f g g g j t Portland Observer, December 10, 1986
Healthwatch
EDITORIAL/OPINION
by Steven Bailey. N O.
Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) affects mil
lions of American women. As its name sug-
gests, it is a syndrome (a set of symptoms
which occur together) which occurs prior to a
wom an's menstrual period. These symptoms
may include any or all of the following: mood
swings (depression, tension, irritability), bloa
ting, cramping, appetite changes (esp sugar
cravings), backache, dizziness, headaches,
breast tenderness and pain, skin eruptions
and respiratory problems (sinusitis, rhinitis,
sore throats). The time of onset can be any
where from a few days to a few weeks before
the period.
M anning M
Black entrepreneurs should establish payroll
dedcution plans at their business establish
ments.
Likewise, Black employees should
petition their employers to implement a payroll
NAACP'S NEDCO Program Makes Sense
The nation's oldest civil rights agency, the
National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People (NAACP), announced during
service, and feed capital to young, growing
businesses. SBIC will allow minority entrepre
neurs to get everything from telephone an
swering to loan packaging and data proces
sing at one site
a recent convention held in Baltimore that it
will make economic development as one of its
priorities Therefore, the 77 year old organiza
tion has created an economic development
corporation, NEDCO, as a subsidiary to the
parent organization.
The decision by the NAACP to make eco
nomic development one of its top priorities
is a good decision by the civil rights organiza
tion.
Economic development is the key to the
survivability of the Black community. Further
more, an economically sound Black com m u
nity will help foster racial equality.
The
NAACP's NEDCO program is one vehicle to
promote minority enterprise in America.
NEDCO can assist in the economic growth and
development of minority enterprises through
out the United States
The NAACP and the Brown and Williamson
Tobacco Company have agreed on a joint ven
ture as the first step in furthering minority
business development
The join, venture, which is known as the
Small Business Incubator Center (SBIC), will
promote minority business development.
SBIC will offer space, business and technical
There are many other things that we can do
for PMS, and these may often be prescribed
on an individual basis. If you suffer from
PMS, take heart! You can take a more active
role in your own care and, hopefully, exper
ience much less intense symptoms in future
cycles.
Kodak Says No To South Africa
•» p to fe tto r of MXH>k>gv and political M iw ttt»
al Pordiw* University
A long the Color Im e
ApptMHB m over 140
newM»«H>••»*» «nlrin.itMinaHv
Show Tria, in Grenada
Whenever any political system loses its legitimacy,
or experiences a profound crisis, opposition movements
emerge to challenge the staus quo
Freqently, the
ruling elites resort to "scapegoat politics" deliberate
lies, assaults and the jailing of political opponents Pro
minent critics of a regime may be forced into the court
room, and ordered to admit that they are guilty of out
landish or spurious offenses
Without due process,
they are summarily convicted.
These orchestrated
events are called "show trials". Judge, prosecutor and
jury are all formally or informally linked to the govern
ment
Both communists and capitalists have resorted to
show trials in the twentieth century In the 1930s, the
Soviet government of Josef Stalin ordered the public
trials and executions of hundreds of thousands of pro
minent Communist Party leaders, trade unionists, intel
lectuals and military leaders Millions more experienced
imprisonment and internal exile During the late 1940s
and 1960s inside the United States, we experienced a
series of show trials against accused leftists and domes
tic critics of the Cold War. Nearly one million workers
were expelled from the Congress of Industrial Organiza
tions for their political views
Thousands of artists,
entertainers, teachers and writers were fired. Several
states ordered the death penalty and/or life imprison
ment for the espousal of Marxist ideas Civil liberties
and Constitutional rights of millions of Americas were
grossly violated by McCarthyism and witch hunting
Nearly tw o decades later, Black Power advocates and
Black Panthers were harassed by police officers, falsely
arrest ed, and in several cases, were assassinated In
these and other cases, show trials and political mtimida
tion was a deliberate tool of the political establishment,
left or right.
