Fingered on the straw...

You’ve been fingered on all kinds of beds and certainly familiar with the feelings that comes with it but I’m sure you have no idea how being fingered on a straw mat feels like.

She lay prostrate on the mat that was layered on the hard floor, with legs wide spread and body twirling. Her neck, tilted to one side of the body as she rested on the high stuffed pillow. She’s so familiar with the feeling engulfing her entire body, as warm blood shot through her capillaries in the blood vein. She was feeling so alive, even though she was helpless about the situation in which she finds herself.

The weather was airy and conducive for making out under the twilight. Neighbors were outside but quite distant from where they were having their tryst and that all you could see was silhouette of people and their sounds.

We often feel relaxed and absent-minded around people who aid us in getting happiness; whatever it means, so she let go of herself, entrusting all of her senses in the care of the man that lay next to her by switching off her inhibitions, as he led her on. Little did she know that every hand that can reach you and make you feel good can as well leave indelible marks that can hurt you for a long time to come.

She moaned as the man caressed her all over, down her thighs and to the inner parts in a very sensitive manner that sent chills down her spine as she shudder with delight. The sensation was unprecedented and she is loving every bit of it. She is feeling so loved as he stroked her hair down to her neck that tickled her; forcing an explosion of giggles out of her.

He knew she was not going to change her mind anytime soon since every response from her was encouraging and urging him on. He continued to caress her thighs, up, through the triangle in-between, a part of women that has sent men down their graves earlier than they envisaged. He took his time to intensify the feeling, as he traced virtual lines on her tummy in a pattern. The good feeling made her shush and hash, as his strong hands made love to every part of her body.

Her moan cut through the darkness like the cries of a dying warrior. This whole thing wasn’t fun anymore, it wasn’t what she figured and bargained for, but for her indecisiveness. She didn’t know what to do. She was so lost in thought that she couldn’t enjoy the moment; when it is all there was. She feels short-changed because it was not what it promised to be. She actually wanted to be fingered very well and thoroughly till she was spent, but here she was with an insensitive man who is just practically rubbing her tummy and caressing her thighs.

The mat on which they lay was becoming a pain in her neck as she suddenly feels like she was lying on the bare floor. Nobody could hear her cry through the eerie night, let alone salvage her from the clutches of the sadist lying next to her.

Over the years, the politicians have maintained this kind of relationship with the ordinary citizens, fingering them on their straw mats because he can’t possibly take her home to his mansion that was furnished with a bed, the size of a tennis court. They come down to us in our various cottages, eats with us, at other times; they ride in our rickety passenger buses and in extreme cases buy some of our delicacies like kenkey. And that is the only time they will ever have such an experience.  Yes! Election years are characterized by unprecedented actions and reactions.

They play with our emotions, senses and mostly our resources such as time, when we could have been gone, in search for otherwise better spouses to really end whatever they have begun with us. They always stick around and throw tantrums whenever they see indifference. They promise us heaven, show us the blue-print to support their claims and also guide us through the process, to enforce how feasible the plan is, only for another night to pass by without climaxing.

The electorates have given their all to the Politician, who is considered to be the provider of the relationship but unfortunately, it is otherwise. The populace work from nine to five; a modern form of slavery that has made many lose their sense of identity and purpose in life.  They tell us all sort of things only to tell us that the plans are in the pipeline. Can you imagine how choked that pipeline is?

Somehow they find a way to rephrase same statements to us without any remorse. They are head-strong and incorrigible. They don’t care about what we say behind them because they know that we don’t know our worth as the king-makers and the power we wield. We say all kinds of things only to find ourselves forming queues under the hot sun to mandate another ‘dzimakpla’ in the helm of affairs.

We have to follow them to their homes where we would deservingly be treated or in instances where they cannot take us home, they should get us one at home. A straw mat is way below us, and to think that they come around to sleep on it (when they come and put up those gimmicks, like eating in our ghettos, joining our Trotros and buying kenkey with the media in tow) is insulting. We have to leave them to make love to themselves in their plush residences so that we can also live in peace.

