United Kingdom Health

- In a move to reverse the high maternal and child mortality rates in Zimbabwe, the United Kingdom has strengthened its partnership with UNICEF Zimbabwe and the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare ...

[IFC] IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) signed a memorandum of understanding to support advisory services for healthcare public-private partnerships in low-income and fragile states.

Vanguard (Lagos)-The dream of access to cheap Anti malaria drugs in Nigeria is about to come true at long last. This development is being facilitated by the Partnership for Transforming Health Systems, PATHS2, a United Kingdom Department for International Development, DFID funded project.

Unicef (New York)-The United Kingdom's Department for International Development (DFID) is supporting the UNICEF sanitation and hygiene programme in Zambia with a contribution of almost US$30 million (152 trillion Zambian Kwacha) over a period of four years.

Rimes tired of baby talk Singer LeANN RIMES has kicked off the New Year with a message to fans - "Please stop discussing my ovaries". Longoria: 'My health seriously suffered after divorce' EVA LONGORIA has credited the gym and a tough trainer for helping her get over the pain of her split and divorce from husband TONY PARKER.

BOONE, Iowa -- Rick Santorum said Monday that the United Kingdom's development of a social safety net, including universal health care, cost the nation its...

Her blog www.skinnylattestrikes back.com won the Cosmopolitan Blog Award for best health, diet and fitness blog in 2011 and it is now ranked number six in the top 10 health blogs in the United Kingdom.

Women will be allowed to serve on submarines for the first time in Britain's history, the country's defence secretary announced Thursday, after research showed there were no health reasons to support the ban.

