success does not necessarily means towards each other but the project at hand. It is also important to understand team competitiveness is not a bad thing, if managed effectively which can create better results.
There are also many studies and what not to do as a boss, and I'm sure we all have our opinions. To list some simple adjectives of bad bosses; incompetent, controlling delegator, indecisive type, always thinking they're right, stubborn managers, talking change but are stagnant, micromanaging, fear tactics, lack of vision, favoritism, just to name a few.
To summarize horrible bosses are driven by emotions versus the facts, and this leads to low morale, reduced productivity, the inability to reach goals, and the loss of good employees..
Great leaders make decisions by using data to back up his or her decisions. Bosses who fail to conduct a comprehensive review are running on emotions, which lead to poor decisions.
Workplaces talk about improvements, innovation, expansion, and profitability, but many cannot change the inner workings to achieve greater success. Poor bosses to generate results may take an ax to management, staffing, policies and procedures but no matter what strategies are attempted results continues a spiral downwards. There is no excuse for mediocre results, and tolerating mediocrity is an admission of failure.
Superbosses understand that smart, creative, flexible people tend to have fast-paced careers, which your typical boss may say he or she is overqualified and would soon want to move on. A Superboss would embrace these individuals maximizing his or her knowledge and talent.
Mr. Finkelstein has categories Superbosses into three styles of management. The first being glorious bastards which care only about winning but realize the need to develop the best people. The second type is the Nurturer. These individuals are the coaches, teachers, and mentors. These individuals take pride in bringing other along and care deeply about the success of others. Lastly the Iconoclasts, These individuals operate in creative fields where their inner passion inspires others. The fundamental characteristic of all three categories is each is not afraid to recruit and hire individual that have great wealth or talent.
As with any boss, it requires hands-on-leadership, but Superbosses have a distinct quality of having people do what they thought was impossible. Superbosses are masters and extremely efficient delegators. They have this ability chose smart, ambitious, adaptable people and offered them a vision, and trust. Superbosses encourage and create steps for change and personal growth. They provide advancement opportunities far beyond those found in traditional organizations by customizing career paths. Last, they stay connected, even after team members move on, they continue networking and maintaining communications, giving advice and direction.
A SuperBoss has the personal confidence to recruit the best and understand a leap of faith is required. To the bosses that cannot move forward with hiring and retention of the best, it may be time to hire a third party consultant who can analysis and articulates the pitfalls and bottlenecks within the organization. A fresh eye deep mussel comprehensive inner looking's of the organization is just what may be required. As with any review or audit, how presented is important and should never be punitive but a step toward improvement.
The simplest way to describe a SuperBoss is a leader that does not have a strict management style, ability to adapt to situations, and not having personal insecurities get in the way of making a good business decision. Superbosses understand no matter the talent nurturing and motivating is an essential requirement with surrounding yourself with the best team. Always seeking the best people and keeping staff focused and engaged.
Andrew Catalano's Bio:
Andrew Catalano resides in Maspeth, New York, and has worked in the hospitality service industry for over 30 years. Experiences with but not limited to; working with union and non-union operations, for-profit and not-for-profits in all segments of the industry; private ownership, corporate, education, and healthcare - (acute and LTC). Andrew is an adjunct professor at CUNY and the Institute of Culinary Educations, and a certified instructor with the National Restaurant Association, holding an NYS teaching permit. As the owner principle of Strategic Management Consultants Andrew prides himself on offering fresh eye reviews for the service operator, from financial reviews, management evaluations, labor optimization, marketing strategies, food safety, and employee training for both front line and management staff. Andrew holds a Master degree in Business Management, which gives him the refined skills to think through the problems, refine the vision, and plan next steps to improve the quality and value of an operation. Please contact Andrew Catalano at cat2380@msn.com with your questions or to schedule a business review.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9338406
Sunday, 6 March 2016
If You Change Your Conversation You Can Change Your Life!
As humans, we have been conditioned and programmed from a place of lack (negative): not enough, can't have, don't deserve, not possible and don't qualify. So we create a life with limits that is often the opposite of what we want because we simply follow what we've been taught. Thus we've created habits or patterns of thought that keep us away from our true desires and dreams because our thoughts are not coming from a place of abundance. We therefore find ourselves unable to manifest the abundance (positive) of anything on a continuing basis, regarding things like money, health, prosperity, happiness, peace, or any desire.
I'm going to share a quote from Mahatma Gandhi which states how the process works so you can understand how to change it, and thus change your life.
Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your WORDS.
Keep your words positive because your words become your BEHAVIOR.
Keep your behavior positive because your behavior becomes your HABITS.
Keep your habits positive because your habits become your VALUES.
Keep your values positive because your values become your DESTINY.
So let's talk about how you can change your life by changing your conversation.
As human beings, we are programmed with the beliefs of our parents or caregivers, teachers, clergy, friends, employers, etc. Although most beliefs and patterns come from our parents as a child, we have many other teachers along the way. We accept the beliefs as "right" because these people love and care about us and usually want the best for us, so it's natural we believe the teachings as truth. However, if you dissect our present world and the direction it is going, it is not in a place of caring, peace, happiness, prosperity, but is in a place of unrest, terror, financial duress, stress of all kinds, and certainly many health challenges. And as humans we buy into this mindset quite easily, then wonder why our life isn't going the way we want it to go regardless of the world's chaos.
So often as I work with clients, I notice their words, and very often - more times than not - their words that were first their thoughts, are coming from negativity. You know the laws of the universe - that you cannot expect a positive result if your thoughts and feelings are negative because the vibration of negativity can only attract more of the same. Take the picture often used to emphasize this point, that of the glass being either half full or half empty. Most people, with their first thought, see it half empty, even if they quickly change it to half full once they realize what they did. Of course that's a good thing if they can become aware of the need to change their thought because that's the first step in the process - the need to see things differently and change your thoughts.
So the first step is becoming aware of your thoughts - are they positive or negative? Amazingly - and we all do this - we are often not aware we are thinking and speaking in a negative pattern because it was taught to us as the way to work. Let's share some examples so you understand what I'm talking about.
First, get the word try out of your vocabulary. You are either doing it or not; there is no try. When you say "Okay, I'll give this a try," you're saying it with hesitation. You are actually sharing there's a possibility you cannot do it, so you've already put yourself in a place of doubt, which is negative. Instead say something like this (which means you have to think it first), "Okay, I will give this my best" or something similar. This makes it a positive response in which you are actually stating you are doing it.