One of the most flagrant contemporary examples of
"show trials" are the current proceedings in the Carib
bean island of Grenada Eighteen members of the New
Jewel Movement (NJMI are being "trie d " in the U S
financed and sponsored attempt to purge all vestiges
of progressive politics from Grenada
Many of the
accused were prominent leaders in the island’s revolu
tionary government and ruling party before October.
,983
Since the U.S. invasion and the military overthrow of
the legitimate government, the local political situation
has become increasingly unstable U S troops have
trained a local paramilitary outfit, the Special Security
An organization such as the BUF is despe
rately needed in an effort to address the
serious social problems afflicting Black com
munities throughout the nation.
This is why Black Oregonians should sup
port the BUF Traditional charitable organiza
tions do not adequately respond to the needs
of the Black com munity By supporting the
BUF, the Black community will be helping it
self.
We can see how winter brings on more in
tense symptoms in some women
We eat
more simple sugars over the holidays and cer
tainly have larger, higher fat meals as a whole.
We exercise less with the shorter days and
higher rainfall. Our general level of stress
around the short, wet winter holiday season is
individual but, as a whole, is higher than other
times of the year for many.
Along the Color
Dr
deduction plan on the behalf of the BUF at
their work places
organization whose mission is to provide need
ed social services in the Black community.
The BUF solicits all of its funding through pay
roll deduction plans
Aerobic exercise is beneficial to women who
suffer from PMS for a variety of reasons. As
well as modifying stress, exercise also helps in
fat cell breakdown (a source of estrogen) and
aerobic exercise enhances the enzymatic acti
vities of the liver. Increased enzyme activity
in the liver means faster breakdown of circula
ting estrogen as well as stress hormones such
as adrenaline and nor epinepherine. Aerobic
exercise should be added gradually. Recent
studies show that brisk walking will accom
plish most of the good done by more vigorous
forms of exercise, so don't overdo your exer
cise program. You should feel refreshed after
exercise, not run down!
by I)» M MinifK) M.trahir
I
We, as African-Americans, should support
the Oregon Chapter of the Black United Fund
(BUF). The BUF is a non-profit charitable
Stress both enhances estrogen production
and decreases the breakdown of already exis
ting hormone. Chronic stress may also wor
sen long term nutrition and diminish the sto
red reserves of Vitamins C, E, B 6 and the
B complexes. Diet and relaxation techniques,
and exercise can all help to modify the effects
of stress.
While most women who suffer from PMS
have symptoms throughout the year, many
women experience intensified symptoms du
ring the winter months. There are many rea
sons why PMS may be worsened during this
time.
To understand why these seasonal
changes occur, we must understand why
PMS occurs in the first place.
PMS occurs prior to and during the bleeding
phase of a woman's monthly cycle. It has
been closely correlated to high levels of the
hormone estrogen relative to progesterone, a
relationship that is most imbalanced immedia
tely prior to mensus. For this simple reason,
most treatment programs attempt to lessen
this estrogen/progesterone imbalance.
Increased production of estrogen as well as
decreased breakdown can both worsen the
symptoms of PMS. Likewise, decreased pro
duction and/or increased breakdown are be
neficial processes in the reduction of PMS
symptoms. Both of these latter processes can
be aided through a variety of programs.
Diet, exercise and stress management are
the cornerstones of a good PMS program.
Diet can affect PMS in both positive and nega
tive ways. High levels of simple sugars, cof
fee, soda pop, red meat and raw cabbage
family (cauliflower, broccoli, etc.) can worsen
the condition. Small meals high in complex
carbohydrates, low in fats and simple sugars
are ideal. Support foods include those high
Community Should Support Black United Fund
in sulphur (eggs, garlic, onions), iodine (kelp,
iodized salt), and the B-complex vitamins, as
well as vitamins A, E and C. The minerals
Chromium, calcium and magnesium play an
important role in the normal hormonal regula
tion of women.
