Category Archives: Fail!

US Peace Corps Pulling Volunteers Out of Ebola Epidemic Areas – With What Precautions?

Ebola is spread by people who have it and showing symptoms coming in contact with people as they travel, in hospital, at work, or at home.

People leaving an infected area should be screened before leaving and isolated, perhaps, when they arrive at new destination.

LA Times reports: The Peace Corps is removing more than 300 of its volunteers from Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea as an Ebola outbreak that has left hundreds dead continues to worsen in West Africa.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Peace Corps said it is temporarily removing volunteers from the affected countries, and did not offer any comment on a possible return date.

The news came just days after two American charity workers contracted the disease in Monrovia, the Liberian capital. Patrick Sawyer, a 40-year-old consultant with the Liberian government, was also revealed to be the first American to die of the disease, relatives said Tuesday.

“The Peace Corps has enjoyed long partnerships with the government and people of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, and is committed to continuing volunteers’ work there,” the statement read. “A determination on when volunteers can return will be made at a later date.”

The Peace Corps is removing more than 300 of its volunteers from Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea as an Ebola outbreak that has left hundreds dead continues to worsen in West Africa.

UN: ‘world stands disgraced’ as shelter for Gaza children is shelled by Israel | World | The Guardian

United Nations officials described the killing of sleeping children as a disgrace to the world and accused Israel of a serious violation of international law after a school in Gaza being used to shelter Palestinian families was shelled on Wednesday.

At least 15 people, mostly children and women, died when the school in Jabaliya refugee camp was hit by five shells during a night of relentless bombardment across Gaza. More than 100 people were injured.

Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, said the attack was “outrageous and unjustifiable” and demanded “accountability and justice”. The UN said its officials had repeatedly given details of the school and its refugee population to Israel.

via UN: ‘world stands disgraced’ as shelter for Gaza children is shelled by Israel | World | The Guardian.

Ebola outbreak: Royal Air Force ‘on standby’ to bring back infected Brits – Telegraph

Hard to get more racist and elitist than this – ya think? But there is an election coming soon and Cameron has to look like he is doing something – like sticking foot in mouth again!

The Royal Air Force could be called in to bring back UK citizens infected with the deadly Ebola disease from West Africa.

David Cameron has said that Ebola outbreak is a ‘very serious threat’ to the UK and the foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, is preparing to chair an emergency meeting today on how to tighten Britain’s defences against the virus.

Major Thomas Fletcher, of the Royal Army Medical Corps said it was likely the meeting would discuss putting the military on alert to ‘repatriate’ Britons infected with the disease.

The Royal Air Force’s Infection Prevention Control Team is likely to be placed on standby to collect UK citizens and return them to Britain in quarantine conditions.

via Ebola outbreak: Royal Air Force ‘on standby’ to bring back infected Brits – Telegraph.

This means war: why the fashion headdress must be stopped | Fashion | The Guardian

the case against headdress chic is powerful, and it’s threefold. First, the trend ignores the differences between indigenous peoples. There are 564 federally recognised tribes in the US alone, but fashion smushes them into one vague stereotype with all the sophistication of a B-grade 1950s western. “You’ll see someone wearing a headdress in the same picture as a totem pole and a canoe when actually those are from three different cultures,” says Bear Witness. “The totem poles are from the northwest, headdresses are from the plains and the kind of canoes you usually see are woodland canoes. So it’s robbing us of our individual cultures.”

Second, it disrespects the sacred significance of the headdress. Among the plains people, they are worn only by male chiefs, and only on special ceremonial occasions. “Headdresses are something that has to be earned,” says academic, activist and Cherokee Nation member Adrienne Keene, who chronicles the misuse of indigenous culture on her Native Appropriations blog. “That’s completely lost when it’s this chicken-feather thing that you bought at a costume shop. That deep sacred meaning is eclipsed by the desire to just dress up and play Indian.”

Finally, far from being a trivial issue, the trend reminds indigenous peoples of all the more serious crimes and indignities they have been subjected to over the past 500 years. Even after their land was stolen and vast numbers were killed, the remaining Native Americans were not granted full citizenship until 1924, and their religious rights were not protected until 1978. Tribal chic treats them as other: exotic creatures in their own land.

via This means war: why the fashion headdress must be stopped | Fashion | The Guardian.

Ebola Outbreak: NC Missionaries Evacuating 60 People

Will this be how ebola is imported to the US?

Will these people be screened before getting on a flight home?

Will they isolated for 21 days when they get home?

North Carolina groups, SIM in Charlotte and Samaritan’s Purse in Boone, announced Tuesday they are bringing some of their missionaries home because of the growing Ebola outbreak in West Africa. SIM is similar to Samaritan’s Purse, it’s a Christian organization that sends missionaries across the world. SIM USA President Bruce Johnson said around 60 people, mostly nonessential personnel like children and spouses, will return to the U.S.

via Ebola Outbreak: NC Missionaries Evacuating 60 People.

Over 70 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks since midnight | Maan News Agency

At least 70 Palestinians have been killed and 110 injured in Israeli attacks since midnight Wednesday on the 23rd day of the Gaza offensive, according to the Ministry of Health.

In the most devastating attack, at least 16 people were killed when an Israeli artillery shell hit a UN school in the northern Gaza Strip.

via Over 70 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks since midnight | Maan News Agency.

Why the Islamic State has no sympathy for Hamas – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

{The guy in the photo missed his Dr. Strangelove moment by not straddling the rocket like riding a horse. They do not seem to have learned yet the the illusion that is the hardest to overcome is self-delusion.}

Most of today’s Salafist jihadist movements have no interest in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, for the time being regarding it as irrelevant. Instead, their call is to engage in intense, bloody confrontations involving bombings, executions, and suicide attacks against governments headed by Muslims and against Muslim civilians.

via Why the Islamic State has no sympathy for Hamas – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East.

Christians in eastern Lebanon prepare for worst – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

The statement released by the Ahrar al-Sunnah Brigades, in which they threatened to attack churches and Christians in the region, has had a deep impact on many residents. There are also many reports and scenarios being shared on social media about the possibility of villages inhabited by Christians being raided.

via Christians in eastern Lebanon prepare for worst – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East.

Thirty-five U.S. states report travel-related cases of chikungunya | Vaccine News Daily

Health officials in 35 states have reported a total of 284 cases of the mosquito-borne chikungunya virus, according to recent data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

The total number of cases reported in U.S. and its territories has risen to 497, most of which are associated with travelers returning from the Caribbean and South America. Locally-transmitted cases have been reported in Florida, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

According to the CDC, the number of cases will likely increase, thereby leading to additional local spread of the virus in the continental U.S. Between 2006 and 2013, an average of 28 people, all of whom were travelers returning from affected areas, tested positive for the virus.

Florida and New York have reported the most cases, followed by Tennessee, New Jersey, Rhode Island, California and Connecticut.

via Thirty-five U.S. states report travel-related cases of chikungunya | Vaccine News Daily.