Category Archives: human rights

Where’s Monty Hall when we need him? SoCal Researcher Launches Crowdfunded Effort To Find Cure For Ebola: LAist

{Is the race to find a vaccine or cure for ebola – which had more or less been ignored for 30 some years globally for lack of profit – becoming the new “Let’s Make a Deal!” for researchers and drug firms? The first to find a real advance will be able to trade on that for investments and support for other more profitable efforts in the future!}

Professor Saphire is leading the charge at Scripps to find a cure for Ebola, having already led in the development of the experimental ZMapp serum has cured five patients this past summer of the virus. In order to find the antibodies that will fight the virus effectively, her work requires samples being shipped in from around the globe. Unfortunately, her lab is limited in resources, and has started a CrowdRise fundraiser in order to get the money for personnel and equipment. So far, we’re at $14,000 of her $100,000 goal.

Saphire was on KPCC’s Take Two this morning to talk about her efforts, and addressed the concerns that research for a cure isn’t what the current epidemic needs right at this moment:

It’s true that none of these experimental therapies are going to be available in enough doses to treat everybody; it’s just not possible. To contain this outbreak the focus really needs to be on medical supplies and medical care. We just can’t have people dying in the streets and infecting their families at home. They need to be cared for by doctors and nurses that have supplies to protect themselves, but the contain and control isn’t enough. One of the things about crowdfunding is it gives people the control. They can choose what they want to invest in and maybe they want to put some of their resources toward supplies like medical gloves and bleach and maybe they want to put some of their resources toward getting a cure ready to treat this thing.

via SoCal Researcher Launches Crowdfunded Effort To Find Cure For Ebola: LAist.

Race for Status May or May Not Help Stop Ebola… Chinese firm pushes Ebola drug it says can cure deadly virus | South China Morning Post

{Russia says it has a cure, Canada and US have a cure, UK has a treatment, India and Japan will be next to claim they are working on a cure and/or vaccine – and those dying of Ebola are really not as important as status to be won in eyes of world – and hoped for profit in other drugs later}

A Chinese drug maker with close military ties is seeking fast-track approval for a drug that it says can cure Ebola, as China joins the race to help treat a deadly outbreak of a disease that has spread from Africa to the United States and Europe.

Sihuan Pharmaceutical has signed a tie-up with China’s Academy of Military Medical Sciences (AMMS) last week to help push the drug called JK-05 through the approval process in China and bring it to market. The drug, developed by the academy, is currently approved for emergency military use only.

“We believe that we can file to the Chinese Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) before the end of the year,” Sihuan’s chairman Che Fengsheng said during an investor call last week.

“They are looking at this very seriously … and we could get on the ‘green light’ track,” he added.

Sihuan’s drug is only one contender among a number of experimental cures worldwide to treat Ebola, although if successful it would be a huge boon for China’s developing pharmaceutical sector and the country’s soft power in Africa, an increasingly important partner for the world’s No.2 economy.

via Chinese firm pushes Ebola drug it says can cure deadly virus | South China Morning Post.

Israeli military training targets Children in Aida Camp

Local sources said that on Sunday 12 October the Israeli Occupation Forces stormed into Aida refugee camp without any provocation and began shooting tear gas, sound bombs and rubber coated steel bullets at children in the streets.

Eye wittness and photographer Mohammad AL-Azza said that “They were searching houses, occupying rooftops and invading the whole camp”.

He added “Yesterday, they were training soldiers by using families, children and homes as military practice. Tamer Abu Salem, 13 years old, was in Lajee Center moments before he was shot in the head with a rubber coated steel bullet. Tamer underwent emergency surgery after arriving at the hospital and he is still in the ICU. Before the soldiers left the camp, they shot two bullets through Lajee Center’s windows as punishment. The occupation is on-going, and our struggle continues.”

via Israeli military training targets Children in Aida Camp.

Israel PM blames Palestinian ‘extremists’ for Jerusalem clashes | News , World | THE DAILY STAR

Bibi drinking again and he drunkenly blames victims for conflict! OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Monday blamed “Palestinian extremists” for clashes at Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound, denying that Israel was behind mounting tensions at the site.

“Israel is committed to maintaining the status quo exactly as it’s been for many decades. What we’re seeing is Palestinian extremists who are instigating violence through incitement,” he said in the presence of U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

via Israel PM blames Palestinian ‘extremists’ for Jerusalem clashes | News , World | THE DAILY STAR.