Yesterday the Sundance Film Festival announced the core lineup of films [1] that will be spotlit in the Competition slates at the 2012 festival. Now we've got a lineup of films that will play out of competition in the Spotlight, Park City at Midnight, NEXT and New Frontier schedules. There are a few films in here with which you might be nominally familiar, like The Raid, Grabbers and Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie, not to mention Andrea Arnold's new version of Wuthering Heights. But many are new announcements. While the competition lineups are always a good place to look for some of the films that will be the most talked-about in the year following each Sundance fest, these schedules are where some of the more unique and provocative films live. There are still some big premieres to be announced next week, but if I was making a big Sundance wishlist, these 30 movies would be among the ones I'd consider most highly. SPOTLIGHT Corpo Celeste / Italy (Director and screenwriter: Alice Rohrwacher) — After moving back to southern Italy with her mother and older sister, 13-year-old Marta struggles to find her place, restlessly testing the boundaries of an unfamiliar city and the catechism of the Catholic church.Cast: Yle Vianello, Salvatore Cantalupo, Anita Caprioli, Renato Carpentiere. Declaration Of War / Belgium (Director: Valérie Donzelli, Screenwriters: Jérémie Elkaïm, Valérie Donzelli) — A young couple embark upon a painful, enlightening journey when they discover that their newborn child is very ill. Cast: Valérie Donzelli, Jérémie Elkaïm, César Desseix. North American Premiere Elena / Russia (Director: Andrei Zvyagintsev, Screenwriter: Oleg Negin) — A meditative, modern-noir tale about an older woman, Elena, who marries the wealthy business man for whom she worked and, when his health fails, is forced to deal with his estranged daughter who threatens her inheritance. Cast: Andrey Smirnov, Nadezhda Markina, Elena Lyadova, Alexey Rozin. Monsieur Lazhar / Canada (Director and screenwriter: Philippe Falardeau) — An elegant reflection on loss and death focused on an Algerian immigrant teacher who brings emotional stability to a Montreal middle school class shaken by the suicide of their well-liked teacher. Cast: Fellag, Sophie Nélisse, Émilien Néron, Danielle Proulx, Brigitte Poupart. The Orator (O le Tulafale) / New Zealand (Director and screenwriter: Tusi Tamasese) — A Samoan villager must defend his land and family when they are threatened by powerful adversaries. Cast: Fa’afiaula Sagote, Tausili Pushparaj, Salamasina Mataia, Ioata Tanielu. The Raid / Indonesia (Director and screenwriter: Gareth Evans) — All hell breaks loose when an elite SWAT team, given orders to raid a run-down Jakarta apartment building that houses the city’s most notorious crime boss, is forced to fight their way to freedom or die trying. Cast: Iko Uwais, Yayan Ruhian, Joe Taslim, Doni Alamsyah. U.S. Premiere Where Do We Go Now? / France, Lebanon, Italy, Egypt (Director: Nadine Labaki, Screenwriters: Nadine Labaki, Jihad Hojeily, Rodney Al Haddad, with the collaboration of Thomas Bidegain) — A group of Lebanese women try to ease religious tensions between Christians and Muslims in their village. Cast: Claude Baz Moussawbaa, Layla Hakim, Nadine Labaki, Yvonne Maalouf, Antoinette Noufaily. U.S. Premiere Wuthering Heights / United Kingdom (Director: Andrea Arnold, Screenwriters: Andrea Arnold, Olivia Hetreed) — A freshly conceived retelling of Emily Bronte’s classic novel about Heathcliff and Cathy, two teenagers whose passionate love for each other creates a storm of vengeance.Cast: Kaya Scodelario, James Howson, Solomon Glave, Shannon Beer, Steve Evets. U.S. Premiere Your Sister's Sister / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Lynn Shelton) — While still mourning the recent death of his brother, a bereft and confused man finds love and direction in a most unexpected place. Cast: Emily Blunt, Rosemarie DeWitt, Mark Duplass. U.S. Premiere PARK CITY AT MIDNIGHT From horror flicks to comedies to works that defy any genre, these unruly films will keep you edge-seated and wide awake. Each is a world premiere. Black Rock / U.S.A. (Director: Katie Aselton, Screenwriter: Mark Duplass) — Three childhood friends set aside their personal issues and reunite for a girls' weekend on a remote island off the coast of Maine. One wrong move turns their weekend getaway into a deadly fight for survival.Cast: Katie Aselton, Lake Bell, Kate Bosworth. Excision / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Richard Bates, Jr.) — A disturbed and delusional high school student with aspirations of a career in medicine goes to extremes to earn the approval of her controlling mother. Cast: AnnaLynne McCord, Traci Lords, Ariel Winter, Roger Bart, John Waters. Grabbers / Ireland, United Kingdom (Director: Jon Wright, Screenwriter: Kevin Lehane) — When the residents of an idyllic Irish fishing village are attacked by mysterious, blood-sucking sea creatures, a high blood alcohol content could be the only thing that gets them through the night. Cast: Richard Coyle, Ruth Bradley, Russell Tovey, Bronagh Gallagher. The Pact / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Nicholas McCarthy) — As a woman struggles to come to grips with her past in the wake of her mother's death, an unsettling presence emerges in her childhood home. Cast: Caity Lotz, Casper Van Dien. SHUT UP AND PLAY THE HITS / United Kingdom (Directors: Dylan Southern, Will Lovelace) — A documentary that follows LCD Soundsystem front man James Murphy over a crucial 48-hour period, from the day of their final gig at Madison Square Garden to the morning after, the official end of one of the best live bands in the world. Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie / U.S.A. (Directors and screenwriters: Tim Heidecker, Eric Wareheim) — After two guys are given a billion dollars to make a movie, their Hollywood dreams run off course and they decide to rehabilitate a run-down shopping mall in an attempt to make the money back. Cast: Tim Heidecker, Eric Wareheim. V/H/S / U.S.A. (Directors: Adam Wingard, David Bruckner, Ti West, Glenn McQuaid, Joe Swanberg, Radio Silence, Screenwriters: Simon Barrett, David Bruckner, Ti West, Glenn McQuaid, Radio Silence) — When a group of misfits is hired by an unknown third party to burglarize a desolate house and acquire a rare VHS tape, they discover more found footage than they bargained for. Cast: Joe Swanberg, Calvin Reeder, Adam Wingard, Sophia Takal, Kate Lyn Sheil. NEXT NEXT encompasses a selection of pure, bold works by promising filmmakers distinguished by an innovative, forward-thinking approach to storytelling. Presented by Adobe Systems Incorporated. Each is a world premiere. COMPLIANCE / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Craig Zobel) — When a prank caller convinces a fast food restaurant manager to interrogate an innocent young employee, no one is left unscathed. Based on true events. Cast: Ann Dowd, Pat Healy, Dreama Walker, Bill Camp, Philip Ettinger. I AM NOT A HIPSTER / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Destin Daniel Cretton) — Set in the indie music and art scene, this is a character-driven story exploring themes of love, loss and what it means to be creative in the face of tragedy. Cast: Dominic Bogart, Alvaro Orlando, Brad William Henke, Tammy Minoff, Kandis Erickson, Lauren Coleman. KID-THING / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: David Zellner) — A rebellious girl whose existence is devoid of parental guidance, spends her time roaming the land, shoplifting, and vandalizing. Her routine is broken one day while playing in the woods when she hears a woman calling from a mysterious hole in the ground, asking for help. Cast: Sydney Aguirre, Susan Tyrrell, Nathan Zellner, David Zellner. Mosquita y Mari / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Aurora Guerrero) — A friendship between two 15-year-old Latinas becomes complex as they struggle to recognize the sexual undercurrent in their relationship. Cast: Fenessa Pineda, Venecia Troncoso, Joaquín Garrido, Laura Patalano, Dulce Maria Solis. My Best Day / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Erin Greenwell) — Karen’s life as a small-town receptionist is turned upside down when the father she never knew calls for a refrigerator repair. That day she encounters a sister addicted to off track betting, a brother struggling with grade school heartache and bullies, and a load of fireworks. Cast: Rachel Style, Ashlie Atkinson, Raúl Castillo, Jo Armeniox, Robert Salerno, Harris Doran. Pursuit of Loneliness / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Laurence Thrush) — An elderly patient dies in a county hospital leaving no known next of kin. Over the next 24 hours, four central characters try to find a family member to contact regarding the death of this anonymous individual. Cast: Joy Hille, Sandra Escalante, Sharon Munfus, Kirsi Toivanen, Natalie Fouron. Sleepwalk With Me / U.S.A. (Co-directors: Mike Birbiglia and Seth Barrish, Screenwriters: Mike Birbiglia, Ira Glass, Joe Birbiglia, Seth Barrish) — Reluctant to confront his fears of love, honesty, and growing up, a budding standup comedian has both a hilarious and intense struggle with sleepwalking. Cast: Mike Birbiglia, Lauren Ambrose, Carol Kane, James Rebhorn, Cristin Milioti. That's What She Said / U.S.A. (Director: Carrie Preston, Screenwriter: Kellie Overbey) — Armed with nothing but their addictions and lots of personal baggage, two best friends and a mysterious young interloper battle a series of misadventures on their quest for love in New York City.Cast: Anne Heche, Marcia DeBonis, Alia Shawkat. TWENTY-EIGHT HOTEL ROOMS / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Matt Ross) — Seen only as fragments in the secret world of hotel rooms, a long-term affair becomes perhaps the most significant relationship of a couple’s lives. Cast: Chris Messina, Marin Ireland. NEW FRONTIER With media installations, multimedia performances, transmedia experiences, panels, film screenings, and more, New Frontier highlights work that celebrates experimentation and the expansion of cinema culture through the convergence of film, art, and new media technology. These films complement the previously announced installations and performances in the New Frontier venue at the Festival. Bestiaire / Canada, France (Director: Denis Côté) — The boundaries we place around animals are provocatively and formally explored in this meditation on the relationship between nature and humanity. World Premiere An Oversimplification of Her Beauty / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Terence Nance) — A quixotic young man humorously courses live action and various animated landscapes as he tries to understand himself after a mystery girl stands him up. Cast: Terence Nance, Namik Minter, Chanelle Pearson. World Premiere THE PERCEPTION OF MOVING TARGETS / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Weston Currie) — A segmenting journey into the dreams of four neighbors. Cast: Brighid Thomas, Cherie Blackfeather, Gerald Casey, Tom Wood, Jin Camou. Room 237 / U.S.A. (Director: Rodney Ascher) — This experimental documentary explores the numerous theories about the real meaning of Stanley Kubrick's film The Shining. World Premiere whiteonwhite:algorithmicnoir / U.S.A., Kazakhstan (Directors: Eve Sussman | Rufus Corporation, Screenwriters: Eve Sussman, Kevin Messman, Jeff Wood) — A computer program assembles raw elements of music, dialogue, sound and footage shot in Kazakhstan into a generative noir mystery film in this live algorithmic performance. Cast: Jeff Wood, Marina Fedorenko. [1] http://www.slashfilm.com/competition-films-2012-sundance-film-festival-announced/