Since it is imperative that we have to agree to agree or to disagree, let us all agree and tell them in the face the next time they come around that, we are tired of being fingered on a straw mat. We deserve better!

Inbox me!

If you have been on Facebook for some time now, then definitely, you would have asked someone to inbox you or you would have been asked to inbox someone. You would have to know that inboxing is the in-thing that keeps people glued to the sites even if it seems like they have not been around in a while. Humans as we are, we require some level of privacy in our lives hence the need to create a message portal where no tabs are kept on the activities that goes on, unlike other activities that goes on, on the site.

Having noted the level of privacy that characterizes our in-boxes, it has become convenient to route all our activities that we don’t want spilling in the public domain through our inbox. It is why two individuals can keep a correspondence going on without even being friends on Facebook.

As denying as we can be, we claim none of our personal lives have anything to do with what we do here on Facebook so how come we like and comment on statuses we can only relate to? How come we post our pictures and get upset by comments people make and even sometimes on their own walls far away from ours? If the very lives we live outside the virtual world have nothing to do with all these activities, how come we update our profile with our residential locations, where we work and other revealing information that can help others zero in on us?

If you happen to be a heavy user, then you must be among the people who switch from their personal computers to their smartphones, pads and back to their computers; a complete cycle, just to be abreast with happenings on their timeline. A summation of the time people spend on social sites can range between three hours and twelve hours as they browse through the day and night, as depicted by their activities they leave behind. 

Logically, if we spend that much time here, then it is right to make friends here, create families, seal contracts, close sales and project ourselves the way we want to be known because all it takes to achieve all of these is frequent interaction between two individuals. There are so many account holders parading on our timeline; some are males behind female accounts and vice versa and some, so disguised to suit their purposes of why they created the account in the first place and lastly, the real and fun people who have eventually made it a way of life.

If you really are going to be friends with someone, then all you have to do is either send them a friend request, or send them a simple hi. Other ways to become friends with people is to like their comments or comment on their wall posts, unless friendship is not bound to be, which doesn’t happen in the real world. In the real world, people are very choosy, they look at you, and try to access you in their own way before even opening up to you. In the real world, you have to ask permission before looking through albums and even that, they have to stand on your neck just so you don't give meanings to the pictures like we used to do with the pictures in the book of my Bible Stories.

Expectedly, the place started getting crowded and bubbly and so it became harmless and convenient to flirt, which builds up slowly and conveniently because we won’t have such persons calling our phones incessantly through the day and night and we also would not have them frequenting our houses, and lastly, we can dictate the pace of the flirtatious relationship that is gradually entangling us unawares. 

Consequently, it has become scary the way some people have become a grid to which other people are connected. Some have about 3 or more partners they flirt with or are simultaneously having relationships with and they have no problem doing that at all.

And while we are still at it, trying to conform to the changes the inboxing has brought about, people seem to be getting good offers and moving on, while some are chasing waterfalls. Others are building constructive and meaningful relationships beyond the virtual world and forming great businesses, family and finally, social bonds that are bound to see the test of time.

However the thrust of my piece is, so many relationships are breaking fast because of who the rightful keeper of a password should be. In some instances, men want to have their ladies’ password without reciprocating the act and in some, they both want each other’s and those who can’t have their way are either hacking the accounts of their partners and some walking away from the relationship because of mistrust.

The hacking of the account is mostly done by guys who put in all it takes to get into their ladies’ inbox to track down their conversations with other people and somehow they come out with something. some of these conversations are usually harmless as the word itself and some are flirtatious or at most cheating which confirms the suspicion that got them acting in the first place. 

Getting into the inbox usually is the first step into the inquiry because it is yet to open a can of worms. Those who hack are faced with a charge of breach of trust by going behind their women and and are taken on seriously. some of these women who gets their accounts hacked walk away because they usually could not comprehend the reason for such acts and some actually walk away because of the shame or betrayal. 

