Our Health Part 5

Health is a very important issue. It relates to our body, mind, and soul. Also, health is a subject that
is always interesting to learn about. To inspire others and to help others is part of a goal of our lives.
Strong health has a manifold of benefits. We know this. Regardless of our age, sex, nationality,
creed, or physical ability, we can bless others and in doing that, we bless ourselves. It is true that
exercise can help to prevent excess weight gain or help maintain weight loss. Calories are burned
when we engage in physical activity. The more intense the activity, the more calories are burned.
Even taking the stairs instead of the elevator or increasing household chores can burn calories too.
Exercise can combat health conditions and diseases. Being active can boost high density lipoprotein
(HDL) or good cholesterol and decrease unhealthy triglycerides (a type of fat or lipid found in your
blood. When you eat, your body converts any calories it doesn't need to use right away into
triglycerides. The triglycerides are stored in your fat cells. Later, hormones release triglycerides for
energy between meals. If you regularly eat more calories than you burn, particularly "easy" calories
like carbohydrates and fats, you may have high triglycerides which is called hypertriglyceridemia).
So, Exercise can keep the human blood to run smoothly. That can decrease the risk of
cardiovascular diseases. Regular physical activity can help people prevent or manage many health

problems including concerns like stroke, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, depression, and
certain types of cancer, arthritis, and falls. Physical activities stimulate brain chemicals that make
people more happy and relaxed. Exercise develops more brain functions and grows intelligence. It
can boost confidence and self-esteem. It can improve muscle strength, endurance, and give more
oxygen and nutrients to the tissues and the cardiovascular system. The heart and lungs work more
efficiently after exercise. Regular physical activity can improve sleep and exercise is just plain fun. It
is important to note that exercise is diverse from running, treadmill, lifting weights, and stretching.
Also, doctors and fitness experts can help anyone with exercise plans. 30 minutes of physical
activity every day is great to follow too. Trying something new is exciting as well in terms of
exercise.

Lynn Griffith has written information about 20 herbs that can be effective in the treatment of
cancer. She has listed studies too as information. We know that herbs have been used as medicine
to help humanity for thousands of years. Like always, people should talk with a qualified doctor to
discuss options, dosages, etc. before using herbs and other forms of medicine. One great herb is
astraglus. Astragalus is known to improve the human immune system and stimulate the bodies
natural production of interferon as well as identify rogue cells. The MD Anderson Cancer Center in
Texas conducted research that concluded that taking Astragalus with radiotherapy doubled survival
rate times. Red Clover, as said by Royal Marsden cancer centers, found that it has the ability to fight
against estrogen driven cancers, including breast and prostate cancers. Echinacea is an herb that is
a powerful immune system booster and is well known for its impact on colds. Research also
indicates that it could be helpful for brain tumors due to its ability to increase white blood cells.

Human Health and the Heart

The human heart is one of the most important organs of the human body. The heart beats
constantly. Scientists say that the heart beats about 100,000 times every single day. The heart on
average is about the size of the human fist, but it has the very important purpose of keeping blood
flowing throughout the 60,000 miles of blood vessels that feed human organs and tissues. That is
why when there is damage to the heart or its valves; the heart has to work harder just to keep up
with the bodys demand of blood. So, the human heart is very critical in the development of the
human body. To exercise, to eat healthy, well balanced meals, and to take time to sleep will allow
the heart to be in great shape. Each heart of a human being is different. They arent identical. It is a
fact that heart disease is the biggest killer of both men and women in America according to the
American Heart Association.
To massively decrease the risk of heart disease, experts has always said that we shouldnt smoke,
keep our blood pressures and cholesterol levels in check, and watch for the sings of trouble with
our hearts. There are other forms of great advice to strengthen heart health. A great laugh can send
20 percent more blood flowing through your entire body. This can decrease stress. Laughter is a
good heart medicine. Eating fish can reduce cardiovascular disease as well. "Twice a week, swap a
less-healthy protein such as a beef, pork, [or] lamb, which carries a higher risk of saturated fat and
cholesterol, for a leaner protein such as fish," suggests Dr. Castelli. "Good fish options include
sardines, anchovies, salmon, herring, mackerel, trout and even canned, white tuna." Isometric
exercises or exercise when you contract large muscles without moving the body part can improve
the human heart. People should move. A blood pressure monitor is an easy way to keep an eye on
blood pressure and it can monitor the human heart (including our health in general).