Take someone who is having health or financial issues. Many people will share all their woes with you continuously as soon as you connect with them in some way, which shows they are focusing on what they feel isn't good in their life. Instead, it would be wise if that person refrained from telling the world all their problems (after all, everyone has problems) and shared some things that are good in their life. If asked how things are, they could respond with something like this "This isn't my best day but I'm moving forward." And that person needs to focus on the one or two good things that day so they can raise their vibration to a higher level where more good things can reach them. When you focus on what's wrong every day, you become a victim, and victims are in a place of smallness that can never bring the positive results they hope for.
Look again at the quote from Mahatma Gandhi. Every thought becomes a word, which becomes your behavior(how you act), which in turn becomes your values(how you see life), and that becomes your destiny(the experiences you create in your life). So you can see the importance of what your thoughts are and how much influence they have on what your life is right now.
I believe we've established that your thoughts are where you have to begin if you want your life to show up differently. But here's the catch: You will need to look deeply into your heart and soul to uncover the beliefs and patterns that were ingrained into you when you came into this earth, because they may be buried so deep you do not realize how they are influencing your thoughts and creating what shows up in your life. Look for the core concepts that frame your thinking - where your mind first travels as some thought or experience appears in your life.
It all begins with your self-talk - the conversations you have with yourself. Some call it mind chatter, and for most of us it is constantly active and giving us ideas of how to think, feel and behave. So that's where you begin - becoming aware of your self-talk and how you interact in your own conversations. For example, when you think about money, what comes to your mind first? Is it wishing for more or frustrated because there's not quite enough to pay your expenses or perhaps buy something you want to purchase? Are you a little panicked because you owe a bunch to creditors and don't see how to pay the debt, and it shows up in physical ailments like insomnia, stress, depression, anxiety, fatigue or even anger?
Here's a possibility for changing the outcome to financial freedom. Actually picture money coming into your bank account and begin being thankful for its arrival long before there's any evidence of its appearance. Even if you still have doubts it will come, you are focusing on your desire, and the mere fact of being grateful for it upfront changes your vibration to a positive one. Over time, you can actually shift your entire thinking to "Yes, I can have this and then be open to receive it."
It behooves you to begin thinking about your words and your self-talk. If you really pay attention I can pretty much guarantee most of these conversations will have negative origins. Pick any aspect of your life and focus on what your thoughts are when you first think of that situation. Was it a negative thought that brought the concept of lack or deficiency of some kind, or was it a positive thought of overflowing and abundant something?
The power to change your life through the conscious effort of your thinking is in your mind - you have complete control over the process of your thoughts. It will undoubtedly take some conscious effort to become aware of where your thoughts go before you can grasp what needs to be changed in order to create a different scenario in your life. However, you can do it if you truly wish to create a better, more loving life. Change your conversations and you can absolutely change your life!
Dr. Carolyn Porter is an internationally recognized author, speaker, life and health restoration coach, angel intuitive and trainer whose passion is empowering individuals so they understand their magnificence and the power they have to create the life they want and deserve. She focuses on helping people with their health in all dimensions: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. Her services include helping people with: spiritual growth, relationship healing, empowerment, new direction, becoming "unstuck," as well as training individuals with certification to become coaches, angel practitioners and her newest service Certified trainer program. She has helped hundreds of people worldwide to change their life for the better through these services, and would be honored to help you on your life's journey.
She has authored multiple books, eBooks and audios that include: Angel Love; Adrenal Fatigue - Real Answers for a Real Problem; Healing with Color; Communication that Works; Attracting Your Soulmate; From Victim to Victor.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9342360
I'm going to share a quote from Mahatma Gandhi which states how the process works so you can understand how to change it, and thus change your life.
Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your WORDS.
Keep your words positive because your words become your BEHAVIOR.
Keep your behavior positive because your behavior becomes your HABITS.
Keep your habits positive because your habits become your VALUES.
Keep your values positive because your values become your DESTINY.
So let's talk about how you can change your life by changing your conversation.
As human beings, we are programmed with the beliefs of our parents or caregivers, teachers, clergy, friends, employers, etc. Although most beliefs and patterns come from our parents as a child, we have many other teachers along the way. We accept the beliefs as "right" because these people love and care about us and usually want the best for us, so it's natural we believe the teachings as truth. However, if you dissect our present world and the direction it is going, it is not in a place of caring, peace, happiness, prosperity, but is in a place of unrest, terror, financial duress, stress of all kinds, and certainly many health challenges. And as humans we buy into this mindset quite easily, then wonder why our life isn't going the way we want it to go regardless of the world's chaos.
So often as I work with clients, I notice their words, and very often - more times than not - their words that were first their thoughts, are coming from negativity. You know the laws of the universe - that you cannot expect a positive result if your thoughts and feelings are negative because the vibration of negativity can only attract more of the same. Take the picture often used to emphasize this point, that of the glass being either half full or half empty. Most people, with their first thought, see it half empty, even if they quickly change it to half full once they realize what they did. Of course that's a good thing if they can become aware of the need to change their thought because that's the first step in the process - the need to see things differently and change your thoughts.
So the first step is becoming aware of your thoughts - are they positive or negative? Amazingly - and we all do this - we are often not aware we are thinking and speaking in a negative pattern because it was taught to us as the way to work. Let's share some examples so you understand what I'm talking about.
First, get the word try out of your vocabulary. You are either doing it or not; there is no try. When you say "Okay, I'll give this a try," you're saying it with hesitation. You are actually sharing there's a possibility you cannot do it, so you've already put yourself in a place of doubt, which is negative. Instead say something like this (which means you have to think it first), "Okay, I will give this my best" or something similar. This makes it a positive response in which you are actually stating you are doing it.
Take someone who is having health or financial issues. Many people will share all their woes with you continuously as soon as you connect with them in some way, which shows they are focusing on what they feel isn't good in their life. Instead, it would be wise if that person refrained from telling the world all their problems (after all, everyone has problems) and shared some things that are good in their life. If asked how things are, they could respond with something like this "This isn't my best day but I'm moving forward." And that person needs to focus on the one or two good things that day so they can raise their vibration to a higher level where more good things can reach them. When you focus on what's wrong every day, you become a victim, and victims are in a place of smallness that can never bring the positive results they hope for.
Look again at the quote from Mahatma Gandhi. Every thought becomes a word, which becomes your behavior(how you act), which in turn becomes your values(how you see life), and that becomes your destiny(the experiences you create in your life). So you can see the importance of what your thoughts are and how much influence they have on what your life is right now.
I believe we've established that your thoughts are where you have to begin if you want your life to show up differently. But here's the catch: You will need to look deeply into your heart and soul to uncover the beliefs and patterns that were ingrained into you when you came into this earth, because they may be buried so deep you do not realize how they are influencing your thoughts and creating what shows up in your life. Look for the core concepts that frame your thinking - where your mind first travels as some thought or experience appears in your life.