Refusal to give out your account password only means one thing and that is, you have skeletons in your cupboard but sometimes, it’s more than meets the eye and at other times too, they find solution to the ensuing problem. Once in a while apart from the trust partners have for each other, they feel like knowing some of the happenings that they are blinded to or if any of them are keeping secrets. After all, having a relationship is a life and death venture and requires a timely reconciling of books and those are the moments they wish to go through the accounts and refusal to allow them a pass only means one thing and your guess is as good as mine.

Sometimes, we are quick to label the people to be insecure but I want to call it stock taking. Every good business person stops to analyze the business, go through the books to ascertain the position of the business. We are humans and forgetful so it is just right that we can forget or become complacent and start something new elsewhere.

Partners from time to time feels they should know all of the happenings in their spouse's life which is correct to a very large extent and it is rightly so, because if you don't have anything to hide now or in the near future, why then are you feeling apart from your partner when you people are actually working towards being one?

However, it's not always a case of hiding something that may be detrimental to the relationship. sometimes, some partners just want to train their spouses to trust without stalking them or looking into everything they do. At other times too, it saves you from answering unnecessary questions like "who is that?", "why did you tell him this or that?", "something tells me that this your friend is not a good one, so i don't approve of your friendship"

In the midst of this ensuing trend coupled with the fact that our forebears never encountered problems of these nature, it behooves all of us to come to a consensus as to how it should be and why it has to be so thus the clarification of the overview of the situations on the ground and the only way we can smoothen the rough edges is by answering the questions that have been outlined below

  

1. Is it right for partners (as long as they recognize each other) to possess each other’s passwords? 
2. Where they don't have passwords to their accounts, is it a breach for the man to hack into the ladies account?
   3.   In instances where the account is hacked, should we emphasize on why the man hacked the account or emphasis should be placed on why the woman is cheating/flirting?
   4.     Does having each other’s account on Facebook or other social sites guarantees that there won’t be cheating/Flirting?
   5.       Does asking for your partner’s password mean you are insecure?
   6.       Do you think having each other’s password can curb down cheating/Flirting?

2.    

Are Rastas Abnormal??

"For lack of Knowledge, my people perish"  - Hosea 4:6

I have always written this piece in my mind but the recent outburst by one Mr. Okyere Darko, the Administrator of Valley View University has made it come alive finally. Evidently, Mr. Darko lives in the valley and sees nothing beyond the horizon. His outlook is limited and that has influenced his thought processes and certainly he appears to me like a fool because he seems to be leaning upon his own understanding.

What moral justification has this man and anyone who thinks like him to declare that “Rastas are abnormal” and by implication, anyone wearing dreadlocks or those who have divine conception of their hearts?

I have observed and been thinking about how Churches and by representation, Christians look down on other groups of people who do not share in their faith or does not pray like them. Even in the churches, there are the “born-agains’ who gossip about the not so born-agains and hardly mingle with anyone below their perceived status. I thought Christians and literates should know better by looking through people rather than just looking at their appearances.

Rastas like any religious sect are a group of people who believe in Haile Sellassie I, the Emperor of Ethiopia (1930-74) as God incarnate or better still Jesus Christ incarnate. These black empowered movements are a group of separatists and the rest believing in mutual cooperation just like any other sect. They believe in The Kebra written by His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Sellassie and the Bible.

The movement, made up of three distinct orders known as the Nyabinghi order happens to be the most radical of all, the second known as Bobo Ashanti whose members also believe they were descendants of the slaves taken away from the Ashanti Kingdom in Ghana, Africa and lastly, the twelve tribes of Israel which happens to be the most liberal of the movement whose members are free to worship in any church of their choice.

Rastas accept many of the Old Testament injunctions such as the forbiddance of cutting one’s hair and eating of pork and shellfish as can be found in the books of Numbers 6:1-7, Lev. 21:5 and Deuteronomy 14:8 respectively so we can at least tell that,  parts of their doctrines are rooted in the Bible.

Rastas per observation are a group of cool-headed people who mostly live their lives in isolation because of society’s stereotypical stance against them. They have been discriminated against on all facets of life thus wearing dreadlocks or affiliating yourself with the group has become criminal in itself.

