All posts by nedhamson

Activist, writer, researcher, addicted to sharing information and facts.

Defending Bears Ears — Utah Dineh Mark Maryboy suggests to BBC that Trump is mentally ill

Dineh Utah Mark Maryboy suggests to BBC that Trump is mentally ill By Brenda Norrell Censored News Dineh Utah Mark Maryboy, former Navajo Nation Councilman and San Juan County Commissioner, suggested President Trump is mentally ill, during an interview with the global news media BBC. Maryboy’s comments came as Indian Nations filed multiple lawsuits to protect Bears End this week and
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Hopi, Zuni and Utes File Lawsuit to Protect Bears Ears

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BEARS EARS AT SUNSET. PHOTO CREDIT: TIM PETERSON

Native American Rights Fund FILES SUIT TO PROTECT BEARS EARS

December 4, 2017By NARF, Censored News

President Trump’s action to revoke and replace the Bears Ears National Monument is not only an attack on the five sovereign nations with deep ties to the Bears Ears region, it is a complete violation of the separation of powers enshrined in

SALT LAKE ‘Stand UP! Fight Back!’ Protesters Block Street, Scream Obscenities at Trump

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SALT LAKE ‘Stand UP! Fight Back!’ Protesters Block Street, Scream Obscenities at TrumpThis is what revolution looks like, the people take to the streets, block the street, as Trump guts Bears End for miningNews video by ABC News 4 Salt LakeArticle and screenshots by Brenda Norrell, Censored NewsSALT LAKE — Protesters blocked a street and yelled, “Stand UP! Fight Back,”

Defending Bears Ears — Utah Dineh Mark Maryboy suggests to BBC that Trump is mentally ill

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Dineh Utah Mark Maryboy suggests to BBC that Trump is mentally ill

By Brenda Norrell

Censored News

Dineh Utah Mark Maryboy, former Navajo Nation Councilman and San Juan County Commissioner, suggested President Trump is mentally ill, during an interview with the global news media BBC.

Maryboy’s comments came as Indian Nations filed multiple lawsuits to protect Bears End this week and

‘Go get ’em, Roy’: Trump backs accused child molester Moore for Senate

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  • Tweets and call confirm president backs Moore in 12 December vote
  • Alabama candidate lost backing from many over sexual allegations

Donald Trump has thrown his full support behind Roy Moore in the Alabama Senate race, tweeting his endorsement before calling the controversial candidate to say: “Go get ’em, Roy!”

Related: Why did Roy Moore escape to Australia? Clues remain in the outback wilderness

Continue reading…

Hong Kong: Scarlet Fever Cases Rise Sharply

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While once greatly feared and the cause of numerous epidemics up until the early 20th century, Scarlet Fever –  caused by a bacteria called group A Streptococcus – can be successfully treated by modern antibiotics and today is usually a mild illness

The illness is caused by the same bacteria that causes `strep throat’, and is characterized by fever, a very sore throat, a whitish coating or sometimes `strawberry’ tongue, and a `scarlet rash’ that first appears on the neck and chest.

It primarily affects children under the age of 10.  Adults generally develop immunity as they grow older. Untreated, this bacterial infection can lead to:

  • Rheumatic fever
  • Kidney disease
  • Ear infections
  • Skin infections
  • Abscesses of the throat
  • Pneumonia
  • Arthritis

For reasons that remain unclear (see The Lancet’s Resurgence of scarlet fever in England, 2014–16: a population-based surveillance study), Scarlet Fever has been on the rise since 2009 across much of Asia, and more recently in the UK, with perhaps the best-documented outbreak coming out of Hong Kong.

Early in this decade (see Hong Kong: Scarlet Fever In 2012), I wrote often about this abrupt, nearly 10-fold increase, in scarlet fever cases between 2010 and 2011 (see chart below).

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Since then Hong Kong has seen a high level of cases each year. Much of Asia – including China, Vietnam, and South Korea – have also reported rising numbers of cases.  