Unit, which has committed acts of terrorism and brutali
ty against the Grenadian people Unemployment had
been reduced from 49 percent to almost 10 percent by
the NJM government; but under the U S backed
regime, joblessness has soared upwards to at least 25
percent again Labor leaders and prominent community
leaders who had been sympathetic with the progressive
NJM government have experienced various types of
political and civic harassment
Every year since 1984, the puppet regime has opera
ted with a financial deficit and each year, the Amen
can government has had to bankroll the new govern
ment. Health care, public education and low income
housing programs have either ceased to exist, or have
deteriorated The many promises of U S. firms reloca
ting to the island generally have failed to meet expecta
tions This summer. Prime Minister Herbert Blaize sign
ed an investment treaty with the Reagan administration,
giving American corporations equal tax treatment with
local Grenadian firms and providing for the repatriation
of profits. This treaty will only promote long term
unemployment and economic underdevelopment
A political "scapegoat” is required by the U.S. to
explain away the island's continuing difficulties This
role if being provided by the NJM s former Finance
Minister, Bernard Coard, and other NJM leaders, who
have been subjected to inhumane treatment and even
torture. To permit their "legal" railroading, the local
press has publisher, hundreds of prejudicial articles
against the defendants The defense has declared that
the media campaign is a public "brainwashing pro-
cess", which has literally made it impossible to obtain
"an unprejudiced panel of jurors " Prosecution wit
nesses have been coached to deliver their "testim ony".
Coard has been placed in an underground jail cell de
void of light, has been beaten by police using steel
handcuffs, and has been denied even the use of pen
and paper to write his briefs
To call for the defense of Coard and other NJM lead
ers is not to ignore the events leading up to the NJM
government's overthrow The inexcusable and tragic
executions of Prime Minister Maurice Bishop and others
who were politically opposed to Coard must be objec
tively examined and accounted for
But the current
showtrial in Grenada cannot in any measure be justified:
it is both illegal and immoral, and only serves to per
petuate the political subordination o, all Caribbean peo
pie to the United States
■
. t
J
ON SO U TH A F R 1C A
At a time when the American Friends Service Com
mittee and other organizations across the country are
supporting the concept of total economic disengage
ment from South Africa the Eastman Kodak Com
panys announcement November 19th to leave South
Africa is providing a real life model Henry J Kaska, a
Kodak spokesman said, We decided we would not go
half way "
Kaska s use of the term "half way" is in reference to
the recent announcements by GM. IBM and other com
pames which have said they would sell their South Afn
can operations to local managers and continue to sell
their products and services inside South Africa It has
even been implied in some reports that IBM and GM
may have sold to local management so that they could
once again supply the South African regime, free of
U S sanctions restrictions
conditions and a future in which "w e cannot see with
any certainty a time which South Africa will be free o,
apartheid as reasons for its total pull out The impli
cations of this situation have created a degree o, busi
ness risk which Kodak does not consider prudent
In 1986 there has been a rapid escalation of com
panies selling their South African operations, with 34 to
date and others announcing their intentions weekly In
1985, 39 companies completed their withdrawal How
ever according to Timothy Smith, director of the Inter
faith Council on Corporate Responsibility, only a hand
ful of departing companies have actually eliminated
sales of their products in South Africa "Kodak is the
largest company to make a full divestment." Smith
said
At a time when there is so much action around com
pames doing business in South Africa, a refinement o,
terminology is useful and necessary
The American
Friends Service Committee, the American Committee
on Africa (New York based, and other organizations
involved in anti apartheid work are attempting to pro
vide some clarification. The term "divestm ent" refers
to institutions at home (churches, schools, legislatures,
withdrawing their funds from companies that do busi
ness in South Africa The term "disengagement" refers
to the company actually leaving South Africa
Kodak, on the other hand, has announced that as of
April 30. 1987, no Kodak unit anywhere in the world will
be permitted to supply products or services inside
South Africa Kodak has stater, that even if a buyer
takes over Kodak’s photo finishing plant, the plant will
not be supplied with Kodak products, nor will Kodak do
any servicing o, machines, replacing parts, etc
In disengaging, Kodak cites worsening economic
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