The much-awaited music documentary on HIV and Aids featuring United Kingdom soul diva Estelle, superstar Oliver Mtukudzi and sensational mbira queen Chiwoniso Maraire and several other international artistes is set for release this December.

An EU survey has confirmed what anyone in Malta already knows - the Maltese are, ehm, fat. The European Health Interview Survey found that between 8% and 25% of adults are obese across the EU, with Malta topping the list for men and coming second for obese women.  Among the 19 Member States for which data is available, the proportion of obese people in the adult population varied in 2008/9 between 8.0% and 23.9% for women and between 7.6% and 24.7% for men. In the USA, the corresponding figure was 26.8% for women and 27.6% for men in 2009. For both women and men aged 18 years and over, the lowest shares of obesity in 2008/9 were observed in Romania (8.0% for women and 7.6% for men), Italy (9.3% and 11.3%), Bulgaria (11.3% and 11.6%) and France (12.7% and 11.7%). The highest proportions of obese women were recorded in the United Kingdom (23.9%), Malta (21.1%), Latvia (20.9%) and Estonia (20.5% in 2006/7), and of men in Malta (24.7%), the United Kingdom (22.1%), Hungary (21.4%) and the Czech Republic (18.4%). The proportion of obesity was higher for women in eight Member States, higher for men in ten and equal in one.The share...

What gets measured gets done' is the old business truism that can be seen in action once again in the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. Because bad targets make for bad medicine. The previous Labour government set the laudable target of having all patients treated within eighteen weeks of their doctors' referral date. The whole thing falls down when the deadline is not met and there is no target for dealing with these cases. So there is now a neglected group of patients who nobody is encouraged to deal with.

A workshop held in the United Kingdom has suggested the mandatory inclusion of a health warning on air tickets, as on cigarette packets, to warn passengers of the dangers of inhalable toxic chemical in aircraft cabin air.

A survey conducted by the NSO has found that two-thirds of holders of a doctorate are employed by the government, and two-thirds are lecturers in higher education. The survey, for the reference year 2009 found that four out of five doctorate holders in 2009 were men. Athird were over 54 years of age. More than half were specialised in social sciences and humanities – 28.9 and 28.0 per cent respectively. Natural and medical and health sciences were less common, with shares of 15.9 and 14.6 per cent respectively. A significant share of doctorate holders obtained their degree from abroad, in particular the United Kingdom and Italy. A smaller segment of doctorate holders (6.2 per cent) obtained their degree in North America, namely in the United States and Canada. Only 18.3 per cent of doctorate holders received their degree from Malta. Nine out of ten doctorate holders were in employment and more than 90 per cent were employed on a full-time basis. Only 3.2 per cent of doctorate holders were found to be self-employed, while 8.5 per cent were engaged in temporary employment contracts. Over two-thirds of doctorate holders were...

Leeds Metropolitan University in the United Kingdom in collaboration with the University of The Gambia, Friday organized a graduation ceremony for 18 Gambians who has successfully completed a two years masters degrees in Public Health, Health Promotion and Environmental Health, at a ceremony held Paradise Suites Hotel.

The National TB Control Programme under the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in partnership with the Medical Research Council The United Kingdom Unit recently signed an agreement to conduct survey on control of TB in The Gambia.

The National TB Control Programme under the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in partnership with the Medical Research Council (MRC) The United Kingdom Unit recently signed an agreement to conduct survey on control of TB in The Gambia.

FOR Nigerians who can afford it, seeking medical attention abroad is routine. No thanks to them, health professionals within the medical industry in the United Kingdom, United States of America, Germany, and increasingly, South Africa and India, are smiling to the banks.

During his recent visit, 15 to 16 September 2011 to the United Kingdom (UK), Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi met with senior representatives from the Department for International Development (Dfid) where an additional £17m (R198 million) was committed to South Africa's Maternal and Child Health Care Programme.

Gen Art returned with true style with its annual Fresh Faces in Fashion show, the largest and most credible presentation of rising fashion designers in North America, in The Grand room of the Manhattan Center. Celebrities in attendance who dazzled in Palladium jewelry, one of Gen Art’s major partners in this initiative, included Gossip Girl ’s Kelly Rutherford and Erika Christensen . “What I love the most about Palladium jewelry is that you can look sexy and elegant at the same time — a hard thing to pull off with jewelry, because it’s either one or the other!” said Erika.

