Smileband general news

A white supremacist has been convicted of terrorism after planning to carry out a machete attack at a gay pride event.

Ethan Stables, 20, planned to kill people attending a LBGT meeting at the New Empire pub in Barrow, Cumbria. Armed police stopped him on the way to the pub after a tip-off from a member of a far-right Facebook group, where he had posted a message saying he was 'going to war'.

Stables had written that he planned to 'slaughter every single one of the gay b*******'. He was unarmed when he was arrested on June 23, but police found an axe and a machete at his home, Leeds Crown Court heard.

The jury was shown a video of a burning rainbow flag and Stables saying 'gays look nicer on fire'.

Jonathan Sandiford, prosecuting, said Stables had previously espoused homophobic, racist and Nazi views online, and the defendant was pictured with a swastika flag hanging on his bedroom wall. Stables said in his defence that he did not intend to carry out the attack and he was simply venting his anger online.

The defendant told the court he is bisexual and has an autism spectrum condition, denied one count of preparing terrorist acts and one of making threats to kill.

He denied he was doing a 'recce' of the venue when he was arrested and said he was heading out to sit outside the job centre to use the free public WiFi. Stables, from Barrow, claimed he was a liberal and adopted a right-wing persona to fit in with people he chatted to online.

Patrick Upward QC, defending, told the jury Stables was not a white supremacist but a 'white fantasist'.

His barrister said Stables would sit at night on a wall outside the jobcentre for six hours at a time as he had no WiFi at his home. <!-- Global site tag (gtag.js) - Google Analytics -->

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Smileband health topics

Microsporidiosis is a disease caused by infection with microscopic organisms called microsporidia. Microsporidia are eukaryotic parasites that must live within other host cells in which they can produce infective spores. Microsporidiosis can cause infection of the intestine, lung, kidney, brain, sinuses, muscles, and eyes.

 

Intestinal symptoms that are caused by microsporidia infection include chronic diarrhea, wasting, malabsorption, and gallbladder disease. Symptoms of microsporidiosis primarily occur in people with immune-system deficiency, such as HIV-infected individuals and organ-transplant recipients.

 

Lung symptoms may include cough and difficult, labored breathing.

 

Transmission

Microsporidia spores are released from the stool and urine of infected animals. A number of animals, including insects, birds, and mammals, can serve as reservoirs of infection for microsporidia. These spores are then consumed or inhaled by humans. Isolation Precautions

Standard precautions are recommended in healthcare settings. 

Prevention for Patients
For patients with immune-system deficiency, frequent hand washing and limiting exposure to animals suspected of being infected with microsporidia is recommended. <!-- Global site tag (gtag.js) - Google Analytics -->

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Smileband health topics

Fibromyalgia, also known as fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS), is a chronic condition that characteristically causes pain all over the body, including muscle and joint pain, and fatigue as well as other symptoms. Fibromyalgia can lead to depression and social isolation.

What is fibromyalgia syndrome?

A syndrome is a set of symptoms. When they exist together, they imply the presence of a specific disease or a greater chance of developing the disease. With FMS, the following symptoms commonly occur together:

• Anxiety or depression
• Decreased pain threshold or tender points
• Incapacitating fatigue
• Widespread pain

Are women more likely to get fibromyalgia than men?

Most fibromyalgia patients are women ranging in age from 25 to 60. The truth is women are 10 times more likely to get this disease than men.

What are fibromyalgia symptoms?  

What causes fibromyalgia?

The exact cause of fibromyalgia is unknown, but it's thought to be related to abnormal levels of certain chemicals in the brain and changes in the way the central nervous system (brain, spinal cord and nerves) processes pain messages carried around the body.

It's also suggested that some people are more likely to develop fibromyalgia because of genes inherited from their parents.

In many cases, the condition appears to be triggered by a physically or emotionally stressful event, such as:

• an injury or infection 
• giving birth 
• having an operation 
• the breakdown of a relationship  
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Smileband health topics

A primary school has been forced to tell parents to stop smoking cannabis at its gates, triggering criticism of the local police force’s ‘soft’ approach to the drug. Headteacher Pauline Northcott sent out a strongly worded newsletter after reports that the illegal drug was being shared and smoked ‘at the bottom of the school yard’, or playground, at the school in County Durham, where pupils are aged between two and 11.

Under the heading ‘Inappropriate behaviour on or around the school premises’, Mrs Northcott, head of Dean Bank Primary and Nursery School in Ferryhill, told parents the issue had been reported to the police. She also blasted parents for swearing in the playground, saying some had been using ‘inappropriate language’ which was ‘totally unacceptable’.