In the few years the UK has reported a resurgence in Scarlet fever infections as well (see UK PHE: Scarlet Fever Still Rising, with more than 15,500 cases reported during the first 47 weeks of 2017. 

This year Hong Kong is seeing another major surge, with 1,947 cases reported in the first 11 months of the year (a  > 50% increase over 2016).  Two weeks ago, Hong Kong’s CHP sent out a letter to doctors, as well as warning the public (see Heightened vigilance warranted amid marked increase in scarlet fever activity).  

Today, with 94 new cases reported in the last week, Hong Kong’s CHP has issued the following appeal to the public, schools, and doctors.

     The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health today (December 4) appealed to parents, schools/institutions and healthcare professionals for heightened vigilance against scarlet fever (SF) as its activity sharply increased last week and has reached a very high level.
 
     According to the CHP’s surveillance data, the weekly number of SF cases increased from 48 in the week of November 19 to 94 in the last week (week of November 26). Regarding SF outbreaks in schools/institutions, as of December 3, eight outbreaks (five kindergartens/child care centres and three primary schools) affecting 22 pupils/children were recorded in November.
 
     “While SF has occurred throughout the year locally, a seasonal pattern for SF in Hong Kong with higher activity was observed from May to June and from November to March in the past few years. The activity of SF has increased again since November this year. Based on the past epidemiological pattern, we expect that the SF activity will remain at a higher level in the coming few months. Parents have to take extra care of their children in maintaining strict personal, hand and environmental hygiene,” a spokesman for the CHP said.
 
     A total of 1 947 cases were reported in the first 11 months of 2017, representing a marked increase from the figures for the same period in 2016 (1 244 cases) and 2015 (1 060 cases). The epidemiological features of the cases in 2017 were similar to those in previous years.
 
     The 1 947 SF cases reported this year comprised 1 156 males and 791 females aged from 2 months to 43 years (median: 5 years), nearly all of whom (1 863, 95.7 per cent) were under 10 years. Most presented with mild illnesses. Among them, 695 cases (35.7 per cent) required hospitalisation. While one severe case reported in March required admission to an intensive care unit, no deaths have been recorded so far.
 
     “We will issue letters to doctors, hospitals and schools again to alert them to the latest situation. Schools should promptly make a report to the CHP in case of an increase in respiratory illnesses or absentees for immediate epidemiological investigations and outbreak control,” the spokesman said.
 
     SF is a bacterial infection caused by Group A Streptococcus and mostly affects children. It is transmitted through either respiratory droplets or direct contact with infected respiratory secretions.
 
     It usually starts with a fever and sore throat. Headache, vomiting and abdominal pain may also occur. The tongue may have a distinctive strawberry-like (red and bumpy) appearance. A sandpaper texture-like rash would commonly begin on the first or second day of onset over the upper trunk and neck before spreading to the limbs. The rash is usually more prominent in armpits, elbows and groin areas. It usually subsides after one week and is followed by skin peeling over fingertips, toes and groin areas.
 
     SF is sometimes complicated with middle ear infection; throat abscess; chest infection; meningitis; bone or joint problems; damage to the kidneys, liver and heart; and, rarely, toxic shock syndrome. SF can be effectively treated by appropriate antibiotics. People suspected to have SF should consult a doctor promptly.
 
     There are no vaccines available against SF. Members of the public are advised to take heed of the health advice below: 

Maintain good personal and environmental hygiene;Always keep hands clean and wash with liquid soap when they are dirtied by mouth and nasal discharges;Cover your nose and mouth while sneezing or coughing and dispose of nasal and mouth discharges properly;Avoid sharing personal items such as eating utensils and towels;Maintain good ventilation; andChildren suffering from SF should refrain from attending school or child care settings until the fever has subsided and they have been treated with antibiotics for at least 24 hours.   The public may visit the CHP’s SF page for more information.