The human heart is a muscular organ made up of many parts. It pumps blood through the blood
vessels of the circulatory system. The human blood provides the body with oxygen and nutrients.
Also, the heart assists in the removal of metabolic wastes. The heart is found in the middle
compartment of the mediastinum in the chest. In humans (including other mammals plus birds), the
heart is divided into four chambers. They are the left and right atria including the lower left and
right ventricles. Commonly the right atrium and ventricle are referred together as the right heart
and their left counterparts as the left heart. A healthy heart has blood flowing in one way through
the heart due to heart valves, which prevent backflow. The heart is enclosed in a protective sac, the
pericardium, which also contains a small amount of fluid. The wall of the heart is made up of three
layers: epicardium, myocardium, and endocardium. The heart pumps blood throughout both
circulatory systems. Blood low in oxygen from the systemic circulation enters the right atrium from
the superior and inferior vena cavae. It passes to the right ventricle. From there, it is pumped into
the pulmonary circulation though the lungs when it receives oxygen and gives off carbon dioxide.
Oxygenated blood then returns to the left atrium, passes through the left ventricle and is pumped
out through the aorta to the systemic circulation (when the oxygen is used and metabolized to
carbon dioxide).

In addition the blood carries nutrients from the liver, and gastrointestinal tract to various organs of
the body, while transporting waste to the liver and kidneys. Normally, each heartbeat that the right
ventricle pumps the same amount of blood into the lungs as the left ventricle pumps to the body.
Veins transport blood to the heart and carry deoxygenated blood (except for the pulmonary and
portal veins). Arteries transport blood away from the heart, and apart from the pulmonary artery
hold oxygenated blood. Their increased distance from the heart cause veins to have lower
pressures than arteries. The heart contracts at a resting rate close to 72 beats per minute. Exercise
temporarily increases the rate, but lowers resting heart rate in the long term, and is good for heart
health.

Other Foods that can develop strong heart health:

Oatmeal (It is high in soluble fiber, which can lower cholesterol. It soaks up the
cholesterol and it is eliminated from the body and not absorbed into the bloodstream
according to Lauren Graf. She is a registered dietician and co-director of the Cardiac
Wellness Program at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City).
Blueberries (According to one recent study, women aged 25 through 42 who ate more
than three servings of blueberries and strawberries a week had a 32% lower risk of heart
attack compared with those who ate less. The authors of the study attributed the
benefit to compounds known as anthocyanins, flavonoids or antioxidants can decrease
blood pressure. Anthocyanins give plans their red and blue colors).
Dark Chocolate (meaning chocolate made up of at least 60-70% cocoa). Dark chocolate
contains flavonoids called polyphenols, which may help blood pressure, clotting, and
inflammation.
Citrus Fruits
Potatoes
Tomatoes
Nuts (like almonds, walnuts, pistachios, peanuts, and macadamia nuts)
Legumes
Green tea
Broccoli, spinach, and kale
Coffee
Flax seeds
Avocado
Pomegranate

The Human Lungs

The human lungs are vital in the body. They are essential for human life. They work all of the time
to pulling in air and dumping out substances too. Breathing brings in oxygen and expels carbon
dioxide (or a waste product of metabolism). We have to breathe in order for us to talk and sing.
They help us breathe literally. Medical conditions related to the lungs include asthma, bronchitis,
emphysema, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD. These illnesses can cause the
lungs airways to be inflamed and cause difficulty breathing. Real advice that I have learned in
dealing with asthma years ago include eating more apples, cleaning areas, and experiencing fresh
air on a consistent basis. Also, allergy proof covers and pillows and mattresses, reducing stress,
keeping quick relief asthma medicines readily available, and controlling seasonal allergies can be
used to combat asthma. Bronchitis and pneumonia can have temporary damage to lungs.
Permanently damage to lungs is definitely caused by something serious like COPD. The lungs are
made up of hundreds of thousands of branching tubes that end in tiny air sacs called alveoli. There

are over 300 million of these tiny sacs in our lungs. They cover about the surface area of a tennis
court to keep up the respiratory demands of the body. The membranes of these tiny air sacs are
also thinner than tissue paper to maximize the exchange of gases. The lungs are part of our immune
system. Pollutants and infection causing microbes are captured by the mucus in the lungs and
shuttled upward into tiny cilia for us to cough or swallow. Sneezes are another way the lungs help
rid us of infection or pollution, often before these invaders even pass beyond the sinuses. Smoking
destroys those cilia that help to remove infection and pollutants. This causes clogged airways.

