RUTHFULLY YOURS

http://artistsforpalestine.org.uk/

We support the Palestinian struggle for freedom, justice and equality. In response to the call from Palestinian artists and cultural workers for a cultural boycott of Israel, we pledge to accept neither professional invitations to Israel, nor funding, from any institutions linked to its government until it complies with international law and universal principles of human rights.

Signed by:

Hanan Abdalla, May Abdalla, Khalid Abdalla, Hassan Abdulrazzak, Leo Abrahams, Tom Adams, Olugbenga Adelekan, Joseph Adesunloye, Rizwan Ahmed, Mediah Ahmed, Peter Ahrends, Hanan Al-Shaykh, Jane Alexander, Catherine Alexander, Clem Alford, Seif Alhasani, Tariq Ali, Khyam Allami, Deniz Allport, William Alsop, Tayo Aluko, Chiara Ambrosio, Amir Amirani, Tahmima Anam, Adjoa Andoh, Ben Annesley, Frankie Armstrong, Barby Asante, Richard Ashcroft, Simon Ashdown, Oreet Ashery, Peter Ashlock, Kevin Atherton, Tim Atkins, Ed Atkins, Diane Atkinson, Anne-Marie Atkinson, Liane Aukin, Lekan Babalola, Ben Bailes, Roy Bailey, Giles Bailey, Richard Olatunde Baker, Steven Ball, Sue Ball, Debbie Ballin, Ben Ballin, Ros Barber, Shahidha Bari, Phyllida Barlow, Neil Bartlett, Chloe Bass, Linda Bassett, Sarah Beddington, Cezary Bednarski, Saleha Begum, Henry Bell, Emilia Benjamin, Ishia Bennison, Paul Bennun, Dzifa Benson, Lina Bentley, John Berger, Josephine Berry Slater, Kavita Bhanot, Alice Birch, Brighid Black, Kelvin Bland, Nicholas Blincoe, Penni Blythe, Russell Bolam, Sean Bonney, Leah Borromeo, Bette Bourne, Susan Bradburn, Paul Bradshaw, Andrea Brady, Brid Brennan, Haim Bresheeth, Victoria Brittain, Lez Brotherston, Patricia Bryden, Pavel Buchler, Niall Buggy, Carrie Bulley, Mark Burnhope, Ellen Burroughs, Jonathan Burrows, Margaret Busby, Justin Butcher, Brad Butler, Amelia Bywater…
Full A-Z list of 700 signatories here

Let’s talk about phobias. Not about phobias such as arachnophobia, and ophidiophobia, and acrophobia, or even gynophobia.

A phobia, after all, is an intense, terrifying, and often debilitating, but legitimate or unreasoning fear of something or of doing something. An object is perceived, sometimes rightly, sometimes wrongly, as something that poses a threat to one’s life or values. A phobia freezes one’s rational faculties and capacity for action; however, the suspension of one’s mind or capacity to act itself can prove to be genuinely perilous. A phobia is rooted in a fear or hatred of the thing.

A friend remarked when I let her know the subject of this column:

The hallmark of phobias is that they are impervious to rational examination. That’s one reason it’s used as a pejorative by manipulators, to convey the idea of an irrational hatred and aversion. For a Muslim to acknowledge that there might be reasons for such dislike opens the door to questions of what it is about Islam that might cause it. Even “bigotry” invites debate. But phobia — there’s nothing to be done but for the blameless victim to be protected from such inexplicable malice. The “phobe” must be silenced and immobilized like a raving maniac in a Victorian madhouse.