Ends/Monday, December 4, 2017

Issued at HKT 18:00

This Week in Egypt – Week 49 ( Nov 27- Dec 3)

Nervana

Top Headlines 

  • Former Egyptian premier Shafiq says intends to run in 2018 election
  • In an exclusive video to Al-Jazeera, Ex-Egypt PM Ahmed Shafiq says he is “blocked from leaving UAE” 
  • Minister of Foreign Affairs for the United Arab Emirates blasts “thankless” Shafiq in tweets
  • Former Egyptian PM gives TV interview, denying he was kidnapped
  • Russia negotiates deal for its warplanes to use Egypt bases
  • Al-Azhar Grand Imam performs Friday prayers at Rawda mosque

 

Shafiq AFP

Ex-Presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq – via AFP

Main Headlines

Monday

Tuesday 

  • Police kills 11 militants, arrests six during…

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‘I tried not to scream, I was afraid they’d hit me even harder’

An Israeli raid on Al-Aqsa compound earlier this year turned violent when hundreds of Palestinian worshippers were beaten, arrested, and marched barefoot through the streets of Jerusalem. Now two young men describe the brutality they faced that night, and the humiliation they encountered while in custody.

By Yael Marom

Police arrest a Palestinian demonstrator in the East Jerusalem neighborhood Wadi Joz, July 21, 2017. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Police arrest a Palestinian demonstrator in the East Jerusalem neighborhood Wadi Joz, July 21, 2017. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

This past summer, two weeks after Al-Aqsa compound was closed following a lethal attack by three Palestinian citizens of Israel against Israeli police forces, worshippers were allowed to return to pray in the area.

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This came following the eruption of widespread popular protests, after which Israel removed the metal detectors it had erected at the entrance to the compound. At the end of the first day back at Al-Aqsa, on Thursday, July 27, at 10:30 p.m., the police used loudspeakers to call on the worshippers to evacuate. They acquiesced, aside from a group of around 120 men who were at a closed mosque at the edge of the compound and who claim they did not hear the police’s demand.

Large police forces then raided the mosque, violently beating and arresting worshippers. A hundred of them, including teenager boys, were bound and beaten as they were marched barefoot through the streets of Jerusalem’s Old City. They were then loaded one after another onto a bus that took them to the police station.

A month later, 10 of those worshippers — among them three medics who were inside the mosque that night — filed a complaint with the Police Internal Investigations Department, Israel’s equivalent of an Internal Affairs unit, as was first reported on Local Call. In the complaint, filed by Attorney Noa Levy from the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, they described how the police burst into the mosque while firing stun grenades and sponge-tipped bullets at the worshippers. Their testimonies included descriptions of brutal violence and humiliation, as well as attacks against the medics and indiscriminate arrests.

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Not much has happened since the complaint was filed. The Internal Investigations Department has yet to take testimony from the complainants, and the case remains on the attorney general’s desk, and it is unclear whether a proper investigation will be undertaken. Meanwhile, Amer Aruri, a field researcher for Israeli anti-occupation group B’Tselem, collected testimonies from teenagers arrested during the raid. The testimonies of two of the teens who were at the mosque that night offers a snipper of Israel’s treatment of East Jerusalem’s youth. The testimonies, just two out of hundreds of Palestinian teenagers arrested every year in Jerusalem, illuminate the scaremongering tactics and the use of jailing and interrogation techniques that allow the authorities to put pressure on teenagers to force confessions.

A recent report published jointly by B’Tselem and HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual, an Israel human rights organization included statistics on the authorities’ frequent arrests of teenagers between the ages of 12-17 in East Jerusalem, and the way in which their rights are systematically violated.

Testimony by N.A., 17, from Beit Hanina:

On Thursday, July 27, the metal detectors installed at the entrance to Al-Aqsa Mosque were removed. Like many other people, I went to the mosque to pray, but I didn’t leave after the prayer as I usually do at around 8:15 p.m. This time, some people decided to stay overnight at the mosque, thinking that they might not let people of all ages in the next day.