It all begins with your self-talk - the conversations you have with yourself. Some call it mind chatter, and for most of us it is constantly active and giving us ideas of how to think, feel and behave. So that's where you begin - becoming aware of your self-talk and how you interact in your own conversations. For example, when you think about money, what comes to your mind first? Is it wishing for more or frustrated because there's not quite enough to pay your expenses or perhaps buy something you want to purchase? Are you a little panicked because you owe a bunch to creditors and don't see how to pay the debt, and it shows up in physical ailments like insomnia, stress, depression, anxiety, fatigue or even anger?
Here's a possibility for changing the outcome to financial freedom. Actually picture money coming into your bank account and begin being thankful for its arrival long before there's any evidence of its appearance. Even if you still have doubts it will come, you are focusing on your desire, and the mere fact of being grateful for it upfront changes your vibration to a positive one. Over time, you can actually shift your entire thinking to "Yes, I can have this and then be open to receive it."
It behooves you to begin thinking about your words and your self-talk. If you really pay attention I can pretty much guarantee most of these conversations will have negative origins. Pick any aspect of your life and focus on what your thoughts are when you first think of that situation. Was it a negative thought that brought the concept of lack or deficiency of some kind, or was it a positive thought of overflowing and abundant something?
The power to change your life through the conscious effort of your thinking is in your mind - you have complete control over the process of your thoughts. It will undoubtedly take some conscious effort to become aware of where your thoughts go before you can grasp what needs to be changed in order to create a different scenario in your life. However, you can do it if you truly wish to create a better, more loving life. Change your conversations and you can absolutely change your life!
Dr. Carolyn Porter is an internationally recognized author, speaker, life and health restoration coach, angel intuitive and trainer whose passion is empowering individuals so they understand their magnificence and the power they have to create the life they want and deserve. She focuses on helping people with their health in all dimensions: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. Her services include helping people with: spiritual growth, relationship healing, empowerment, new direction, becoming "unstuck," as well as training individuals with certification to become coaches, angel practitioners and her newest service Certified trainer program. She has helped hundreds of people worldwide to change their life for the better through these services, and would be honored to help you on your life's journey.
She has authored multiple books, eBooks and audios that include: Angel Love; Adrenal Fatigue - Real Answers for a Real Problem; Healing with Color; Communication that Works; Attracting Your Soulmate; From Victim to Victor.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9342360
Saturday, 5 March 2016
Whither Islam
The news
N* Shia militants kill Sunni Muslims in Iraq.
* ISIS (Sunni militants), kill Shias and Yezdi Christians in Iraq.
* Turkey airforce planes bombard PKK (Kurd Workers Party), but not ISIS.
* Shia Houthis fight with Sunni Al Qaeda in Yemen.
A disintegrated coalition of Iraq, Syria, Turkey and US fights ISIS.
US, a cautious half-hearted ally, offers air support only.
Strange bed-fellows!
It helps ISIS.
Credibility of Islam
Is credibility of Islam at stake?
Yes!
ISIS's barbarian beheading of journalists has tarnished the image of Islam.
Does Quran support beheadings?
Unlikely!
But, let's find out the truth.
Then, let's educate illiterate Muslims including Muslim women.
It will wipe out the illogical, and fundamentalist beliefs from their minds.
It will dilute impact of fundamentalist interpretation of Quran by clerics.
Now
Militant Shias kill innocent Sunnis in Iraq.
Militant ISIS kills innocent Shias and Yezidis.
The instigators - the Shia and Sunni clerics are in safe havens:
Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, and other Muslim countries.
Despicable violence
Who motivates ISIS fighters to behead those, who disagree?
*The cause of intra-Islamic killings is despicable.
*The inter-religion militancy against Christians/Hindus is despicable too.
*Taliban/Boko Haram atrocities, against Muslim/Christian girls' education are equally despicable.
Islam's glorious past and credibility has reached its nadir.
The future
The upswing from its nadir has already begun.
Malala has won Noble Prize.
Clerics are losing.
Malalas are winning.
The future belongs to Malalas.
Let's emancipate Muslim women.
It will pay rich dividends in war against militancy.
The problem
We have to explain Islam to Muslims of the world, objectively.
The clerics consider humanity as a huge market for their religion/sect.
A Shia cleric wants to grab bigger share of market for Shia sect.
ISIS clerics want bigger share for Sunni sect.
It is a corporate war: ruthless and result oriented targeted market share.
A spiritual war
It is not a spiritual war.
We all fight spiritual battle, within.
Our soul battles with sensual temptations, and tries to resist.
There is no violence in spiritual battle, within.
Religious wars between social Gods
Religious violence is a war of supremacy between social Gods.
Yes, there is one absolute God in the world.
But we have number of social Gods.
Social Gods have different names in different civilizations.
We have complicated the issue there after.
We believe Allah is a Muslim God.
We believe, there is a Sunni Allah and there is a Shia Allah.
The two, shall never meet, in peace.
There is a Christian God.
There are Hindu Gods - 330 millions of them.
Buddhists believe there is a cause to an effect called universe.
But they don't call it - the cause - a God.
Unity in diversity
We are unable to see unity of humanity in diversity.
We enjoy diversity in sensual pleasures, in the world.
We love Thai food, Chinese food, Japanese food, and any other variety.
We are comfortable with a friend of any nationality, religion, and colour.
But we are ill at ease with other religions.
Why can't we learn to enjoy, diversity of all religions and religious sects?
Why are we possessive about our religion and insist on its supremacy?
Different geographical locations, and languages create different religions.
There are different names of Gods, and beliefs in different religions.
But look close, the prescribed behaviour is same, in all religions.
Nobody gives due importance to behaviour in a religion.
We fight over beliefs.
This is the tragedy of humanity.
We don't understand basics of religions.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8765804
N* Shia militants kill Sunni Muslims in Iraq.
* ISIS (Sunni militants), kill Shias and Yezdi Christians in Iraq.
* Turkey airforce planes bombard PKK (Kurd Workers Party), but not ISIS.
* Shia Houthis fight with Sunni Al Qaeda in Yemen.
A disintegrated coalition of Iraq, Syria, Turkey and US fights ISIS.
US, a cautious half-hearted ally, offers air support only.
Strange bed-fellows!
It helps ISIS.
Credibility of Islam
Is credibility of Islam at stake?
Yes!
ISIS's barbarian beheading of journalists has tarnished the image of Islam.
Does Quran support beheadings?
Unlikely!
But, let's find out the truth.
Then, let's educate illiterate Muslims including Muslim women.
It will wipe out the illogical, and fundamentalist beliefs from their minds.
It will dilute impact of fundamentalist interpretation of Quran by clerics.
Now
Militant Shias kill innocent Sunnis in Iraq.
Militant ISIS kills innocent Shias and Yezidis.
