Archive for August, 2018
8/13/1878: Kate Bionda, a restaurant owner, becomes first to die of yellow fever in Memphis, Tennessee (pop. 50,000)
Monday, August 13th, 2018“……An average of 200 people died every day through September. There were corpses everywhere and near continual ringing of funeral bells. Half of the city’s doctors died.
The epidemic ended with the first frost in October…..”
The image was taken by the Expedition 41 crew.
At least 350 people including women and children have been poisoned after eating food in a funeral reception.
Monday, August 13th, 2018“…..Gulab Shah, a resident of the area, said the people fallen ill were in critical situation as there were no transportation facilities to shift the poisoned people to healthcare centers.….”
National Fire SitRep
Sunday, August 12th, 2018National Interagency Coordination Center Incident Management Situation Report Saturday, August 11, 2018 – 0530 MT National Preparedness Level 5
National Fire Activity Initial Attack Activity: Light (84 fires)
New large incidents: 6
Large fires contained: 3
Uncontained large fires:** 52
Area Command teams committed: 0 NIMOs committed: 1 Type 1 IMTs committed: 14 Type 2 IMTs committed: 18 Nationally, there are 52 large fires being managed under a strategy other than full suppression. **Uncontained large fires include only fires being managed under a full suppression strategy. Link to Geographic Area daily reports.
On August 9th a firefighter with CAL FIRE Butte Unit was fatally injured in a vehicle accident while assigned to the Carr fire near Redding, CA. The firefighting community extends condolences to the friends and family of the deceased.
One hundred thirty-eight fireline management personnel from Australia and New Zealand are assigned to support large fires in the California and Northwest Areas.
Two MAFFS C-130 airtankers and support personnel from the 152nd Airlift Wing (Nevada Air National Guard), one from the 146th Airlift Wing (California Air National Guard) and one from the 302nd Airlift Wing (Colorado Springs, Air Force Reserve) have been deployed to McClellan Airfield, CA in support of wildland fire operations.
One RC-26 aircraft with Distributed Real-Time Infrared (DRTI) capability and support personnel from the 141st Air Refueling Wing (Washington Air National Guard) has been deployed to Spokane, WA in support of wildland fire operations in the West.
57 Cyclospora cases have been reported in England, Scotland and Wales, of which 46 had travelled to Mexico.
Sunday, August 12th, 2018- The people who were infected stayed at several different hotels in the Cancun and Riviera Maya region
- The source is likely to be a foodstuff distributed to hotels in the area.
TO
An alleged ricin terror plot in Cologne, Germany
Sunday, August 12th, 2018
The CTC Sentinel
The June 2018 Cologne Ricin Plot: A New Threshold in Jihadi Bio Terror
August 2018, Volume 11, Issue 7
Authors: Florian Flade
- “…..German intelligence had learned that Sief Allah H. had bought various materials via the internet, including more than a thousand castor beans and an electronic coffee grinder.
- During the police raid, a powdery substance was found, which subsequently tested positive for ricin……
- Investigators found 84.3 milligrams of already-produced ricin and 3,150 castor beans……..”
Holy fire, 10% contained, has injured three firefighters and displaced more than 20,000 people.
Saturday, August 11th, 2018Cyclosporiasis Outbreak: People who reportedly consumed salads from McDonald’s and were infected with Cyclospora as of August 9, 2018 (n=436)*.
Saturday, August 11th, 2018
Mastectomies surge in Venezuela due to unaffordability of 21st Century medical care
Saturday, August 11th, 2018“…..Today’s standard treatments allow women to preserve their breasts through complementary chemotherapy, radiology, and hormonal treatments (for hormone-driven cancer). But Venezuela’s public health system no longer offers these treatments, and with the average Venezuelan earning $1 a month, they are out of reach for most. Surgeons are incredulous at the excessive number of mastectomies coming through their hospitals; at one facility, mastectomies are up 30-40% in 5 years.….”
“UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned an air strike by pro-Yemini Government coalition forces, which killed scores of children who were on board a bus travelling through a busy market area…..”
Friday, August 10th, 2018UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday condemned an air strike by pro-Yemini Government coalition forces, which killed scores of children who were on board a bus travelling through a busy market area in the northern province of Saada.
While the exact death toll remains to be confirmed, initial news reports indicate that the number of casualties could be well above 60, with dozens severely injured. Most of the children were reported to be aged between 10 and 13.
In his statement, the UN chief called “on all parties to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law, in particular the fundamental rules of distinction, proportionality and precautions in attack,” emphasising that all parties must take “constant care to spare civilians and civilian objects in the conduct of military operations”.
The Secretary-General called for an “independent and prompt investigation” into this incident and extended his “deepest condolences” to the families of the victims.
The Head of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) also strongly condemned the incident and urged the warring parties and international community “to do what’s right for children and bring an end to this conflict”.
“Attacks on children are absolutely unacceptable,” she said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore on Twitter. “I’m horrified by the reported airstrike on innocent children, some with UNICEF backpacks. Enough is enough.”
“How many more children will suffer or die before those who can act, do by putting a stop to this scourge?” said UNICEF’s chief in a statement.
“Attacking children is the lowest any party of this conflict can go,” UNICEF Yemen Resident Representative Meritxell Relaño told UN News. “There is no justification whatsoever to attacking children.”
According to the UN Children’s Fund, since conflict between pro-Government forces and Houthi rebels escalated in 2015, about 2,400 children have been killed and 3,600 maimed in Yemen.
The head of the UN agency there called all warring parties to “respect international humanitarian law,” and spare children, civilians and civilian infrastructure to prevent Yemen from falling “further into the abyss and the humanitarian catastrophe” it has been facing for over three years.
Yemen’s conflict has its roots in uprisings that date back to 2011, but fighting escalated in March 2015, when an international coalition led by Saudi Arabia intervened militarily at the request of Yemen’s President.
Attacks against civilians have been the scourge of this conflict. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), “tens of civilians were killed in violence in several governorates” in the past 10 days alone. On 3 August, during a particularly deadly attack, one of the last functioning hospitals, Al Thawra in Al Hudaydah, was struck, reportedly causing the death of dozens of vulnerable, sick and injured civilians.
“It’s hard to believe we live in a world where children should live in fear of such attacks, yet here we are. This doesn’t have to be their reality though. Parties to the conflict and those who have influence over them, including Security Council members, can and should choose to end this catastrophe for the sake of Yemen’s children,” stressed the UNICEF chief.
“We’ve said this before and we are saying it again – parties to the conflict are obliged to do everything possible to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure. This is not a voluntary commitment – it is mandatory on all belligerents,” said Lise Grande, UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen, in the latest OCHA report on the situation there. “So many people have died in Yemen – this conflict has to stop.”