The 2011 US Open Men's singles champion Novak Djokovic was presented with a limited-edition 12-liter bottle of Moët & Chandon, the official champagne of the US Open, at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, N.Y.

Kim Kardashian got a gorgeous spray tan at Completely Bare in New York.

The Amy Winehouse Foundation launches on what would have been Amy's 28th birthday, September 14. The mission is "to Support charities and organizations undertaking charitable activities in both the United Kingdom and abroad who help, support, or care for young people — especially, but not exclusively those who are in need by reason of ill health, disability, financial disadvantage or addiction."

Dolce & Gabbana celebrated Fashion’s Night Out with the pre-launch of the brand’s Passion Duo lipstick. Justin Bieber was on hand to sign purchases. A percentage of the proceeds from the evening’s sales benefited Pencils of Promise.

Both Alexa Vega and Francia Raisa fell in love with the multi function of Miguel Torres Designs ' scarves that transform into vests and ponchos at the ALMA Awards. Jessica Alba selected a black one as well as leopard. Marisol Nichols also selected several.

Anna Kendrick stopped in the Variety Studio at Holt Renfrew to promote her latest film 50/50 . On her way out she picked up her favorite hair products, Moroccan Oil and some goodies from Nintendo.

The View 's Sherri Shepherd sat front row at Mychael Knight's Lost World collection.

The rising prevalence of obesity around the globe places an increasing burden on the health of populations, on healthcare systems and on overall economies. A major challenge for researchers is to quantify the effect of these burdens to inform public policies. Using a simulation model to project the probable health and economic consequences from rising obesity rates in the United States and the United Kingdom, researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and Oxford University forecast 65 million more obese adults in the U. S. and 11 million more in the U.K. by 2030, leading to millions of additional cases of diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and cancer. The findings suggest that medical costs associated with treatment of these preventable diseases in the U.S. alone will increase by $48-66 billion per year.

By Jamil Toubbeh

In his review of Margaret MacMillan’s book, Dangerous Games: The Uses and Abuses of History (2009), David Kennedy writes: humans live in history, a few write it, others read it; some are made or broken by it, most try to make use of it, “usually by ransacking the past for analogies to explain the present and to predict the future,” but most routinely botch it.

The late distinguished scholar, Ben E. Perry (1915-1970), had a passion for history, cultures, languages and a penchant for detail. In his excavation of cultures and languages he had the discipline of a humanist, perhaps matching that of Ibn Khaldun or Ibn al-Muqaffa. If the three were living today, they would  conclude that the Arab Spring represents a prelude to democracy and human  rights in the 21st century—the value in history to advance rather than destroy humankind.  

I met Perry in a small Spartan office in one of the old University of Illinois (Urbana) buildings, he and I separated by years of maturity, experience, wisdom and renown. I was a graduate student needing part-time employment and he, a world-renowned Professor of Classics, in need of someone versed in the Arabic language, culture and calligraphy. It was a good match and for me, a rare opportunity to access the mind and talent of someone who could become a mentor in a field as esoteric as Classics, though in my Arab veins Aesop’s fables, Bach’s lute music and Obama’s didactic orations intersect—a mindset not unique among Arabs in general.  Arab history lies between China and Spain (al-Andalus) and beyond.  Perry’s academic pursuits fell within the range and scope of that history, but he was also a model of the American I came to know during my years of acculturation and before America closed its book on international law and succumbed to corporate single-issue lobbies—creating an environment for nurturing institutional and human dinosaurs.

In 1955, Perry was working on his book, Secundus the Silent Philosopher (Cornel University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1964) and other texts that included Sindbad and Luqman, each with Arabic Christian or Muslim traditions. Perry was, by any measure of humanity, a cultured and civilized being whose greatest asset was his astute ability to differentiate between those who benefited from human history and those who trashed it—the human and institutional dinosaurs. He and I lived through those dinosaur periods. The secret Protocols of Sèvres that precipitated the Suez Crisis of October 29, 1956, was one such period

During this short historical period a herd of old and young dinosaurs congregated on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean to topple Gamal Abdul Nasser of Egypt and to reclaim Suez and beyond. The flags of Israel, France and the United Kingdom were hoisted over Egyptian sovereign land.  Apologists in the West--and there were many--welcomed the event: Nasser was selling body and soul to communism, ergo, he was viewed as a threat to world security.  (In 1956, the phrase “take’im out” and its variant “regime change”, were  not in the lingo yet).The crisis, a euphemism for aggression, was short-lived, Nasser was not toppled and Egypt survived as a nation. One of the few professors who had not supported the attack, Perry would not live to know that Eisenhower would be the only US president ever to order the aggressors, US allies, to retreat--and to survive the presidency. 