The instigators - the Shia and Sunni clerics are in safe havens:
Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, and other Muslim countries.
Despicable violence
Who motivates ISIS fighters to behead those, who disagree?
*The cause of intra-Islamic killings is despicable.
*The inter-religion militancy against Christians/Hindus is despicable too.
*Taliban/Boko Haram atrocities, against Muslim/Christian girls' education are equally despicable.
Islam's glorious past and credibility has reached its nadir.
The future
The upswing from its nadir has already begun.
Malala has won Noble Prize.
Clerics are losing.
Malalas are winning.
The future belongs to Malalas.
Let's emancipate Muslim women.
It will pay rich dividends in war against militancy.
The problem
We have to explain Islam to Muslims of the world, objectively.
The clerics consider humanity as a huge market for their religion/sect.
A Shia cleric wants to grab bigger share of market for Shia sect.
ISIS clerics want bigger share for Sunni sect.
It is a corporate war: ruthless and result oriented targeted market share.
A spiritual war
It is not a spiritual war.
We all fight spiritual battle, within.
Our soul battles with sensual temptations, and tries to resist.
There is no violence in spiritual battle, within.
Religious wars between social Gods
Religious violence is a war of supremacy between social Gods.
Yes, there is one absolute God in the world.
But we have number of social Gods.
Social Gods have different names in different civilizations.
We have complicated the issue there after.
We believe Allah is a Muslim God.
We believe, there is a Sunni Allah and there is a Shia Allah.
The two, shall never meet, in peace.
There is a Christian God.
There are Hindu Gods - 330 millions of them.
Buddhists believe there is a cause to an effect called universe.
But they don't call it - the cause - a God.
Unity in diversity
We are unable to see unity of humanity in diversity.
We enjoy diversity in sensual pleasures, in the world.
We love Thai food, Chinese food, Japanese food, and any other variety.
We are comfortable with a friend of any nationality, religion, and colour.
But we are ill at ease with other religions.
Why can't we learn to enjoy, diversity of all religions and religious sects?
Why are we possessive about our religion and insist on its supremacy?
Different geographical locations, and languages create different religions.
There are different names of Gods, and beliefs in different religions.
But look close, the prescribed behaviour is same, in all religions.
Nobody gives due importance to behaviour in a religion.
We fight over beliefs.
This is the tragedy of humanity.
We don't understand basics of religions.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8765804
Analysis Of Reasons Why Some Black Celebrities And Black People Reject Being Themselves
What is it that makes some blacks, once they reach a status of success in Hollywood or other high stations, seem to want to deny or minimize their heritage? For example, Raven Symone is a beautiful, intelligent and accomplished woman, but she recently stated she didn't want to be labelled as black.
Unfortunately, she grew up under white supremacy, which is the exaltation of white history, white values, white theology, white standards above all other people. I will never trash my beloved sister. I instead seek to understand her and others.
Under white supremacy we have been fed a steady diet of "white accomplishments" and a minimizing/hiding of "black accomplishments".
Nearly all of our childhood stories were of white heroes. For 12 years of school we learned nothing but European history and accomplishments. In church we were given images of white prophets, white angels, white Mary, white Jesus and a white God. We were told go to sleep on Dec 24th and a Caucasian man(Santa) will bring you everything you want on Dec 25th.
Couple this indoctrination in white supremacy with the images given that Africa is savage, we were swinging from trees like animals, we haven't contributed to human history... and combine these images with the negative images we have today of black on black killings, self hate, the way we glamorize black ignorance on BET, reality shows, etc. Are we surprised that a Raven Symone would wish to ignore her background when the world has given so much negativity to being black?
According to the Psychology Dictionary "Avoidance" is a disorder that:
"refers to the practice or an instance of keeping away from particular situations, activities, environments, individuals, things, or subjects of thought because of either (a) the anticipated negative consequences of such or (b) the anticipated anxious or painful feelings associated with those things or events. Psychology explains avoidance in several ways: as a means of coping- as a response to fear or shame- and as a principal component in anxiety disorders."
Our giant Carter G. Woodson told us over 50 years ago in his book: The Miseducation Of The Negro,
"If you can control a man's thinking you do not have to worry about his action. When you determine what a man shall think you do not have to concern yourself about what he will do. If you make a man feel that he is inferior, you do not have to compel him to accept an inferior status, for he will seek it himself. If you make a man think that he is justly an outcast, you do not have to order him to the back door. He will go without being told; and if there is no back door, his very nature will demand one."
White Supremacy is a sickness that produces the diseases of Black inferiority, Black self hate and wanting to be white in black skin. The cure for these diseases is a good dose of knowledge of self, love of self & kind and valuing our history. When we know who we are we won't seek to hide it we will instead shout it proudly!
#mywalkwithfarrakhan
#farrakhanstudent
Brother Mustafaa Abdul Muhammad is a Black Man who is a follower of the Islamic faith. Through independent religious studies developed an ecumenical view of the world's religions and the people of God.
He has been public speaking since 1999 and writing since 1997.
He has been featured on the Radio, Newspapers, public speaking events and at Mosques/Churches telling his story and offering his understanding of Almighty God's plan for salvation.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8758148
Unfortunately, she grew up under white supremacy, which is the exaltation of white history, white values, white theology, white standards above all other people. I will never trash my beloved sister. I instead seek to understand her and others.
Under white supremacy we have been fed a steady diet of "white accomplishments" and a minimizing/hiding of "black accomplishments".
Nearly all of our childhood stories were of white heroes. For 12 years of school we learned nothing but European history and accomplishments. In church we were given images of white prophets, white angels, white Mary, white Jesus and a white God. We were told go to sleep on Dec 24th and a Caucasian man(Santa) will bring you everything you want on Dec 25th.
Couple this indoctrination in white supremacy with the images given that Africa is savage, we were swinging from trees like animals, we haven't contributed to human history... and combine these images with the negative images we have today of black on black killings, self hate, the way we glamorize black ignorance on BET, reality shows, etc. Are we surprised that a Raven Symone would wish to ignore her background when the world has given so much negativity to being black?
According to the Psychology Dictionary "Avoidance" is a disorder that:
"refers to the practice or an instance of keeping away from particular situations, activities, environments, individuals, things, or subjects of thought because of either (a) the anticipated negative consequences of such or (b) the anticipated anxious or painful feelings associated with those things or events. Psychology explains avoidance in several ways: as a means of coping- as a response to fear or shame- and as a principal component in anxiety disorders."
Our giant Carter G. Woodson told us over 50 years ago in his book: The Miseducation Of The Negro,
"If you can control a man's thinking you do not have to worry about his action. When you determine what a man shall think you do not have to concern yourself about what he will do. If you make a man feel that he is inferior, you do not have to compel him to accept an inferior status, for he will seek it himself. If you make a man think that he is justly an outcast, you do not have to order him to the back door. He will go without being told; and if there is no back door, his very nature will demand one."