Facts on Asthma
Asthma is a chronic inflammation of the lung airways that cases coughing, chest
tightness, wheezing, and shortness of breath.
The number of Americans with asthma grows every year. Currently, 26 million
Americans have asthma.
Asthma results in 456,000 hospitalizations and 1.75 million emergency room visits
annually.
Allergists are the medical specialists with the most expertise in treating asthma. An
allergist can find the source of your suffering and stop it.
Asthma is often hereditary.
There are two types of asthma medications: long-term control and quick-relief
medications. Long-term control medications are preventive, taken daily to achieve and
maintain control of asthma symptoms. Quick-relief medications are used to treat
asthma attacks. They relieve symptoms rapidly and are taken on an as-needed basis.

Exercise can improve the cardiovascular system and makes the lungs jobs easier. Clean water can
keep the lungs hydrates and the mucus flowing. It keeps blood flowing to and from the lungs.
Onions can help the lungs and the heart to reduce inflammation, lower cholesterol, and fight
infection. Cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, and kale have been shown to halt the progression of lung
cancer and cut the risk of developing lung cancer in half. They are rich in chlorophyll that cleans and
builds blood, and full of some very effective antioxidants. Apples have flavonoids, vitamin E, and
vitamin C all help the lungs function at their best. Apples are rich in all of these and those who eat
several a week have healthier lungs. Pomegranates, peppers, garlic, grapefruit, and other foods can
help with lung health as well in numerous ways.

The Flint, Michigan Water Crisis

One of the most terrible stories in the world is about the man-made disaster of lead poisoning in
Flint, Michigan. This represents how bad and exploitative American capitalism is. There has been
the systemic lead poisoning of its city residents. Very few residents have bottled water and it was
only recently when the Governor of Michigan Rick Snyder has classified this event as a state of
emergency. Snyder is a notorious reactionary who is anti-union, etc. There is now a federal probe
into the toxic levels of lead in the citys water supply. Many people may be charged with their role
in his crisis. This crisis was a long time in the making. The catastrophe will have a multigenerational
impact, according to Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, director of the Flint Hurley Medical Centers

pediatric residency program, who revealed the doubling and tripling of lead in the blood of city
children since April 2014. Because exposure to lead can cause permanent neurological damage, Dr.
Hanna-Attisha said, In five years, these kids are going to have cognition problems. Seven to 10
years, theyre going to have behavioral problems. This is so tragic. Flint Michigan is a major
American city with a population of a little over 102,000 people. It is the birthplace of General
Motors too. The city's state appointed emergency manager wanted to save money by cutting Flint
off from the Detroit water system, and then to draw water directly from the Flint River. The Flint
River is heavily polluted from decades of industrial waste. The river water corroded the citys
antiquated pipes, which led to the leaching of lead and copper into the water supply. This caused
the massive lead poisoning in the Flint, Michigan areas.
Tasked with slashing costs and keeping payments flowing to the Wall Street banks and big
bondholders who hold the citys debt, Emergency Manager Darnell Earley and city officials ignored
resident complaints about the color, the foul smell and the taste of the water coming into their
homes. They insisted that it was financially impossible to reconnect to the Detroit water system.
Then, along with state officials, they constructed a wall of lies denying any deleterious effects from
the Flint River water. Last year, many studies that showed the dangerous levels of lead in water
have been ignored by governing authorities. Testing done by the state Department of
Environmental Quality (MDEQ) of residents water was performed in a slipshod manner that
minimized the levels of lead in the samples. When further tests showed lead levels above the US
Environmental Protection Agencys (EPA) action levels, the results were statistically doctored to
bring them under the EPA threshold. Even after the citys remaining GM plant publicly made its own
arrangement to reconnect to Detroit water because the citys water was corroding its engine
components, state and local officials continued to stonewall residents. This is a crime. Dr. Stockman
in Ibsens Enemy of the People, Dr. Hanna-Attisha, Virginia Tech University Professor Marc Edwards,
and other public health experts, who raised alarms as early as last June, were subjected to a vicious
smear campaign by high-ranking state officials. The governors office denounced Dr. HannaAttishas data for being spliced and diced.
The state of emergency has not resulted in any serious measures to address health issues, many of
which are in any case irreversible. Even though Flint has been reconnected to the Detroit water
system, lead continues to be leached from service lines, pipes and fixtures into drinking water,
which will remain unsafe to drink for months. To add insult to injury, residents are still being
charged hundreds of dollars for the poisoned water and many are being threatened with shutoffs
for past due bills. We see billions of dollars sent to Wall Street and the military industrial complex
while a minor amount of money is sent to help the residents of Flint, Michigan (which is a city that
once had the highest per capita income in America in 1960. Austerity and deindustrialization
harmed the city). Snyder is responsible for this along with other authorities. The deprivation of the
most elemental necessities of lifeclean water, public education, a decent job, health care, a
pensionis an indictment of the capitalist system. We live in a nation that 20 billionaires control
wealth equal to the wealth of 152 million people. Some people want to arrest Governor Snyder.
The super wealthy control every level of government.