About half an hour after the prayer ended, the power in the mosque went out. I decided to pray and begin the rituals. As I was praying, I heard people speaking Hebrew, and then saw a lot of occupation forces (police officers and Special Patrol Unit officers) raid the mosque. I don’t know how they got in, since the worshippers had locked the door.

Dozens of Muslim worshippers hold a mass prayer outside the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif compound in Jerusalem's Old City, July 16, 2017.

Dozens of Muslim worshippers hold a mass prayer outside the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif compound in Jerusalem’s Old City, July 16, 2017.

The officers fired stun grenades inside the mosque. I was scared. They hit people with clubs, knocked them down on the floor, and twisted their arms. I stopped praying and just stood where I was; I didn’t know where to go. Suddenly, a few officers pushed me to the floor violently. They grabbed my arms and dragged me to a corner of the mosque. They took my ID card and tied my hands behind my back with a zip tie. I heard people screaming in pain. I tried not to scream because I was afraid they’d hit me even harder.

About half an hour later they had us all arrested and led us out of the mosque, single file. I was barefoot, like everyone else, because they wouldn’t let us put our shoes on. They took us out through al-Mughrabi Gate and made us sit on our knees for an hour, at most. Then they took us to two buses.

When I got to the bus, they made me spread my legs and frisked me. Then they took away my personal belongings and my cellphone, and took a photo of me. The officers forcefully dragged me to the bus and threw me onto a seat inside. The bus set off after about 2o minutes, stopping a short while later.

The officers started taking us off the buses and into the Russian Compound police station. Some officers pulled me by the arms and led me off the bus. They put me in a room where a lot of detainees were sitting on their knees, facing the wall. They forced me to join them and sit like everyone else. I stayed on my knees without eating, drinking, or being allowed to go to the bathroom for a long time. My back hurt, and every time I tried to stand up to stretch my back and legs, they hit me and kicked me in the legs until I fell over and sat back down on my knees, facing the wall.

They then took me out of the room, and someone who said he was a lawyer asked for my personal information. I asked him what time it was, and he said it was 4 a.m. Then he left and I was taken into a room where a man in civilian clothing was sitting. He told me in Arabic that I was accused of disobeying police orders and refusing to leave Al-Aqsa Mosque after prayers. I said my hand hurt because of the zip tie. Then I told the interrogator: “I never heard any police officers asking the worshippers to leave the mosque, and I didn’t see the officers before they raided the mosque and started arresting worshippers.”

Israeli forces fire tear gas at Palestinian worshippers in Ras al-Amud, East Jerusalem, July 21, 2017. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Israeli forces fire tear gas at Palestinian worshippers in Ras al-Amud, East Jerusalem, July 21, 2017. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

I was interrogated for about 15 minutes, and then I signed some kind of document written in Hebrew, which the interrogator said was my statement. They took my fingerprints, and when I left the interrogation room I told the police officer: “If I don’t go to the bathroom now, I’ll pee my pants.” He took me out of the building, led me to a tree and told me to pee there. So I did.

Then the officer took me into a room where there were about 30 people sitting on chairs. They handcuffed my hand to the hand of another detainee whom I did not know. The officers gave each pair of detainees who were cuffed together a bottle of water, a piece of bread, a piece of cheese, and yogurt. After I finished eating, I asked to go to the bathroom again. I was taken to the bathroom together with the detainee I was tied to, without taking off the cuffs. I urinated and he did the same. It was humiliating to urinate in front of a stranger, but I had no choice. The officer refused to untie our hands.

At around 2:00 p.m., they took every pair of detainees to a room where there were a lot of shoes. They must have brought our shoes from the mosque. The officer gave each detainee five minutes to look for his shoes, which, of course, wasn’t enough, so I picked shoes that were more or less my size and put them on. The guy who was cuffed to me did the same.