White Supremacy is a sickness that produces the diseases of Black inferiority, Black self hate and wanting to be white in black skin. The cure for these diseases is a good dose of knowledge of self, love of self & kind and valuing our history. When we know who we are we won't seek to hide it we will instead shout it proudly!
#mywalkwithfarrakhan
#farrakhanstudent
Brother Mustafaa Abdul Muhammad is a Black Man who is a follower of the Islamic faith. Through independent religious studies developed an ecumenical view of the world's religions and the people of God.
He has been public speaking since 1999 and writing since 1997.
He has been featured on the Radio, Newspapers, public speaking events and at Mosques/Churches telling his story and offering his understanding of Almighty God's plan for salvation.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8758148
Black People And Our Fascination With Following Dead Leaders
"Why do you seek the living one among the dead?" Luke 24:5
We love to worship the dead. We wait till our good leaders die then we name a street after them and/ or put up a symbolic picture and claim that was my man... I follow him.
Meanwhile, the living leader is ignored while we quote the words of a dead leader, marvel over his deeds and wonder what he would do if he was present. We can speculate all day but will never know how they will respond to present conditions.
Once the[in the present] ignored living leader is dead we give him his props, put up a picture, name an alley after him and the cycle continues when a new living leader comes among us.
While I am speaking of this as an issue within the context of the black community there is evidence of this being a universal phenomenon. In the spiritual traditions, we find that when the living man Jesus came along the people favored the dead Moses to a living example in their midst with Jesus. When Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) came along the people preferred the physically non present Jesus to the present living man in their midst. We still failed in modern times, because the Muslim world rejected the living Elijah Muhammad in favor of the deceased Prophet Muhammad(PBUH).
It was not until Malcolm X was dead, buried and white America said it was alright that the majority of black people embraced Malcolm. However, while Malcolm was alive walking the streets of Harlem, NY black people would jump off the sidewalk to avoid him. But now its okay?
The same with Martin Luther King. Many of Dr. King's fellow preachers/ministers shunned him, because they said he was stirring up trouble. Even our government worked against him while he was alive. In one city he visited the black preachers met him at the bus station and told him to "get back on and leave." But now that he is dead everything is alright? Oh, the good Dr and we have streets, holidays and statutes in his honor while hypocritically we uphold the same evil he went to his grave fighting.
I guess The Honorable Brother Minister Farrakhan will have to be dead and buried before we, collectively, show him his due respect and honor? Once they, you know who they are, say it is safe we will embrace Farrakhan, put a picture on our wall, name a street for him and marvel how great he was. He has dedicated near 60 years of his life to the progress of our race, yet we treat him like a stranger. He was responsible for the largest and most peaceful gathering in this nation with the Million Man March. That is leadership influence to be able to get over a million men in one place, of different backgrounds, but for one purpose. Who else could do that? Most couldn't even call a "Ten Man" March and get 10 people to show up.
I wonder how many of our deceased leaders that we worship would we follow if they were present today? To follow a man means you strive to match up your actions to his. We claim Malcolm, but how many who claim him are getting a X to replace the slave name, dropping the pork, becoming Muslims and adopting a revolutionary posture?
See it is so easy to say you are following someone when they are not here to check your steps. A living leader will challenge you. A living leader will correct you. A living leader will require of you excellence. A living leader will have expectations of you.
Dr. King was a preacher, but he got out of the pulpit and worked in the streets for social change. He said he was against the triple evils of "racism" "poverty" and "militarism". We claim to follow him, but most have reduced him to "I have a dream", so they can keep on dreaming and not follow him. If Malcolm and Martin were here they wouldn't be quiet in the face of much of their same societal issues still being present.
So, back to the original observation... Why do we obsess over dead leaders and leave a present man hanging by himself? Are we that mentally dead that we can only relate to dead men and women? I love all of the "heroes" and "sheroes" who have gone on before and I draw deep inspiration from their struggles to make life better for the black family, but inspiration is not leadership. I show my honor and respect to them by walking with the present man on the scene who is trying to exemplify the principles for which they lived and ultimately died for.
Your leaders or advocates need your help while they are living not your praise after they are dead.
Thank you for reading these few words!
#mywalkwithfarrakhan
#farrakhanstudent
Brother Mustafaa Abdul Muhammad is a Black Man who is a follower of the Islamic faith. Through independent religious studies developed an ecumenical view of the world's religions and the people of God.
He has been public speaking since 1999 and writing since 1997.
He has been featured on the Radio, Newspapers, public speaking events and at Mosques/Churches telling his story and offering his understanding of Almighty God's plan for salvation.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8773064
We love to worship the dead. We wait till our good leaders die then we name a street after them and/ or put up a symbolic picture and claim that was my man... I follow him.
Meanwhile, the living leader is ignored while we quote the words of a dead leader, marvel over his deeds and wonder what he would do if he was present. We can speculate all day but will never know how they will respond to present conditions.
Once the[in the present] ignored living leader is dead we give him his props, put up a picture, name an alley after him and the cycle continues when a new living leader comes among us.
While I am speaking of this as an issue within the context of the black community there is evidence of this being a universal phenomenon. In the spiritual traditions, we find that when the living man Jesus came along the people favored the dead Moses to a living example in their midst with Jesus. When Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) came along the people preferred the physically non present Jesus to the present living man in their midst. We still failed in modern times, because the Muslim world rejected the living Elijah Muhammad in favor of the deceased Prophet Muhammad(PBUH).
It was not until Malcolm X was dead, buried and white America said it was alright that the majority of black people embraced Malcolm. However, while Malcolm was alive walking the streets of Harlem, NY black people would jump off the sidewalk to avoid him. But now its okay?
The same with Martin Luther King. Many of Dr. King's fellow preachers/ministers shunned him, because they said he was stirring up trouble. Even our government worked against him while he was alive. In one city he visited the black preachers met him at the bus station and told him to "get back on and leave." But now that he is dead everything is alright? Oh, the good Dr and we have streets, holidays and statutes in his honor while hypocritically we uphold the same evil he went to his grave fighting.
I guess The Honorable Brother Minister Farrakhan will have to be dead and buried before we, collectively, show him his due respect and honor? Once they, you know who they are, say it is safe we will embrace Farrakhan, put a picture on our wall, name a street for him and marvel how great he was. He has dedicated near 60 years of his life to the progress of our race, yet we treat him like a stranger. He was responsible for the largest and most peaceful gathering in this nation with the Million Man March. That is leadership influence to be able to get over a million men in one place, of different backgrounds, but for one purpose. Who else could do that? Most couldn't even call a "Ten Man" March and get 10 people to show up.