In the 21st century, no one should go without water, an opportunity for a job with a
living wage, health care, education, and affordable housing.

The people of Flint, Michigan are fighting back against lead poisoning too. So, don't get it twisted.
Flint is known for its workers who enacted the 1936-1937 occupation of the General Motors (GM)
plan, which inspired the many sit downs (which was executed by the labor rights movement) that
happened in America during the 1930s and the 1940s. They or the citizens of Flint demand action
and justice. They knew that it was wrong for the Michigan state government (because that state
authority wanted to use austerity measures to cut public services to fund big business interests) to
force Flint to change its water supply from Lake Huron (which served the city for five decades) to
the Flint River. The contaminated water is found in the citys homes, schools, businesses, and
public buildings. According to the World Health Organization, kids exposed to high levels of lead are
in risk of anemia and decreased bone plus muscle growth. Lead exposure to human beings can
damage reproductive organs and the nervous system. It can be deadly for children too. That is why
the Governor and others should be arrested point blank period. One documentary called
Undrinkable: The Flint Water Emergency shows the truth about the Flint water crisis in great
detail. The documentary was made by local high school students at Davison Community School.
Flint residents said that Sada Brandt mentioned that, The only way that it's going to get fixed is if
they fix the pipes at this point, because they've already corroded the pipes so badly."
Another bad situation is that residents of Flint continue to pay for the poisoned water in high rates.
Many residents are in hue debt because of it. Unemployment and poverty are serious problems in
America and in the world. Today, the median annual household income in Flint is about $27,000-less than half the national average. Snyders austerity policies have weakened public infrastructure,
gutted the power of union and community organizations, and grew corporate power. There is right
to work legislation, which was passed by Michigan's governor. State appointed managers violate

the democratic rights of people in Michigan. Emergency managers exist in Detroit, Flint, Pontiac,
Allen Bark, Benton Harbor, Ecorse, etc. 50 percent of Black Michiganders (who have a rich culture
of resistance) live under emergency management as compared to only 2 percent of the states
white population. Many people of Flint have organized water bottle drives to collective hundreds
of thousands of bottles from working class donors. Neighbors have helped each other with boiling
water for washing and bathing. Protesters have existed in city call to demand change. They have
chanted, "Save the children! Lead free!" An energetic crowd then marched through City Hall,
yelling, "What do we want? Clean Water! When do we want it? Now!" A multiracial crowd continue
to protest in the city in other places too. People of all colors want accountability and they desire
clean water to return to Flint, Michigan.

"Snyder has been trampling our democracy for years," said Nayyirah Shariff, an activist with the
Flint Democracy Defense League in an interview on Democracy Now! "Really ever since he's been
in office, and specifically since Flint has had an emergency manager in December 2011."