Perry was aware of his counterparts in history, one, a Muslim, Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406).  Ibn Khaldun is known to European scholars as one of the forerunners of modern history (especially political history), sociology, economics and jurisprudence. He and Ibn Khaldun shared a critical vision of human history and creativity, as well as the value of scientifically-driven inquiry. Ironically, Ibn Khaldun lived during the dawn of Western global colonization, especially of the Americas, while Perry, during the waning years of modern colonialism and the rise of US global neo-colonialism and hegemony, to wit, the Korean and Vietnamese wars, as well as the US involvement in Israel’s 1967 preemptive attacks on Egypt, Jordan and Syria. These attacks altered Arab perception of and trust in US foreign policies). Ben Perry died at a time when US-Arab and US-Muslim relationships were just a snowball rolling down the steep slopes of Mount Washington on its way to Israel River.  He died before the Stars and Stripes acquired a different shade of blue and long before the US Congress and the White House embraced virtual reality, the reality that neither he nor Ibn Khaldun would or could ever have entertained.  [Mount Washington and Israel River are located in the State of New Hampshire where the first primary elections for nominees for presidential elections are held].

Virtual reality informs of an artificial environment that is created with software and presented to the user/observer in such a way that he/she suspends belief and accepts it as a real environment. Throughout millennia, virtual realities have been created for deceased emperors, pharaohs or loved ones with elegant and costly hardware to ease their passage to the afterworld.  Egyptians sailed their unloved King Farouk to his virtual reality in Italy within, what Egyptian humorists would describe as “a decent trek for weight loss to the Riviera”. There are however, inherent dangers in virtual realities of past and present.  In Egypt some of the pharaohs lost some of their accoutrements before sailing into the sunlight of their respective hereafters. Today, creators of virtual realities would add heavenly-charged navigators to guide the human brain, soul and conscience to money and fame—all for the asking, with a commitment and a yea or a nay vote as ordered. 

To the unenlightened or to those who fear reality, virtual reality is the comfort zone of existence or even survival. This is true in charged political environments that create unlikely political allies to oppose a political system or policies. Before the advent of software, a large chunk of our lives was (and still is) a kind of virtual reality.  Televangelists use myths, legends and fables to create virtual realities for their faithful.  The Christian Right and Zionism with diametrically opposed agendas become allies on Jewish settlement in Palestine. Historic US policy opposes the settlements.  Obama’s eloquent Cairo address to the Arab and Muslim worlds was a virtual reality for US citizens. To his intended listeners, it was a Washington-made violin that lacked the timber of a finely crafted ‘oud (lute); his next stop, an extension of that virtual reality, proved it.  

Virtual reality induces euphoria, sometimes pathological, in exaggerated states as in the disorderly and uncivil execution of Saddam Hussein before the condemned was allowed to utter words of atonement, or his final wish. In a charged political arena where morality and money are currencies of exchange, a master of the virtual reality art can create an environment in which even the most enlightened are forced to toe the line.  In this regard, AIPAC is in step with the tobacco and oil industries, with one exception: drugs and oil don’t mix as well as religion or belief--in politics.  In the West, AIPAC has thrived on fundamental beliefs: America is the most religious country in the world.