I wonder how many of our deceased leaders that we worship would we follow if they were present today? To follow a man means you strive to match up your actions to his. We claim Malcolm, but how many who claim him are getting a X to replace the slave name, dropping the pork, becoming Muslims and adopting a revolutionary posture?
See it is so easy to say you are following someone when they are not here to check your steps. A living leader will challenge you. A living leader will correct you. A living leader will require of you excellence. A living leader will have expectations of you.
Dr. King was a preacher, but he got out of the pulpit and worked in the streets for social change. He said he was against the triple evils of "racism" "poverty" and "militarism". We claim to follow him, but most have reduced him to "I have a dream", so they can keep on dreaming and not follow him. If Malcolm and Martin were here they wouldn't be quiet in the face of much of their same societal issues still being present.
So, back to the original observation... Why do we obsess over dead leaders and leave a present man hanging by himself? Are we that mentally dead that we can only relate to dead men and women? I love all of the "heroes" and "sheroes" who have gone on before and I draw deep inspiration from their struggles to make life better for the black family, but inspiration is not leadership. I show my honor and respect to them by walking with the present man on the scene who is trying to exemplify the principles for which they lived and ultimately died for.
Your leaders or advocates need your help while they are living not your praise after they are dead.
Thank you for reading these few words!
#mywalkwithfarrakhan
#farrakhanstudent
Brother Mustafaa Abdul Muhammad is a Black Man who is a follower of the Islamic faith. Through independent religious studies developed an ecumenical view of the world's religions and the people of God.
He has been public speaking since 1999 and writing since 1997.
He has been featured on the Radio, Newspapers, public speaking events and at Mosques/Churches telling his story and offering his understanding of Almighty God's plan for salvation.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8773064
Mind Control and Privacy Violation
Mind control can only be conducted after knowledge of the internal operations of the mind are acquired. This could be accomplished through a subject willingly giving in-depth information about themselves and/or allowing in-depth examinations to be performed by psychologist. This type of exploring into the heart and mind is necessary to understand the parameters that control mechanisms that governs a specific subject's behavior. You can't begin to develop any type of device that drives a human until you fully understand how external stimuli incites them.
There are devices that were developed to control humans or some aspect of human nature. An individual device alone isn't sufficient for the tasks necessary for mind control. There must be several devices used. Each device must focus on a particular type of parameter. These are but not limited to emotional, conscientiousness, and perception. Using these devices you can probe an individual to find how they respond to certain stimuli, record the results of the subjects output, and use it to build control specifications. The control spec will only hold as true as long as the subject is in the same state the spec was obtained under. As the individual state changes the stimuli produce different outputs.
It won't be easy to gather results if the subject is aware of the probing. A willing subject might not work very well even though they desire to cooperate. This is obvious because you're probing awareness. To get authentic output from a subject, they must be in a grounded state or in an average state of awareness, meaning that they're unconscious of the examinations. Only then can the output be used to determine control specifications. There is no way to get consent from a subject unless they know what they're consenting to. It may be possible to allow a vague understanding of what the probing but that would be risking the authenticity of the experiment.
During the time mind control was being developed the technology needed to comprehensively conduct such experiments, without the subject's knowledge wasn't available. Now through the advancements mainly in digital technology, there are many way to pry into the heart and mind of an individual without their consent. The same technology has also enabled development of more efficient and capable mind control devices. Mind control devices are not to be confused with traditional devices commonly used by people every day. Mind control devices consist of different component types, some are man-made hardware, other components are humans with certain capabilities fit for a specific subject and chemicals are also common components of these devices. A group of these components can be combined to operate on a specific parameter of a subject. These are conceptual devices not always connected through physical material but by purpose and cooperation. Many of these mind control devices can be created to send certain types of input data that incites the subject in ways that produce control specifications. They are meticulously developed and maintained because they are expensive and time consuming to build.
Each type of control parameter produces a different effect when stimulated. The stimulation can be deliberate (done by a human agency) or a result of natural relatively unintended events. In most cases the control is by some outside event. What we're interested in here is intended control initiated by a human agency. The change in one control type affects the others, creating a complex state change. A fully conscience person will attract many outside stimuli. Given the possible states it may be nearly impossible to control a fully conscience human.
There are interferences that must be dealt with to gain reliable control of the mind. Natural phenomena will always present a problem with undesirable state changes during mind control. This interference must be filtered. Acquired control specifications obtained from probing at a grounded state can only serve as the basis for other mind control specifications derived from measuring the deviation from the grounded state output. Filtering can be accomplished by controlling perception in such a way that brings the subject back to a grounded state. Measuring changes makes developing mind control devices more complex. Dynamic changing of control parameters require many specialized members or multi-purpose members that can handle several of the state changes.
Mind control experiments aren't isolated to individual subjects. Subjects used in these experiments can be small and large groups of living organisms, people, animals, plants, insects, other conscious entities that can be affected by the stimuli. In cases where human subjects are involved the diminishing of the natural respect for human life or freedom of choice is required. Those involved in financing mind control projects are usually privileged or have access to large amounts of resources and see it as an investment in a powerful resource. Their carnal lust for power negates the respect they naturally have in their hearts for others, and the alien force of greed takes over. The result is a massive violation of human rights that affects every man, women, child, and other conscious creations on earth.
At the core of the activities involved in the acquisition of mind control is the violation of privacy. Privacy violation is the core component needed for acquiring control specifications because, a subject can't be aware of the experiments. Projects related to mind control are delayed, canceled, or fail as a result of leaked information concerning the violation of privacy. People that expose plans to violate human rights are seen as traders or dissident. Usually the right or power to violate privacy comes from a world or national crisis. People financing these projects ride on these crises to make progress in mind control activities. Sometimes even creating crises to strong-arm human rights from members of their society. The struggle to violate human rights comes from those that raise the consciousness of society through distribution of enlightening information. As people begin to see the mysterious agendas of mentally corrupted people in powerful positions, the possibility of mind control gradually diminishes.
Privacy violation tactics that use electronic devices are very effective. They prove that mind control is a possibility especially when working with masses of people. Information released to the public about electronic devices of all kinds being used as tools for privacy violation has altered the consciousness of many people. As a result there are many projects and activist groups working to enforce stronger privacy standards all over the world. Projects such as Tor, I2P, FreeNet, Mixminion, PGP, Linux, Bitcoin, Open Source technology, and others are helping people establish new means of freedom and privacy. The real purpose of these project are hidden in a mystery, just as the importance of privacy is hidden in a mystery. This is because freedom has a hidden dependency on privacy. Establishing again the privacy and freedoms that were cleverly taken won't be easy. There are people working day and night to take control of every empowering freedom in society. On the other hand conscientious people every where are working hard to build systems of all types that greatly diminishes the possibility of gaining control of privacy or mind.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8770586
There are devices that were developed to control humans or some aspect of human nature. An individual device alone isn't sufficient for the tasks necessary for mind control. There must be several devices used. Each device must focus on a particular type of parameter. These are but not limited to emotional, conscientiousness, and perception. Using these devices you can probe an individual to find how they respond to certain stimuli, record the results of the subjects output, and use it to build control specifications. The control spec will only hold as true as long as the subject is in the same state the spec was obtained under. As the individual state changes the stimuli produce different outputs.