People are quick to label you ‘irresponsible’, ‘wee-smoker’, ‘a good-for-nothing’ and many other unprintable names if you have affinity for the faith or the dreadlocks wearing people. Apart from the spiritual aspect of the movement, methinks, the only difference between the sane person and the Rasta man is the dreadlocks which I like to refer to as a make-up because that individual can just shave that locks off and become sane. And since when did the fine line between the sane and the insane become dreadlocks or better still the hair?

Rasta or dreadlocks wearing is not just an issue of leaving your hair to grow, it is a spiritual journey of the mind and the soul, in the quest to improve upon your levity, where you don’t get to subject yourself to razors, sharp edges and all kinds of machines or to avoid the use of all kinds of hair creams whose origination we don’t know. Some also wear the dreadlocks as pride to portray their ethnic identities or simply as a hairstyle so as to take a less purist way of developing and grooming.

Society has castigated these people all these years for unjust reasons and out of ignorance, just because they are not like them. They deny them all kinds of opportunities and priviledges and treat them like outcasts. Rastas eschew dreadlocks either as a means of avoiding persecution or for practical reasons such as not becoming liabilities in many industrial jobs and white collar jobs.

There is a Fundamental human right clause embedded in the constitution of Ghana and that of most countries that ensures freedom of association and freedom of worship of all its citizenry, so it beats my mind why institutions in the country especially educational ones would deny some groups of people because of their faith and mode of worship.
Has the said Mr. Darko seen Jesus or God before? How would he know that barbering is the right way to go? Has he read anywhere in the Bible that his model being Christ, has ever been to groom his hair at the barbering saloon before? How can he tell which is the right way to go let alone declare that some group of people are abnormal because of their mode of worship? I am disappointed in him because he could have just kept quiet and making us doubt him rather than exhibiting his folly. Has he labeled gays and lesbians abnormal yet?

Maybe they smoke, but everyone smokes. We see these so-called big men in movies and on TV smoking whatever they deem good for their system so I don’t see the reason why this minority group are treated this way to the extent that they no more have the right to education. Yes! They smoke the weed but for spiritual purposes as depicted in the following verses in the same BIBLE you believe and would kill for.

Gen 1:11 >>> And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

Gen 1:29 >>>And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

Gen 3:18 >>> Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

Ps 104:14 >>> He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth;

Rev 22:2 >>> In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

Rev 5:5 >>> And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

Has it also occurred to you that no Human Rights advocate or groups have not condemned the utterance of this man? Yes, that is how they are. They will do everything to uphold evil and repress good, so let it not come to you as a shock because more is yet to come.

We all cannot be the same because we are not clones and people like Mr. Darko Okyere should realize that there is so much good in the worst of us and so much bad in the best of us that it ill behooves any of us to talk about the other let alone rule them out on the basis of their appearance. what we need is tolerance and maturity to accept and respect choices of others and not this self-righteousness attitude.

Played not paid!

With less than two weeks to go to the General Polls come December 7^th, it’s pathetic to note the degree of apathy that has engulfed the youth towards Politicians and the 2012 General Elections as a whole.  The forthcoming elections would be the sixth successive and yet another successful General Elections in the history of the nation, since the introduction of democracy in 1992.

Democracy and its related activities such as freedom of speech and General Elections have gained popularity among Ghanaians over the years and has come to stay with us except the intent and purpose of the whole democratic exercise has lost on us.

The terrain is so rife with Law makers breaking the same laws we pay them to make with glee and yet going unpunished, failing to fulfill promises they made during campaigns, failing to talk to the people but themselves except during elections time, paying hefty salaries to themselves and misusing state resources for their selfish ends.

Others are getting rich overnight, showing disbelief in the nation’s institutions and establishments by sending their kids abroad for further studies while they treat the nation’s ones with all the contempt they can gather, masterminding and perpetrating crimes like drug trafficking, money laundering, engagement of state resources to transact personal businesses and arrogating all the powers to themselves as they share the national cake.