"Our City Council wanted to go back to [getting water from] Detroit," Shariff continued, "and our
emergency manager, Jerry Ambrose, said it was inconceivable because it was going to cost too
much money. And the culture of the emergency manager is money trumps everything. It's more
important than people's lives." Flint native Michael Moore wants Snyder to be arrested for his role
in the disaster. In August of 2014, Shariff have talked in a rally to fight water contamination and
water consumers debt. She said the following words:

We need to form solidarity with our brothers and sisters who are fighting the water
war around the country...We need to bring up the people who are suffering in silence and
say: Welcome to the movement, we are here for you, we will fight with you and for you to
get rid of this emergency manager, get rid of Snyder and anybody who is a puppet for the
corporate regime to privatize water
Another activist Claire McClinton have talked about the great history of Flint, about how Flint came
to elect an African American mayor, how it passed open housing, and how the emergency manager
represents the banks including the corporations. The emergency managers represent big business
that want to increase corporate profits at the expense of human lives. We see that 10 people
recently died in January for 2016 by Legionnaires diseases along with 77 people being ill. This
Legionella bacteria came from the citys tainted water supply as reported by the Detroit News. The
federal government opened an investigation into how the US Environmental Protection Agency (or
the EPA) and how the state government has handled the situation. In addition to the deaths from
Legionnaires disease, state officials say that they have identified dozens of people with elevated
bloodstream lead levels, while residents report countless other symptoms, including rashes. The
citys 100,000 residents, including its 9,000 children, were placed at risk. There is no cure for lead
poisoning, and its effects can include reduced IQ and academic performance over the victims
lifetime. Now, Snyder hired a new PR firm called Mercury LLC to help his administration combat the
risk of possible resignation, impeachment, and criminal indictment for his administrations
complicity in the poisoning of Flint residents. Members of the states Department of Environmental
Quality arent just responsible for this. The Governor is responsible for this too. The EPA and the
state environmental department had evidence since at least January 2015 that there were elevated
lead levels in Flints drinking water, but did nothing to warn the public. We have to expose classism
in society. We know that the powers that be use capitalist exploitation to harm people. Also, we
know that we must expose racism too. Wall Street-funded institutions promote racism,
gentrification, and other evils against black people and people of color. We know that the criminal
injustice system disproportionately harm black Americans. Flint is mostly black in its population.
Also, the Justice Department failed to file a brief in support of the local NAACPs appeal to the
federal courts, that Michigans emergency financial manager law is racially selective, sparing
financially troubled municipalities with majority-white populations from financial oversight while
negating the votes of more than half of the states Black citizenry. "You do not throw out the right
to vote on the basis of economic distress," said Detroit NAACP president Rev. Dr. Wendell Anthony.
Also, it is important to know that many socialists, progressive minded people, and other heroic
people worldwide do oppose the system of racism/white supremacy and we want it to end. Also,
we support reparations for people of Black African descent in the Americas too. We are political
independents and we dont agree with allying with Democrats or Republicans unconditionally. I
dont agree with apartheid in the Middle East, I oppose the war on terror and its destructive Empire

(which has grown with the Pentagon budget), I believe in human civil liberties, and I oppose the
War on Drugs. So, we are in a struggle against racism and classism at the same time.

*This is an emergency and a national crisis. When Flint residents (among men, women, and
children) suffered this direct poisoning, it is also an attack against every American and against the
rest of the human family. We know that Flint is heavily black and a lot of poor people live in Flint
too. The responsibility for this disaster is found not only in the Governor, but in state including local
officials involved in this tragedy. Both Republicans and Democrats have used bad policies involved
in this crisis. For example, the city of Flint has been presided over by a series of Democratic
administrations, including the administration of former mayor Dayne Walling, who gave his OK to
the switching of Flints water supplies from the Detroit water system to the polluted Flint River. The
highly corrosive Flint River water leached lead from the citys piping, leading to the poisoning of
Flint residents. Emergency manager measures, first adopted under a Democratic governor in the
1980s, have been employed by both Democratic and Republican state administrations to carry out
massive cuts in cities and school districts across the state. Darnell Earley, the Snyder appointee who
presided over the Flint water crisis and is now decimating the Detroit Public Schools, is a Democrat,
as have been the majority of the states emergency managers. Democratic former Michigan
Treasurer Andy Dillon played a key role in redrafting the emergency manager law after it was
defeated in 2012. A year later, Dillon signed off on the decision to shift the Flint water supply to the

Flint River. Neeley claimed that Democratic state legislators would make sure that the needed
assistance was made available to help Flints children. However, all Neeley proposed was a very
anemic $16 million loan forgiveness, not even a grant, to Flints cash starved schools.