Bison Return to Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma

“That’s why the bison has always represented something deeply spiritual to our tribal ancestors and why it’s important for us to reintroduce bison within our homelands. Today, we are able to reconnect the Cherokee Nation with a prominent part of our history and our cultural roots.”

via Bison Return to Cherokee Natio.

Bison were once native to parts of Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee (Cherokee land before forced to Oklahoma)

Turkey willing to kill its own people instead of IS!?! Protests and deaths around Turkey over handling of Kobani | News | DW.DE | 10.10.2014

More than 30 people had been killed and 360 injured at anti-government demonstrations in different parts of southeastern Turkey as of Friday. Unrest boiled over in response to the government’s perceived inaction against militants from the self-proclaimed “Islamic State,” who were inching closer to taking the border town of Kobani in Syria.

via Protests and deaths around Turkey over handling of Kobani | News | DW.DE | 10.10.2014.

“Citizen” IDF Soldiers just stand and watch!?! Settlers attack Palestinian olive farmers for 2nd time in 2 days | Maan News Agency

Dozens of Israeli settlers protected by soldiers burned and damaged olive trees on Palestinian lands in the Yasuf village near Salfit in the northern West Bank on Friday, the second suck attack in the last two days.

Settlers from the Kfar Tappuah settlement set fire to and damaged several olive trees on Friday while Israeli soldiers in the area stood by watching, eyewitnesses said.

The lands that were attacked reportedly belonged to Nafiz and Issam Ali Mansour.

Issam Abu Bakr, mayor of Salfit, warned farmers against the “settlers’ attacks” and recommended residents work in groups in the lands close to nearby Jewish-only settlements.

The attack in Yasuf follows a similar incident Thursday near Aqraba, south of Nablus, where settlers from Itamar reportedly attacked dozens of Palestinian farmers and sought to steal their olive crop.

The attacks come as the 2014 olive harvest, a major source of income for Palestinian farmers, begins across the northern West Bank, and just weeks before harvesting begins across the south.

Attacks on the fall harvest are a key way that Palestinians are forced out of their homes and their lands confiscated for settlement construction, as the loss of a year’s crop can signal destitution for many.

via Settlers attack Palestinian olive farmers for 2nd time in 2 days | Maan News Agency.

The Jesuits denounce: “600 attacks against religious minorities: stop to violence” – Fides News Agency

“The first 100 days of the new government – say the Jesuits – have seen a crescendo of hate speeches against Muslims and Christians. Their identity is mocked, their citizenship questioned, their faith ridiculed. Coercion, divisions and suspicions multiply. Attacks against religious minorities have assumed alarming proportions: more than 600 from May to September 2014, in various parts of the country”.

The Jesuits conclude: “The hatred, violence campaign and threats have left not only religious minorities speechless, but also civil society, lawyers and academics, while the government remains silent. The Christian community has been the target of mob violence in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh”, according to an approach that -says the appeal – has changed its strategy: “A few deaths, but daily low-intensity violence that is becoming routine”.

via The Jesuits denounce: “600 attacks against religious minorities: stop to violence” – Fides News Agency.

You’ll Never Guess Where Food Stamps Are in Highest Demand | Civil Eats

This kind of silence about receiving food assistance will sound familiar to others who live in rural America. But a report out last month from the Center for Rural Affairs (CRA) illustrates quite a different reality: The percentage of eligible people relying on SNAP is higher in rural areas than it is in urban areas. CRA found that nearly 86 percent of eligible rural residents receive SNAP benefits, compared with nearly 73 percent of eligible urban residents.

via You’ll Never Guess Where Food Stamps Are in Highest Demand | Civil Eats.

allAfrica.com: Madagascar: Tombs and Title Deeds – Colonial Hangover

allAfrica.com: Madagascar: Tombs and Title Deeds.

This property problem dates back to 1899, when French colonisers established that only the state could issue land titles. Although during the next 115 years successive governments identified nearly 10m lots, only 500,000 were registered, according to the World Bank. By 2005 an applicant trying to obtain a title had to wait six years on average, complete 24 procedures and spend around $500, two years’ income for the average Malagasy household. The process was so complicated, time consuming and expensive that poor illiterate farmers could not complete it.