Speaking to a lot of Ghanaians across the world, you realize that most of them do not even know what is really going on; they are not privy to the issues the political parties are talking about and seem absent-minded about their activities. The only people you see and hear mostly are the ones who are benefiting directly from these parties or Politicians because I’m yet to see someone engaged in active politics without paramounting his or her selfish gains above the overarching aim of pushing Ghana forward.

It is appropriate to state that, the electorates are not absent-minded, unintelligent or lacks what it takes to either be one of them or engage in it, they are just disinterested because they are tired of being played as fools, they are tired because they can’t be taken for granted anymore and finally, it is not attractive for the well-meaning folks who wishes to help. The only good news here is, they are willing to partake in the activities if the Politicians will take them seriously and engage them in consensus building and helping to build the nation by playing their part of the virtual agreement.

How can someone take you serious if you are going to appeal to people’s conscience and allow old women and men who can barely walk to queue for almost a whole day to vote for you and then make a U-turn and never come back as promised? How can someone take you serious when you can actually walk through every nook and cranny of your catchment area and cannot even drive by when elections are won? How can the electorates take you serious when high office will take all your time that you cannot organize a durbar even twice a year at the market square or the town hall for the people? They won’t take you serious because when they elect you into office, you would lose touch with them and send your assistants to represent you when the community invites you to programmes.

The youth have nothing to lose because it looks like even before the start of proceedings, they had already lost and the timely awareness has made them lax, knowing it will be foolhardy to put in a fight they don’t even have a dog’s chance of winning and to enforce that stance, they have decided to shun anything that has to do with the Politician.

The foot soldiers and loyal supporters who have become an extension of the Politician, and amplifying his lies and vain promises too are not consistent and it appears, they don’t even know what they are up to, let alone know what they are doing. It is rightly so, because they are quick to pick up a fight with you before you even start with them. They are not able to explain the policies and modalities their masters are spawning. They are quick to label you an opposition, depending on their divide or what you are talking about or because you have not swallowed their bait, hook, line and sinker.  

A lot of people says, they are going to stock their fridges with their favorite drinks and relax cozily to football and movies and some are offloading their relegated schedules to that day and it is unfortunate to note that an important national exercise of this magnitude is going on and the politicians do not seem to care because they know that at the end of the day, a verdict will be declared and they will share their gains and spoils. 

There are usually those who stand in and coerce the I no go vote squad by reminding them of their civil rights and how they have to vote to become patriotic citizens and how sitting aloof will leave the nation’s decision process in the hands of some charlatans, yet they are not able to extend the complains and disregard the politicians have for the electorates over the years and that also smacks of partiality or at most a conspiracy between the elects and the lobbyists against voters.

It has become evident that we are condoning unaccountability and encouraging disdain from the Politicians, so we have decided to leave the country for them to do whatever they want to do with it. Are we not peace loving enough not to come seeking a part of the national cake which is not making rounds anyway?

Additionally, these disgruntled voting public are not ready to be emotionally mauled into thinking that they are the ones acting politically incorrect towards the democratic or at most the electioneering exercise because the relationship between us and the Politicians all these while ought to have been a mutual and a respectable one.

However, we would like to appeal to the Politicians to tolerate each other and be cognizant of the fine line where going beyond will foment trouble and its subsequent unrest in the nation. We want a trouble-free voting and smooth transition into our sixth term of governance as a democratic nation in the fourth republic. And to serve a reminder, we will not forgive them if anything should go contrary to how it’s supposed to be. Shalom!

The Church Business

Evidently and with changing times, the church has become a big enterprise for the Reverends, Pastors and the clergy as a whole and it’s no more funny. The church has a business to do and that is to salvage people from their varied predicaments and lead them to God where they can build self-esteem and restore their sense of worth that would in tend make them feel as part of the flock but what we see now is appalling and nothing worth writing home about.