It won't be easy to gather results if the subject is aware of the probing. A willing subject might not work very well even though they desire to cooperate. This is obvious because you're probing awareness. To get authentic output from a subject, they must be in a grounded state or in an average state of awareness, meaning that they're unconscious of the examinations. Only then can the output be used to determine control specifications. There is no way to get consent from a subject unless they know what they're consenting to. It may be possible to allow a vague understanding of what the probing but that would be risking the authenticity of the experiment.
During the time mind control was being developed the technology needed to comprehensively conduct such experiments, without the subject's knowledge wasn't available. Now through the advancements mainly in digital technology, there are many way to pry into the heart and mind of an individual without their consent. The same technology has also enabled development of more efficient and capable mind control devices. Mind control devices are not to be confused with traditional devices commonly used by people every day. Mind control devices consist of different component types, some are man-made hardware, other components are humans with certain capabilities fit for a specific subject and chemicals are also common components of these devices. A group of these components can be combined to operate on a specific parameter of a subject. These are conceptual devices not always connected through physical material but by purpose and cooperation. Many of these mind control devices can be created to send certain types of input data that incites the subject in ways that produce control specifications. They are meticulously developed and maintained because they are expensive and time consuming to build.
Each type of control parameter produces a different effect when stimulated. The stimulation can be deliberate (done by a human agency) or a result of natural relatively unintended events. In most cases the control is by some outside event. What we're interested in here is intended control initiated by a human agency. The change in one control type affects the others, creating a complex state change. A fully conscience person will attract many outside stimuli. Given the possible states it may be nearly impossible to control a fully conscience human.
There are interferences that must be dealt with to gain reliable control of the mind. Natural phenomena will always present a problem with undesirable state changes during mind control. This interference must be filtered. Acquired control specifications obtained from probing at a grounded state can only serve as the basis for other mind control specifications derived from measuring the deviation from the grounded state output. Filtering can be accomplished by controlling perception in such a way that brings the subject back to a grounded state. Measuring changes makes developing mind control devices more complex. Dynamic changing of control parameters require many specialized members or multi-purpose members that can handle several of the state changes.
Mind control experiments aren't isolated to individual subjects. Subjects used in these experiments can be small and large groups of living organisms, people, animals, plants, insects, other conscious entities that can be affected by the stimuli. In cases where human subjects are involved the diminishing of the natural respect for human life or freedom of choice is required. Those involved in financing mind control projects are usually privileged or have access to large amounts of resources and see it as an investment in a powerful resource. Their carnal lust for power negates the respect they naturally have in their hearts for others, and the alien force of greed takes over. The result is a massive violation of human rights that affects every man, women, child, and other conscious creations on earth.
At the core of the activities involved in the acquisition of mind control is the violation of privacy. Privacy violation is the core component needed for acquiring control specifications because, a subject can't be aware of the experiments. Projects related to mind control are delayed, canceled, or fail as a result of leaked information concerning the violation of privacy. People that expose plans to violate human rights are seen as traders or dissident. Usually the right or power to violate privacy comes from a world or national crisis. People financing these projects ride on these crises to make progress in mind control activities. Sometimes even creating crises to strong-arm human rights from members of their society. The struggle to violate human rights comes from those that raise the consciousness of society through distribution of enlightening information. As people begin to see the mysterious agendas of mentally corrupted people in powerful positions, the possibility of mind control gradually diminishes.
Privacy violation tactics that use electronic devices are very effective. They prove that mind control is a possibility especially when working with masses of people. Information released to the public about electronic devices of all kinds being used as tools for privacy violation has altered the consciousness of many people. As a result there are many projects and activist groups working to enforce stronger privacy standards all over the world. Projects such as Tor, I2P, FreeNet, Mixminion, PGP, Linux, Bitcoin, Open Source technology, and others are helping people establish new means of freedom and privacy. The real purpose of these project are hidden in a mystery, just as the importance of privacy is hidden in a mystery. This is because freedom has a hidden dependency on privacy. Establishing again the privacy and freedoms that were cleverly taken won't be easy. There are people working day and night to take control of every empowering freedom in society. On the other hand conscientious people every where are working hard to build systems of all types that greatly diminishes the possibility of gaining control of privacy or mind.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8770586
What Would You Do With 100 Euros?
On 22 October 2014, the European Parliament will be voting on the EU's 2015 budget. This can be expected to make a shocking contribution to animal suffering across Europe: historically, 40% of the EU's total budget (55 billion euros - or 100 euros per citizen - per year) has served to prop up industrial farming via subsidies awarded under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
In other words, I may be an animal welfare campaigner; as an EU citizen I still have no choice but to subsidise animal abuse (along with environmental destruction, climate change and human health hazards) through my taxes. In England where I'm currently living, the NGO Friends of the Earth has calculated that 700 million pounds of the CAP can go towards industrial farming in just one year.
Not only does this disregard the growing concern of European citizens for the treatment of animals (as indicated by the Eurobarometer on animal welfare), but it also flies in the face of the EU's own animal welfare precepts. The Lisbon Treaty states that "the Union and the Member States shall, since animals are sentient beings, pay full regard to the welfare requirements of animals", and the European Convention for the protection of animals professes that "animals should not suffer pain, injury, fear or distress."
The extreme animal suffering caused by industrial farming is well documented - so much so that it has motivated the EU to adopt animal welfare directives. Some of these (such as the "Pigs Directive") remain largely ignored by a number of Member States (France sadly springs to mind), and there is a real enforcement issue. But somehow this is par for the course: we campaign for improvements; regulations come in; producers resist change; we campaign for enforcement. So perhaps more stupefying than these hurdles is the fundamental flaw in the EU's workings - sponsoring industrial farming on the one hand and regulating it on the other. Problem is, money speaks louder than the word of the law. And, at the risk of repeating myself, it's our money.
Our money is supporting an unfair system whose economics would collapse without it. The reason I say the CAP "props up" industrial farming is that agricultural subsidies are one of the hidden costs of factory farms, enabling them to produce food which is sold to consumers at prices that fail to reflect true production costs. When we buy conventional (i.e. industrially produced) meat, eggs or dairy at the supermarket, the price we pay at the till is only part of our bill; we make up for the additional cost through our taxes.
