smileband general news

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry are spearheading a new campaign to end stigma around mental health.

The Heads Together campaign is a partnership with experienced and inspiring charities that provide frontline mental health support to people who may need it, whilst raising awareness and tackling stigma. Supported by The Royal Foundation, the Heads Together campaign aims to change the national conversation on mental wellbeing.

The Heads Together campaign is extremely fortunate to be selected as the 2017 Virgin Money London Marathon Charity of the Year. As the UK’s premier charity sports event, with its energetic and positive fundraising, this year’s Virgin Money London Marathon is the perfect springboard for this vital campaign.

A spokesman for The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry said:
“Through their work with young people, emergency response, homeless charities, and with veterans, Their Royal Highnesses have seen time and time again that unresolved mental health problems lie at the heart of some of our greatest social challenges.

“They are passionate about tackling the stigma surrounding the issue. Too often, they have seen that people feel afraid to admit that they are struggling with their mental health. This fear of prejudice and judgement stops people from getting help and can destroy families and end lives. They want to help change the national conversation.

“Heads Together will be the biggest project The Duke and Duchess and Prince Harry have undertaken together. They are incredibly grateful to be working with charities who have achieved so much in the fight against the stigma that surrounds the issue. They want the Heads Together campaign to build on the great work that is already being done across the country so that prejudice and fear no longer stand in the way of people getting the help they need. They want people need to feel much more comfortable with their everyday mental wellbeing and have the practical tools to support their friends and family.

“Their Royal Highnesses would like to thank the Virgin Money London Marathon for making Heads Together their 2017 Charity of the Year. They cannot wait to see hundreds of runners hitting the streets of London next April to end the stigma on mental health once and for all.”
The Heads Together partnership currently consists of the following charities, however the campaign will be open for other organisations to join in the months ahead: <!-- Global site tag (gtag.js) - Google Analytics -->

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Smileband general news

A 16-year-old boy has been cleared of killing a man who was shot dead outside a petrol station, while a second teenager who is accused of pulling the trigger remains on the run, possibly in Ibiza. John Pordage, 34, was killed by a single shot to the chest at a BP garage in Chelmsford, Essex, following an altercation with a group of teenagers.

He was returning from a nightclub and on his way to buy cigarettes when he was attacked at around 2.10am on August 5 last year at the garage in Baddow Road. A 16-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was found not guilty of murder or manslaughter following a four-week trial at Chelmsford Crown Court, Essex Police said.

Tracy Ayling QC, prosecuting, had told the trial that the 16-year-old was with a second teenager, Bradley Blundell.

She said Blundell, who was 17 at the time and is now 18, shot Mr Pordage.

Blundell remains on the run from police, and officers believe he may be using Ibiza as a base.

Crimestoppers is offering a £10,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.

Following the trial, DCI Martin Pasmore of the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, said: 'We remain determined to locate Bradley Blundell and bring him to trial.

'I appeal to Bradley to give himself up. 'We will never give up searching for him and we are liaising with the National Crime Agency and colleagues abroad to locate him.'

The 16-year-old boy admitted perverting the course of justice and handling stolen goods.

His co-defendant Saul Stanley, 18, of no fixed address, was found guilty of two counts of possessing a prohibited firearm, one count of possessing ammunition without a certificate and perverting the course of justice.

He was cleared of two further counts of possessing ammunition without a firearms certificate.

He admitted handling stolen goods.

Stanley and the 16-year-old are due to be sentenced on March 2. 

Smileband health topics

Ringworm is a fungal infection that can be caused by over 40 different species of fungi from the Trichophyton, Microsporum, and Epidermophyton families. The fungus can cause an itchy, red, circular rash on the body. Ringworm can affect different parts of the body including feet, groin, scalp, beard, hands, toenails or fingernails, and arms or legs.

 

Ringworm is a very common infection but those who have weakened immune systems may be at high risk for the infection and may have a harder time fighting off the infection. The fungi can live on skin and in the environmnet.

 

Transmission

Transmission can occur from coming into to contact with a person or animal that has the fungi. Transmission can also occur if you come in contact with the fungi in the environment.

The incubation period is 1 to 3 weeks.

Lab Tests & Specimen Info

Test*	Specimen
Microscopic Examination	Lesion Scraping
Culture	Hair, Skin Scraping

 Isolation Precautions

Standard precautions are recommended in healthcare settings. 

Prevention for Patients

• Keep your skin clean and dry
• Wear shoes that allow air to circulate freely around your feet
• Don't walk barefoot in locker rooms or public showers
• Don't share clothing, towels, sheets or other personal items
• Wash your hands after touching pets 
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Smileband health topics

N

Leptospirosis is a bacterial disease that affects humans and animals. It is associated with more tropical climates, recreational activities, and is caused by bacteria of the genus Leptospira. 