There are so many ungodly churches that have sprung up in every nook and cranny of the Country which makes you wonder, who authorizes all these churches to minister to the flock? Isn’t there anybody to ensure that the flock is not led astray or it’s a matter of the fit surviving against all odds?

It is very rare to see or hear Churches preaching the gospel lately. No one seems to care about the word of God, not to talk about bible studies where members of the church equips themselves with a nourisher for the soul and obviously, no one cares for the spiritual state of the flock. A whole church cannot even pray for a fly to die and you want to tell me to move mountains?

Furthermore, discussion between the clergy and the congregation has become non-existent, there is nothing like consensus building, information flow is just a way traffic thereby eroding the essence of communication, a kind of imposition where they say and the members act thus making a lot disgruntled.

There are still a few good Churches who preach the gospel, but who even really cares about the gospel lately? Who wants to be rendered old fashioned for worshiping in that unknown place of worship which does not buy airtime on TV and prime time Radio? People want to go to the big churches that make appearances on radio and televisions, places of worship where Pastors perform all kinds of miracles; miracles Jesus Christ himself would be awed at. 

Gullible and seeking as we are, everybody wants to be a part of those graceful Umbrellas so they in tend break away from their small gospel preaching churches, especially the women; widows, the marrieds and singles to where the pastors do all kinds of things to them, such as washing their private and under parts and most times ending up having sex with them. Most of them casts spells on the women and others too are so hard pressed that, they can’t challenge the so called men of God and it’s as a result of the lack of bible studies and we have all become victims, one way or the other.

Any question contrary to what they say projects you as a devil incarnate; as someone who does not respect the word of Good or being used by the devil because you are questioning the will of God. When someone leaves the church because of the inconsistencies and the hypocrisy that has engulfed the church, they will find a scripture to justify his situation and the people would be referred to as Antichrists, hence their inability to be part of God’s Kingdom; their congregation.

There are special holy waters to wash in-between the legs of women and unfortunately, they are the churches that can pay for primetime radio and TV and have taken over the airwaves, bombarding us with all kinds of information. The effect on the gospel preaching Churches is that they tend to invite these Pastors to either come and preach or perform miracles, because either they are proactive or they will lose their members to those churches.

It is rightly so, because seeing them on TV makes us think, it’s the way to go. There was fellowshipping and churches before the advent of Jesus Christ’s ministry, he could as well build some but he was on and about, preaching the gospel and winning souls but all these pastors do now is to eat the fattened sheep at the expense of the congregation, sit at one place and perform miracles.

Members’ donations, pledges and collections comes in leaps and bounds without being taxed and the sick and aged are still suffering in the church, with barely no good food to eat, no money to clothe and buy medicines and no one seems to take care of them and interestingly, those are the most staunchest of all the members and some of these happenings have made a lot of people lost hope in the church and are finding solace elsewhere.

There are no programs in the church to cater for anyone, all there are, are vain promises and prophecies; a typical example being the night of 31^st of December, that is termed a crossover night. It is when the Pastor will prophecy unto the lives of the congregation and leads the congregation to set goals and proclaim anything unto themselves. How many times during the year does the Pastor lead the people to review their goals and aspirations? How many people are even asked if their goals have been fulfilled during the year? Why go again this year, hoping that this one will work?

As a Christian, we have a reason to be wise, write what you aspire to be and keep going at it amidst prayer and working towards them and stop giving the Pastors unnecessary tasks which they happily take advantage of. People are moving from Church to Church in search of miracles and breakthrough in their lives when they are not being pragmatic. 

There have been tragic happenings in times past in this nation and how many times have we heard that a Church has donated something to that effect? How many times do they help in times of national disasters? The only time we hear about them is when they are entangled in Politics which should not be their preserve. The church has clearly lost its objective and they have to bear in mind that God will not forgive them for scattering His own flock as evidenced in the following Scriptures.

Ezekiel 34:2-10 

2. Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock?

3. You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock

4. You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally.

5. So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals

6. My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth and no one searched or looked for them. 7. Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD:

8. As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, because my flocks lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because all my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than my flock,

9. Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord,

10. This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them