A federal lawsuit should exist. The pipes in Flint are poisoned and corrosive; therefore they ought to
be replaced ASAP. Billions of dollars have been spent in the military industrial complex where
bombs kill and maim human beings, but some people refuse to send millions of dollars to repair and
rebuild the infrastructure of the city of Flint. Also, this incident represents how the corporate
oligarchy refuses to care for the lives of black people. We know about gentrification and
environmental racism too.
Emergency managers use their anti-democratic powers to dominate the lives of people in Michigan.
When Michigan voters decisively repealed the states emergency manager law in a popular
referendum in November 2012, the Snyder administration imposed a new, in some ways even more
draconian and referendum-proof emergency manager law. Two officials of the Michigan
Department of Environmental Quality and the regional head of the Environmental Protection
Agency have resigned in disgrace. The DEQ failed to instruct the Flint water department to add anticorrosive chemicals to the water when Flint stopped using water from the Detroit Water and
Sewerage Department and began tapping into the polluted Flint River. Governor Rick Snyder is a
reactionary Republican who fought against workers' rights. Elevated levels of lead have been found
in certain areas of Baltimore, Boston, including counties in Texas plus Louisiana. This week, the head
environmental regulator in the state of Ohio called national water regulations broken, saying that
they dramatically understate the true scale of lead poisoning in American cities. Many pipes in
certain places of America are over 100 years old and austerity can't solve this problem. According to
the Congressional Budget Office, public capital investment in transportation and water
infrastructure, already underfunded for decades, has been slashed by 23 percent since its peak in
2003. Laissez faire capitalism is never a solution as Bobby Seale, Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr. Fannie Lou Hamer, and other revolutionaries have taught us. Flint residents should not be paying
for poisoned water. Snyder and others ought to be arrested for their nefarious actions. Having
water is a human right and we want racial justice. This is a class struggle. We want the forces of
oligarchy and exploitation to end their reign of oppression. We also want environmental justice too.
This corruption is a bipartisan affair. Republican Snyder shut off the water supply of 150,000
household in Detroit. Democratic Governor of California Jerry Brown forced cities to reduce water
consumption by 25 percent while safeguarding the water access of wasteful and dirty
agribusinesses in the Central Valley. Even the current President facilitated an enormous boom in
hydraulic fracturing for natural gas despite the documented poisonous effects of fracking on the

country's precious, life-sustaining groundwater. Anyone involved in this man-made crime should be
prosecuted. So, the fight for environmental justice is real in our generation. The courageous people
of Flint want corporate austerity to be gone and justice to exist for all (that includes black people,
non-black people, immigrants, children, women, etc.)

Universal Health Care

I do believe in universal health care. Universal health care means that every human being should
have the right to have access to quality, affordable health care without exception. We dont want a
corporate based scheme. We want real universal health care in the world. There is a new Kaiser poll
showing that 58 percent of the public are in favor of Medicare for All including 81 percent of
Democrats. Universal Health care systems have worked worldwide. Cuba has a universal healthcare
system. In June 2015, Cuba became the first country in the world to receive validation from the
World Health Organization (WHO) to successfully achieve the elimination of mother-to-child
transmission of HIV and syphilis. Given the global scale of the HIV/Aids epidemic, where an
estimated 1.4 million women living with HIV become pregnant each year, the potential global
health impact is phenomenal if the world can learn from Cuba. The WHO said: Eliminating
transmission of a virus is one of the greatest public health achievements possible. Cubas success
demonstrates that universal access and universal health coverage are feasible and indeed are the
keys to success, even against challenges as daunting as HIV. Cuba sent many doctors to help
people in West Africa to fight the Ebola outbreak. Cuba not only has a world class healthcare
system. It has great biotechnology and medical research. According to the World Bank, the United
States spends almost 20 times what Cuba spends per head per year ($8,553 to $431) on healthcare
and yet Cuba has a lower infant mortality rate than the US and a similar life expectancy. If the US