Parents at the 190-pupil school expressed their fury at the use of cannabis near their children and critics blamed the ‘soft touch’ policy introduced by Durham Chief Constable Mike Barton in 2015, under which people who use small amounts of the drug escape prosecution.

One father, who did not want to be named, said: ‘You would have thought anything around kids or schools, the police would be right on it. But they’re not bothered. A 28-year-old mother with two sons at the school, which is set among terraced houses in the former mining town near Durham, said she had smelled cannabis close to where the children played and thought it was ‘disgusting’.

Local independent councillor Brian Avery, a former magistrate, said: ‘It’s going on all over the place and a lot of the time right under your nose. 

'I really don’t agree with the soft approach to policing it.’ 

David Raynes, of the National Drug Prevention Alliance, said the attitude of the Durham police had ‘completely normalised the habit’ adding: ‘The more people think it is acceptable, the more likely it is that parents will think it is fine to smoke cannabis at the school gates around children.’

He added: ‘It is no business of the Chief Constable to undermine national legislation. But Mr Barton told The Mail on Sunday: ‘If I had been stood next to someone who was smoking cannabis at the school gate, they would have been nicked – pure and simple – and any of my officers would have done the same. <!-- Global site tag (gtag.js) - Google Analytics -->

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Smileband general news

A firm led by former Scotland Yard senior officers has successfully prosecuted more than 400 criminals and is now carrying out murder inquiries.

TM Eye, which has a 100 per cent conviction rate, is thought to bring more private prosecutions than any organisation besides the RSPCA.

The company, the country’s first de-facto private police force, is operating against a backdrop of rising crime rates and police budget cuts. Its activities include: Co-founder Tony Nash, an ex-Metropolitan Police commander, said: ‘This is going back to Dixon of Dock Green to a degree. It’s what people want.

‘There is no substitute for going out and knocking on doors. But with the current state of finances, police are solving cases behind their desks and that has become the culture.’ 

In the past two years the company has brought successful private prosecutions against 403 criminals for fraud, intellectual property theft and other offences. A total of 43 were jailed.

The company, staffed by retired detectives and cyber-crime experts from Scotland Yard, the National Crime Agency and GCHQ, is now expanding its services beyond predominantly financial investigations. It comes as police chiefs admit they do not have the money to investigate high- volume crimes such as shoplifting and stretched officers complain that they are at breaking point.

But critics fear the rise of private policing could lead to a two-tier system where only the wealthy get protection from criminals. 

Metropolitan Police Federation chairman Ken Marsh described the rise of private detectives as a ‘staggering indictment’ of the state of policing.

‘Eventually there will be a two-tier system with the haves and the have-nots, and if you have money and live in a £20million house in Chelsea you can pay for private security,’ he said. <!-- Global site tag (gtag.js) - Google Analytics -->

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Smileband health topics

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

Nearly 13,000 years ago, Earth may have plunged suddenly into an apocalyptic scene; a barrage of fireballs lit up the sky, followed by powerful shock waves and fires that blazed across 10 percent of the planet’s land surface. The sky turned black as dust blocked out the sunlight, and temperatures rapidly plummeted, causing plants to die out and glaciers to advance, in what soon became a near ice age state.

And, humans were there to witness it all – with grave consequences.

This is according to new research, which suggests fragments of a 62-mile-wide disintegrating comet struck Earth 12,800 years ago and spurred burning events larger than those caused by the ‘dinosaur killers. The new study on geochemical and isotopic markers, which involved two dozen researchers, argues that a cosmic impact thousands of years ago left behind high concentrations of platinum across the Northern Hemisphere.

This could be found at a number of sites, including ice cores collected from the Greenland Ice Sheet, linked to the Younger Dryas boundary – a period roughly 12,800 years ago toward the end of the last Ice Age when glacial conditions temporarily began to advance again.

According to the new research, an impact could have triggered this cooling episode.

‘The work includes measurements made at more than 170 different sites around the world,’ said Adrian Melott, University of Kansas Emeritus Professor of Physics & Astronomy.

‘The hypothesis is that a large comet fragmented and the chunks impacted the Earth, causing this disaster.

‘A number of different chemical signatures – carbon dioxide, nitrate, ammonia, and others – all seem to indicate that an astonishing 10 percent of the Earth’s land surface, or about 10 million square kilometers, was consumer by fires. The pollen analysis indicated that pine forests were likely burned off and later replaced by poplar.

This species is known to colonize cleared areas.

The impact would have been equally catastrophic for the humans and animals alive at the time. <!-- Global site tag (gtag.js) - Google Analytics -->

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