This additional cost includes subsidies on cereal for the feed of animals raised indoors (European Commission data shows that 58% of EU cereal production goes into animal feed), budgets for cleaning up the environmental damage caused by factory farms (one striking example is the millions of euros that French local authorities, i.e. taxpayers, have been spending on clearing Brittany's beaches of tonnes of green algae resulting from the high concentration of factory farms in the area), and the burden of diet-related diseases on national health systems (in the UK, several studies have placed this around the 6 billion pound mark annually).
More specifically, this is how the CAP favours industrial farming: it makes direct subsidy payments by hectare under its Single Payment Scheme (so that the largest producers and landowners receive the most money); it awards large payments for cereal production and places high tariffs on cereal imports - except on soy, which is used for protein in animal feed (thus minimising input costs for industrial farmers who rely heavily on cereal and protein to feed the animals which they have taken off the land); it grants export subsidies to the processing industry (increasing reliance on cheaper industrially produced meat and dairy and encouraging dumping, which spells disaster for small farmers in developing countries); and it awards payments based on historical receipt of subsidies and historical production quotas (thus perpetuating the flaws in the system).
If major costs weren't hidden or externalised, the products of industrial farming would have to be priced a lot more highly, and there might then not be such a mass market for them. In fact, the whole concept of factory farming (maximising output while minimising costs) would become lame and therefore useless to the large corporations currently hogging the market. In the meantime, people are buying two chickens for £5 in a Tesco's or ordering a "bargain bucket" in a KFC, feeling they're getting a good deal when what they're actually getting is poor-quality meat (three times more fat and a third less protein than 40 years ago, with an added dose of antibiotic residue and Campylobacter) that's costing them - and the rest of us - dearly. Let's face it, there's no such thing as cheap meat, milk or eggs - they're just a myth for naïve consumers.
With 100 euros each, this is what we've collectively been buying for Europe: miserable living (and dying) conditions for 90% of so-called "meat" pigs, 90% of broiler chickens and over two thirds of laying hens. Such is the extent of industrial farming. Oh, and there's one more thing we've been paying for: farmers to breed and raise bulls for use in bullfighting. But with Green MEP Bas Eickhout's amendment to prohibit such subsidies due to be re-tabled, we have a chance to influence the European Parliament to end agricultural subsidies on breeding and raising bulls for bullfighting.
If you're a European citizen who doesn't want their 100 euros spent on supporting the bullfighting industry, please visit the "Over to you" page at heleneodonnell.com to sign the petition - thank you.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8775410
In other words, I may be an animal welfare campaigner; as an EU citizen I still have no choice but to subsidise animal abuse (along with environmental destruction, climate change and human health hazards) through my taxes. In England where I'm currently living, the NGO Friends of the Earth has calculated that 700 million pounds of the CAP can go towards industrial farming in just one year.
Not only does this disregard the growing concern of European citizens for the treatment of animals (as indicated by the Eurobarometer on animal welfare), but it also flies in the face of the EU's own animal welfare precepts. The Lisbon Treaty states that "the Union and the Member States shall, since animals are sentient beings, pay full regard to the welfare requirements of animals", and the European Convention for the protection of animals professes that "animals should not suffer pain, injury, fear or distress."
The extreme animal suffering caused by industrial farming is well documented - so much so that it has motivated the EU to adopt animal welfare directives. Some of these (such as the "Pigs Directive") remain largely ignored by a number of Member States (France sadly springs to mind), and there is a real enforcement issue. But somehow this is par for the course: we campaign for improvements; regulations come in; producers resist change; we campaign for enforcement. So perhaps more stupefying than these hurdles is the fundamental flaw in the EU's workings - sponsoring industrial farming on the one hand and regulating it on the other. Problem is, money speaks louder than the word of the law. And, at the risk of repeating myself, it's our money.
Our money is supporting an unfair system whose economics would collapse without it. The reason I say the CAP "props up" industrial farming is that agricultural subsidies are one of the hidden costs of factory farms, enabling them to produce food which is sold to consumers at prices that fail to reflect true production costs. When we buy conventional (i.e. industrially produced) meat, eggs or dairy at the supermarket, the price we pay at the till is only part of our bill; we make up for the additional cost through our taxes.
This additional cost includes subsidies on cereal for the feed of animals raised indoors (European Commission data shows that 58% of EU cereal production goes into animal feed), budgets for cleaning up the environmental damage caused by factory farms (one striking example is the millions of euros that French local authorities, i.e. taxpayers, have been spending on clearing Brittany's beaches of tonnes of green algae resulting from the high concentration of factory farms in the area), and the burden of diet-related diseases on national health systems (in the UK, several studies have placed this around the 6 billion pound mark annually).
More specifically, this is how the CAP favours industrial farming: it makes direct subsidy payments by hectare under its Single Payment Scheme (so that the largest producers and landowners receive the most money); it awards large payments for cereal production and places high tariffs on cereal imports - except on soy, which is used for protein in animal feed (thus minimising input costs for industrial farmers who rely heavily on cereal and protein to feed the animals which they have taken off the land); it grants export subsidies to the processing industry (increasing reliance on cheaper industrially produced meat and dairy and encouraging dumping, which spells disaster for small farmers in developing countries); and it awards payments based on historical receipt of subsidies and historical production quotas (thus perpetuating the flaws in the system).
If major costs weren't hidden or externalised, the products of industrial farming would have to be priced a lot more highly, and there might then not be such a mass market for them. In fact, the whole concept of factory farming (maximising output while minimising costs) would become lame and therefore useless to the large corporations currently hogging the market. In the meantime, people are buying two chickens for £5 in a Tesco's or ordering a "bargain bucket" in a KFC, feeling they're getting a good deal when what they're actually getting is poor-quality meat (three times more fat and a third less protein than 40 years ago, with an added dose of antibiotic residue and Campylobacter) that's costing them - and the rest of us - dearly. Let's face it, there's no such thing as cheap meat, milk or eggs - they're just a myth for naïve consumers.
With 100 euros each, this is what we've collectively been buying for Europe: miserable living (and dying) conditions for 90% of so-called "meat" pigs, 90% of broiler chickens and over two thirds of laying hens. Such is the extent of industrial farming. Oh, and there's one more thing we've been paying for: farmers to breed and raise bulls for use in bullfighting. But with Green MEP Bas Eickhout's amendment to prohibit such subsidies due to be re-tabled, we have a chance to influence the European Parliament to end agricultural subsidies on breeding and raising bulls for bullfighting.
If you're a European citizen who doesn't want their 100 euros spent on supporting the bullfighting industry, please visit the "Over to you" page at heleneodonnell.com to sign the petition - thank you.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8775410
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