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Preventing hospital infections. Another Israeli company is countering the risk of contracting infections in hospital. Nano-Textiles coats hospital textiles (bed linen and clothing) with nano-particles of Zinc and Copper oxides that kill even antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Nano-Textiles plans to raise $3 million on Wall Street.
http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-nano-textile-files-to-raise-3m-on-wall-street-1001007812
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16xT2BW-bpw

More good news for brain tumor patients. (Thanks to Israel21c) Here is a new report about the TTFields scalp device from Israel’s Novocure that slows the growth of brain tumors. (Previously reported in Nov 2014).
http://www.israel21c.org/headlines/wearable-device-slows-brain-tumor-growth/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL-3JkQOsPg

New devices to diagnose pneumonia. (Thanks to Israel21c) Two Israeli startups have received Israeli Government grants to develop their products for diagnosing pneumonia. RespiDX’s Respimometer has sensors to measure breathing. NanoVation-GS’s stick-on patch has a film with a nano-sensor to measure respiration.
http://www.israel21c.org/headlines/catching-pneumonia-before-it-kills/

Accurate injections. Israeli biotech SteadyMed has developed a disposable patch pump delivery system to administer medicines safely and accurately into the body. SteadyMed plans to raise $55 million on NASDAQ.
http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-steadymed-therapeutics-files-for-55m-nasdaq-ipo-1001007954
http://www.steadymed.com/technology/

Crowdfunding helps solve rare disease mystery. Crowdfunding – funds from a large number of individuals over the Internet – have enabled researchers at Tel Aviv University to conduct Whole Exome Sequencing and identify the genetic mutation responsible for mental retardation and severe developmental delays in children.
https://www.aftau.org/weblog-medicine–health?=storyid4704=2160ncs4704=3
http://raregenomics.org/#httpraregenomicsorg

Joint medical research with UK. The Britain Israel Research and Academic Exchange partnership (BIRAX) has pledged £3.2 million of funding for eight joint stem cell research projects to develop therapies for diabetes, heart disease, Parkinson’s disease, liver disease and Multiple Sclerosis. UK Prime Minister David Cameron said the research “has the potential to change the lives of hundreds of millions of people.”
http://www.timesofisrael.com/a-boost-for-israel-uk-tech-ties/#

The BBC’s Malcolm Brabant says police tracked the gunman down using CCTV
Police in Copenhagen say they have shot dead a man they believe was behind two deadly attacks in the Danish capital hours earlier.

Police say they killed the man in the Norrebro district after he opened fire on them.

It came after one person was killed and three police officers injured at a free speech debate in a cafe on Saturday.

In the second attack, a Jewish man was killed and two police officers wounded near the city’s main synagogue.

Police say video surveillance suggested the same man carried out both attacks. They do not believe any other people were involved.

Today’s deadly assault by a masked gunman who sprayed more than 200 rounds of automatic fire into a Café in Northern Copenhagen. The exchange of gunfire by the gunmen with Danish security police took the life of one 40 year old man at the Free Speech, Blasphemy and Islam event where both Swedish Artist Lars Vilks the honoree and the French Ambassador were present. They were unhurt in the attack. Three security police were injured in the shootout at the Krudttønden Café. :Listen to this BBC recording of a speaker at the Krudttønden Café when gunfire sent everyone to the floor. According to a later reports from AFP, Reuters and BBC:

A second ,perhaps related, incident, close to Copenhagen’s main synagogue in the city center, saw a 55 year old Jewish man shot in the head, who subsequently died of wounds, and two policemen were injured, police said in a statement early Sunday. The BBC reported “early on Sunday, police said they had shot dead a man who opened fire on them near a railway station in the neighbourhood of Noerrebro where they had been keeping an address under observation.”

If you are a student of ancient military history — or actually an action movie buff — you know the significance of the number 300. It is a number associated with a brave stand made by Spartan warriors led by their king, Leonidas. They stood against a numerically superior force but wrought much violence and death against the invading Persian Army of Xerxes, until they were betrayed. Could it be a modern day episode of the brave 300 playing out before our eyes?

In case you haven’t heard, unlike the characterization of President Obama on Wednesday, ISIS is not on the defense and their morale is certainly not low. ISIS has taken a western Iraqi town of al-Baghdadi not far from Ramadi. Nearby al-Baghdadi is an Iraqi base, al-Asad, where 300 Marines are training Iraqi forces.