had the same infant mortality rates as Cuba, it would save thousands of US childrens lives each
year. Cubas socialist policies involving medicine has worked. Cubas vaccine development
continues to be among the best in the world. The Molecular Immunology Centre of Havana, a
Cuban state-owned organization, is the creator of Cimavax and has also developed vaccines for
meningitis B, hepatitis B and dengue fever.
These drugs are free and universally available for patients in Cuba. This has happened despite the
blockade of Cuba by Western forces and today more peaceful diplomatic relations are made
between America and Cuba. France has a strong universal health care system. In its 2000
assessment of world health care systems, the World Health Organization found that France
provided the "close to best overall health care" in the world. Also, the big lie promoted by
reactionaries is that any form of universal health care is a monolithic plan. The truth is that
universal health care can be implemented in multiple ways. The common denominator for all such
programs is some form of government action aimed at extending access to health care as widely as
possible and setting minimum standards. Most implement universal health care through legislation,
regulation and taxation. We know that the Affordable Care Act is mixture of good things and bad
things in it. In fact, its components have been hatched from the conservative establishment
Heritage Foundation back during the 1980s. Similar plans have been advanced by GOP Presidential
candidate Bob Dole in 1996 and Massachusetts Republican Governor Mitt Romney shortly
thereafter. The ACA bill was written by the health insurance and pharmaceutical corporations. The
ACA has no public option. That is why I do believe that the ACA should be improved upon (in a
revolutionary sense) by making it a universal health care system.

Sister Ernestine Shepherd

It is always time to celebrate one of the greatest advocates of fitness and community development
in our generation. Her name is Ernestine Shepherd. She is a competitor in the fitness world and she
does other great things too. She was born in June 16, 1936. When she was very young, she had little
interest in athletics and exercise of any kind. She was a model in Baltimore for years. Later, at age
56, she and her sister Mildred Blackwell started to take aerobics classes. Both started to compete in
bodybuilding shows. One piece of sad news was that her sister passed away in 1992 as a product of
a brain aneurysm. To this very day, Ernestine uses the memory of her precious sister as motivation
for her to help her neighbors on health and exercising in general. She won bodybuilding titles and
she ran many marathons. She has led classes of exercises for seniors at the Union Memorial United
Methodist Church in Baltimore and she works as a personal trainer too. Her diet consists of 1,700
calories a day, mostly from boiled egg whites, chicken, vegetables and a liquid egg white drink, and
she runs about 80 miles a week; she does not take supplements. During June of 2016, she will be 80
years old, but she looks much younger than 79 years old indeed. She loves her husband (who is
named Collin. The couple has been married for over 50 years, which is a great blessing) and she is a
very spiritual woman. She has inspired women from across backgrounds and age groups. She is a
living example of perseverance, family solidarity, and hope for the future. She does running, lifting
weights, and other forms of working out. Her motto is: Determined, Dedicated, and Disciplined.
That advice is sacrosanct and has great value. She has used her faith and her commitment to fitness
to help others and bless others.This is what life is all about. I wish the absolute best for her.

Inspiration
A very important point is to be made too. It is very important to not only love health, but to love
people too. Love is the universal, holy force that can improve hearts and it recognizes our common
humanity. No amount of health information should be used as a justification to hurt people because
of their physical appearance. Regardless of our physical image, we are entitled to dignity, respect,
and justice unconditionally. We desire people to fulfill their dreams and live their lives to the fullest.
We want human beings to love the skin that they are in and witness the great value found in
humanity and in Nature. In that sense, folks can witness the power and strength found in
themselves. Beauty is diverse never monolithic. This is why I send all of the respect in the world for
fitness experts like Tiffany Rothe, Jeanette Jenkins, Lenda Murray, Mocha Lee, Ernestine Shepherd,
and so many other great human beings who love health and believe in treating their neighbors as
themselves. I wholeheartedly believe in the true principle that all human beings are created equal.
Therefore, I do encourage you to achieve your goals. We live on this Earth and we have the right to
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We should always encourage each other and inspire each
other. We are born on this Earth with gifts and our unique personalities and attributes are profound
blessings in the Universe. When we promote equality, we mean it. Equality is not just a word. It is
concept that must be adhered to if the world is to reach its highest potential. So, keep on following
your dreams. We will win in the end.

By Timothy