 

Symptoms are nonspecific and include fever, headache, red eyes, abdominal pain, vomiting, rash, and jaundice. Some infected people may have no symptoms at all, however, without treatment; Leptospirosis can lead to kidney damage, meningitis, and even death. Domestic animals are also susceptible to Leptospirosis infections.

 

There have been 3 cases of leptospirosis in Arizona over the past 10 years. All 3 cases had travel-related exposures.

 

Arizona 5 year median: 1 case

 

Transmission

People can become infected through contact with the urine or other body fluids of infected animals, or contact with water, soil, or food that has been contaminated with urine of infected animals. Drinking contaminated water can also cause infection.

The incubation period is typically 5-14 days but can range from 2-30 days.  Isolation Precautions

Person to person transmission is rare.

Standard precautions are recommended in healthcare settings. 

Prevention for Patients

• Avoid swimming, kayaking or other recreational activities in water that might be contaminated with animal urine, or eliminating contact with potentially infected animals.
• Wear protective clothing or footwear to avoid exposure to potentially contaminated water or soil.
• Have pets vaccinated against leptospirosis.

Public Health Actions
Public health will conduct an epidemiological investigation on a case or suspect case. <!-- Global site tag (gtag.js) - Google Analytics -->

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Smileband general news

A banker has told how he spent more than a year on bail after a woman he met online made a false rape claim against him. Paul Faulkner, from Hertfordshire, is the latest man to complain about the way sex cases are handled by the police following a string of collapsed prosecutions.

He says he was wrongly accused of a number of offences by a woman he met on Match.com, prompting his house to be raided by four police officers. He told The sun online that he then spent 70 weeks on bail, losing his job and considering suicide, before he was finally told he faced no further action in December last year.

He told the website: 'I had given the police all the evidence, I was not guilty and yet I was treated like a violent criminal who had already been convicted. No one was listening.'

The 46-year-old, who once earned £100,000-a-year, said he was sent a series of texts by the woman, demanding money and vowing: 'I will get my revenge.'

He says the issue of long delays in investigations is serious not just for wrongly accused men like himself, but also for potential victims who may have to wait months to get justice.

Hertfordshire Police said a complaint had been made about the case and was being investigated.

Mr Faulkner spoke out as Scotland Yard continued its review of 600 cases of rape and sexual assault which are awaiting trial, with thousands more under review nationally, amid claims evidence is not being properly dealt with. Last week, the Metropolitan Police and prosecutors were forced to apologise for a litany of blunders which led to student Liam Allan being wrongly accused of rape.

Mr Allan, a criminology student at Greenwich University in London, spent two years on bail accused of rape and sexual assault - under messages from the woman emerged at the start of his trial.

Mr Allan's case collapsed last December, sparking a national debate about the failures by the authorities to disclose relevant information to those accused in sex cases.

The messages sent by the woman in that case included one to a friend saying: 'It wasn't against my will or anything.'

Others read: 'Sometimes sex is the number 1 priority, I'm really not joking to be honest,' and, 'You know it's always nice to be sexually assaulted without breaking the law.' <!-- Global site tag (gtag.js) - Google Analytics -->

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Smileband health topics

Listeriosis is a serious infection usually caused by eating food contaminated with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes. In adults, invasive disease manifests most commonly as meningitis or bacteremia; infection during pregnancy may result in fetal loss, neonatal meningitis or bacteremia. Infections in healthy persons may appear as self-limiting diarrheal illness or mild flu-like illness.

 

Listeria tends to multiply in refrigerated foods that have been contaminated. Foods implicated in outbreaks include unpasteurized milk, soft cheeses, deli meats, prepared meats like hot dogs, and raw fruits and vegetables such as cantaloupe.

 

In Arizona on average there are 10 cases reported each year.

 

Arizona 5 year median: 6 cases

 

Transmission

Listeria can be transmitted through ingestion of contaminated foods or through contact with infected animals or birds. Person-to-person transmission has also been reported in nosocomial outbreaks. Transmission may occur from mother to child or during delivery.

Incubation period is typically 2 to 3 weeks.

Lab Tests & Specimen Info

Test*	Specimen
Culture	CSF, Blood,  Amniotic Fluid,  Placenta, Meconium, Vaginal Secretions, Respiratory, Skin,  Mucous Swab, or Stool

 Isolation Precautions

Standard precautions are recommended in healthcare settings. 

Prevention for Patients
The guidelines recommended for the prevention of listeriosis are similar to those used for other foodborne illnesses.