On May 24, 2011 a human dinosaur, known for periodic hibernation in New York and Washington, DC, descended upon Capitol Hill to address the most prestigious body of legislators in the world, the US Congress. He was backed by AIPAC’s army of publicists and apologists trained in virtual reality, especially in the art of rewriting history, creating historical, cultural, or political parallels where there are none. The ears of his audience had already been fine-tuned to the nuances of his vocal cords.  He was a Menachem Begin lecturing President Jimmy Cater, a devout Christian and humanitarian, on the content of The Book.  AIPAC’s annual gathering had preceded Netanyahu’s well-crafted message lacking speakers’ occasional stammers. The PM was writing the history of Zionism and Israel and reciting it to an audience generally insular in and ignorant of world history and affairs but religiously inclined to accept myth in a virtual reality context.  AIPAC, Netanyahu’s home-away-from-home, is no longer an acronym for a goodwill organization: it is Washington’s giant Israeli baseball bat. And the PM was holding it in full view of his audience and the millions of listeners beyond awaiting visas to Heaven. Constructed on principles of virtual reality in days preceding the establishment of the Jewish state, AIPAC’s agendas are Israel’s, but the organization also serves as a beacon for the states on matters that affect Israel, regionally and globally.  Although originally registered as an organization that represents other than US direct interests, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee has all the rights and privileges of any other single-issue organization, e.g. the American Federation of the Blind or the Susan G. Komen organization.  In terms of punch, its accessibility to power in Washington and big voter states competes with the best in the lobby industry.  AIPAC’s site home page defines chutzpah: it displays the Stars and Stripes and the Star of David side by side over Capitol Hill.

In addition to being a symbol of AIPAC’s power, Netanyahu’s message to the Congress echoed the somber tenor of a medieval Miracle Play and the exuberance of a Brazilian Carnival in Washington’s conservative attire, both of which combined to make myths reality and history a trash bin of human intellectual endeavors.  Each of the 29 standing ovations represented a “Hail Mary” (in American football) that bounced off the goal posts of the world and landed in the Field of Apartheid on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean.  The incongruous is an important element in comedy, but when the surreal displaces the incongruous, the comedy loses its intrinsic value, the moral. In Netanyahu’s virtual reality, America’s democratic ideals are Israel’s ideals; in fact those ideals are anachronistic. A more appropriate analogy would be the ideals of an Arab demonstrator in any capital of the Arab world. Israel’s racism is an institutional dinosaur trapped in a time warp.   

Some 1200 years ago, Abdullah Ibn Al-Muqaffa’s constructed and reconstructed fables from the past in his famous Kalila wa [and] Dimna, a book that inspired, 800 years later, Jean de La Fontaine’s fable, ands perhaps still l later, George Orwell’s Animal Farm.  The authors had a sense for humanity that could capture the interest of a Ben Perry or an Ibn Khaldun. The animals in Kalila wa Dimna and Animal Farm are terrestrial creatures with human traits. The fables are a record of sorts of human history with a moral, a value.  Although these elements may comprise a virtual reality, the underlying purpose of the former is clearly to educate and present reality in a context that is easier to understand and use, especially in one’s formative years.  One can understand the irony in Netanyahu’s address when he uttered the virtual reality myth that a return to the 1967 borders would jeopardize the state’s security at a time when the state has state-of-art weapons of mass destruction.  The statement is not only a myth, it is botched history of UN resolutions and stated policies of the US—Israel’s “sugar daddy”.  The myth, unfortunately, drew the longest standing ovation, underscoring the US Congress’ irreverence of the UN and Geneva Protocols.   

Although human dinosaurs have common traits, a few are trapped in unusual time warps where their virtuosity as dinosaurs surpasses all other like dinosaurs.  The 20th and 21st centuries had witnessed a few. In less than 50 years Mao Tse-Tung, Stalin, Hitler etal caused, directly or indirectly, the death of an estimated 100 million people. Mao topped the list with 25 million.  Estimating correlate human miseries, including disinheritance, would only place the dead at risk of being insignificant.  Nearly all Israeli leaders have been and still are, caught in unusual time warps. The Zionist slogan, used also by Christian Zionists, “a land without a people for a people without a land” inspired Jabotinsky’s call to ethnic cleanse Palestine because he, and other Zionists before and after him, knew that 95 percent of the land of Palestine was owned and inhabited by Palestinians, whether under Ottoman or British rule.  The violence associated with ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, past and ongoing, has been overlooked by Western governments and societies either because of historic treatment of Jews in the West (and in the Soviet Union/Russia) or because of religious beliefs. This cultural-political phenomenon has become one of the accepted anachronisms in modern democracy, especially in the US.  The cultural-political element was apparent in the US Congress’ response to Netanyahu’s message (he received four more standing ovations than President Obama) and the White House’ rejection of the Goldstone report on the consequences of Israel’s latest attack on Gaza as well as the author’s subsequent reconsideration of his own facts and findings. A corollary of this cultural-political phenomenon is the tendency among some Western leaders to displace Israel’s violence (or political aims) on victims of the state’s violence, using presumed surrogates of these victims, Lebanese/Hezbollah, Palestinians/PLO-Hamas, Iraqi/Hussein, Muslims/bin Laden-Taliban, etc.   