Then, they released anyone who had found their shoes. My family was waiting outside. They told me there was a police order forbidding me to access the Old City area for 15 days, and that I was only allowed to remain in Beit Hanina and Shuafat. If I broke the terms of my release, my family would have to pay a NIS 10,000 fine.

Testimony by B.S., 17, from Issawiya:

I sat at the mosque and saw the police officers shooting stun grenades and sponge-tipped bullets at people. It is a large mosque and people were running around inside, trying to flee. I tried to run away but the officers caught up with me. They knocked me down to the floor and tied my hands. I don’t remember how many people assaulted me. They tied my hands behind my back with a zip tie; after that an officer hit or kicked me every once in a while. I stayed that way for about an hour, until the officers gained control of the situation and detained everyone in the mosque.

Then they lifted me off the floor and led me outside, barefoot. I saw some worshippers who had been injured and were bleeding from the head or the face. They took all of us through Al-Mughrabi Gate toward the plaza in front of Al-Buraq (the Western Wall), where they made us sit on our knees near the gate. After about an hour, they took us to two buses that were parked nearby. When I got onto the bus, I couldn’t find a seat, so I stood stuck between the other detainees who were crammed.

Palestinians fly the Palestinian flag Islamic flags atop Al-Aqsa Mosque, Jerusalem, July 27, 2017. (Activestills.org)

Palestinians fly the Palestinian flag Islamic flags atop Al-Aqsa Mosque, Jerusalem, July 27, 2017. (Activestills.org)

The bus drove to the Russian Compound police station, and a few minutes later the officers dragged us out. I was put in an interrogation room that, according to other detainees who were with me, is called “Room Number Four.” My hands were hurting a lot because of the zip tie. I saw a few guys try to tear off other detainees’ zip ties with their teeth. At some point, the officers noticed and beat, kicked, and slapped them.

After that, the officers tied everyone’s feet together. My feet were bound with metal cuffs. I asked to go to the bathroom, but the officers wouldn’t let me. I was thirsty, and every time I asked for water they told me, “go to your mom — drink there.” I sat there on my knees with my hands tied for about an hour, and then I was taken with two other people into a room that had lots of shoes in it. They told us to choose shoes that fit. I couldn’t find the ones I had left in the cabinet at the mosque, so I chose a random pair. I asked the officer to free my hands and feet, so I could put the shoes on, and he did. Then he tied my hands and feet again and led me and the two others to a police car, which took us to the Kishleh police station [in the Old City].

When we got there, they put us in a room with four detainees. There was also a toilet. They brought us a dish with chicken and rice, but it smelled disgusting and I didn’t eat it. At night, they untied my hands and I went to sleep.

The next morning, before they brought in breakfast, they took me to another room where they tied my hands in front of me with metal cuffs. From there, they took me to another room where a man in plain clothes was sitting. He told me in Arabic that I was accused of throwing stones at the occupation forces. I told him that wasn’t true and that I was in the mosque when I was arrested. I was in interrogation for a long time. The interrogator accused me of carrying a knife and using it to threaten the lives of the security forces. I denied everything and signed my statement, which was written in Hebrew.

Then they took me back to the room where I had slept. I didn’t eat lunch, either. It was the same rice and chicken with the disgusting smell. I only drank water. The next morning, the police officer told me I would be taken to court, but nothing happened and I stayed in the room with the other detainees. Later, a police officer came and took me out of the room, and then they released me. Some members of my family were waiting for me outside. It was Saturday afternoon, at around 3 p.m.

I was released under the condition that I stay away from the Old City for a month. In addition, if I got arrested again within six months, they would jail me for two years. After I was released, I went to Hadassah Hospital, because I had pain in different parts of my body from the beating I had received, and I was exhausted. I also had abdominal pain, but the medical tests showed only minor bruising.

Yael Marom is Just Vision’s public engagement manager in Israel and a co-editor of Local Call, where this article was originally published in Hebrew.