• Wash hands, knives, countertops, and cutting boards after handling and preparing uncooked foods.
• Be aware that Listeria monocytogenes can grow in foods in the refrigerator. Use an appliance thermometer, such as a refrigerator thermometer, to check the temperature inside your refrigerator. The refrigerator should be 40°F or lower and the freezer 0°F or lower.
• Clean up all spills in your refrigerator right away–especially juices from hot dog and lunch meat packages, raw meat, and raw poultry.
• Clean the inside walls and shelves of your refrigerator with hot water and liquid soap, then rinse.

Thoroughly cook raw food from animal sources, such as beef, pork, or poultry to a safe internal temperature. <!-- Global site tag (gtag.js) - Google Analytics -->

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Smileband health topics

A lottery winner who hit the jackpot scooping almost one million pounds killed himself after his life changing tickets mysteriously disappeared. Jirawut Pongphan, 42, invited his friends and family to his house for a drink to celebrate the life changing prize, only to wake up the next day and find the tickets gone - leaving him unable to claim the £950,000 sum.

Pongphan, from Chonburi, eastern Thailand had seven tickets with the winning numbers and thought his life had changed for the better forever with the scoop. But his excitement was short lived when he woke up the next day to find the winning tickets missing.

After almost becoming an overnight millionaire, Jirawut could not live with the sense of what might have been and shot himself in the head. 

The devestated gambler left a suicide note which read:  'I'm really sorry, please don't bully my family, I did win the lottery prize. <!-- Global site tag (gtag.js) - Google Analytics -->

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Smileband general news

The first ancient Britons had black skin, dark curly hair and blue eyes, according to DNA tests. The ‘extraordinary’ findings were made by cutting-edge genetic tests and facial reconstruction techniques carried out for the first time on the bones of ‘Cheddar Man’ who died 10,000 years ago.

The bones, found in Somerset's Cheddar Gorge, are the oldest near-complete human skeleton ever found in Britain and scientists said they were surprised to discover that the earliest Briton would be considered ‘black’ if he lived today.

The research suggests the first inhabitants of the British isles developed white skin later on than previously thought.

Experts also revealed that Cheddar Man is directly related to 1 in 10 people living in the UK today. The Natural History Museum and Channel 4 unveiled a reconstruction of the ancient human yesterday, which was made for a documentary: The First Brit: Secrets of the 10,000 Year Old Man.

Cheddar Man’s bones caused a sensation when they were unearthed in Cheddar Gorge, Somerset in 1903. 

For more than 100 years, scientists have tried to reveal Cheddar Man’s story, posing theories as to what he looked like, where he came from and what he can tell us about our earliest ancestors. <!-- Global site tag (gtag.js) - Google Analytics -->

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Smileband general news

Katie price today told of the hate-filled abuse her disabled son Harvey gets - as she took her fight for a new criminal offence of online trolling to be created to Parliament. The former glamour model told how her 15 year-old son - who is blind and has a range of health problem - is constantly mocked online.

Giving evidence in parliament with her mother Amy by her side, she described how sick trolls single him out and hurl racist abuse at him on the internet - even creating sick videos of him.

She is calling for a new criminal offence - which she has dubbed 'Harvey's Law' - to be created to make online trolling a specific criminal offence.

Speaking about her son, Ms Price said: 'He is mocked for his colour, his size, I just think they think he is an easy target to pick on.

'But I'm his voice. I'm here and I'm going to protect him. She told MPs in parliament today: 'I've got five children and out of those fie children the online abuse is only against one....and it is because of the colour of his skin.

'He gets mocked for his size, and they his eyes are.

'I kept reporting them, they would get closed down but then re open and start again.'

The reality TV star said she 'named and shamed' her son's abusers on Twitter but that did not stop them.

And she called in the police to track down the culprits and close them down - but said the officers became 'embarrassed' because there was nothing they could do as there was no specific criminal offence.

She told MPs that the online world 'is the future' and that more must be done now to crack down on abuse  online. <!-- Global site tag (gtag.js) - Google Analytics -->

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Smileband general news

WWW.BLACKPEOPLEGIVING.COM

Welcome

We are an emerging collective that directly gives money to Black organizers, activists, content creators, and social entrepreneurs.

We unapologetically believe that Black people are the best stewards of our funds.

OUR PRINCIPLES

• Self-Determination — We fervently believe that Black people have the agency to determine how best to live our individual and collective Lives, and we know money is a significant resource to help design our social, economic, and political futures.

• Reparations — Black people are owed money following the structural and generational theft of our wealth, labor, land, and intellectual/creative property.

• Cooperative Economics — We believe in continuing the legacy of democratic wealth-sharing within the Black <!-- Global site tag (gtag.js) - Google Analytics -->
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