The Arab Spring has been successful in ridding the Arab world of at least two human dinosaurs nurtured for decades by the West.  Syria’s human dinosaur, Assad, is demonstrating his virtuosity as a dinosaur equal to that of the best modern dinosaurs.  His brutality against his own unarmed countrymen is now proverbial.  While he may not wish to be associated with his neighbor to the south, he is nonetheless contributing to his rival’s hegemony in the Arab world.  As a resident of one of the oldest extant cities in human history, he continues to write his own vacuous history in blood while botching Syria’s contributions to modern history. Assad’s personal history, by contrast, gives deeper meaning to freedom, democracy and human rights, and underscores the relevance and significance of the Arab Spring.  Assad’s center of power, Damascus (the City of Jasmine”, carbon 14 dating to 6300 BC and evidence of existence dating to 9000 BC) has a reputation for being a center of learning matching that of Baghdad, Alexandria and Cairo, Kairawan (Tunisia) and Cordoba (Andalusia, Spain).  That history runs deep in the veins and sinews of Syria’s and Arab demonstrators elsewhere in the Arab world.

The Arab Spring will outlast institutional and human dinosaurs. Because humans live in history, there will always be a Ben Perry to explore and document it, an Ibn Khaldun to expound on it, and an ibn al-Muqaffa to humanize it and draw moral examples from it.  To date, the Arab Spring has shown that institutional and human dinosaurs are self-destructive.

- Jamil Toubbeh is author of Day of the Long Night, (McFarland & Co. Publishers), a Fulbright Scholar and recipient of the Eagle Feather for work on Native American disability policy. He is currently Senior Researcher in cancer health disparities at Center for Asian Health, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA. He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.

After a five-year legal battle, a pro-life group in the United Kingdom has succeeded in obtaining detailed statistics about eugenic abortions from the UK's Department of Health .

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A Belgian court today gave ten Greenpeace activists a suspended one month jail sentence and fine for taking part in a climate action there in December 2009. This conviction is out of proportion to their peaceful protest, and an appeal is under active consideration.

It's very troubling to see the increase in restrictions and prosecutions for peaceful protest currently occurring in countries that claim a tradition of free speech. The stage was set for this trial at the recent How Free is Freedom of Speech conference (French language) organized by Greenpeace Belgium and Amnesty international.

The action took place during a December 2009 gathering of heads of state and leading European politicians, just before their departure for the Copenhagen UN Climate Summit. Ten Greenpeace activists arrived at the entrance of the building in Brussels where the European Summit was being held. Stepping onto the red carpet laid out to welcome leaders, three activists held up banners and read out a message calling on the politicians to save the climate. It was classic!

The court found all ten people guilty of “using false documents”, as if they used forged official documents to dupe the security guards at the Brussels summit. But that never happened. Indeed, the activists were in cars displaying placards with the Greenpeace logo, and some even wore badges identifying that they were from Greenpeace. Like many successful peaceful protests, it depended on wit, charm and a great deal of luck.

One Greenpeace staff member who faced the same charge and one additional accusation was acquitted by the court on all counts. He had no role in the action and was officially accredited as a journalist at the summit. The eleven people who appeared before court are from Belgium, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

Recently, Greenpeace activists have faced prosecution for peaceful actions in Denmark, Japan and on an additional issue in Belgium.

Unreasonable and disproportionate prosecution of peaceful protest is contrary to international standards such as the rights to freedom of expression and assembly. The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg makes clear that the role of non-governmental organisations such as Greenpeace is crucial to matters of public interest, such as health and the environment.

We anticipate pushback when we take on the interests of big polluters. Their well-funded efforts to discredit, undermine and silence opposition are a sign of our success. But what we’re seeing now is something different: a deeper, global move to silence those with dissenting voices and the tactics of protest available to them.