Tuesday, June 30, 2020

Zucchini Crust Pizza in the Kitchen

Mary notes this recipe from Taste of Home:

Ingredients

  • 2 cups shredded zucchini (1 to 1-1/2 medium), squeezed dry
  • 1/2 cup egg substitute or 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
  • 2 small tomatoes, halved and sliced
  • 1/2 cup chopped red onion
  • 1/2 cup julienned bell pepper
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
  • Chopped fresh basil, optional

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 450°. In a large bowl, combine first 4 ingredients; stir in 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Transfer to a 12-in. pizza pan coated generously with cooking spray; spread to an 11-in. circle.
  • Bake until golden brown, 13-16 minutes. Reduce oven setting to 400°. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese; top with tomatoes, onion, pepper, herbs and remaining Parmesan cheese. Bake until edges are golden brown and cheese is melted, 10-15 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped fresh basil, if desired.

She thought this might be helpful for people whose gardens are producing lots of zucchini.

Okay, Patrick Martin (WSWS) notes NYT's never-ending hatred of Russia:

Another weekend, and another sensational and fact-free, front-page report in the New York Times aimed at portraying the Russian government as the focus of all evil in the world.

Saturday’s front page of the Times carried an article headlined, “Russians Offered Afghans Bounty to Kill U.S. Troops, Officials Say.” A subordinate headline indicated the secondary target of the latest blast: “Trump Administration Has Spent 3 Months Debating Response.”

The article thus has related political purposes: to incite a war fever against Moscow, and to denounce the Trump administration for its supposed reluctance to confront Russia and President Vladimir Putin.

The article served to signal the American media as a whole to step up its propaganda to convince the American people to regard Russia as a deadly enemy and to condition them to support war with a country that possesses the second-largest stockpile of nuclear weapons on the planet.

Moreover, as Trump’s polls plummet due to his disastrous handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and violent threats against peaceful protesters, a major aim of the media’s renewed anti-Russia campaign is to divert mounting popular opposition in a prowar direction.

At this point in a commentary, it would be appropriate to review the factual contentions in the Times article and rebut any distortions. But in this particular example, there is no factual substratum, no matter how dubious, to address. The 1,500-word article, carrying no less than three bylines (Charlie Savage, Eric Schmitt and Michael Schwirtz), does not adduce a single fact to support its claim of Kremlin blood money.

Instead, the article reports the opinions of top officials of the US military-intelligence apparatus--unnamed, of course--as though they were facts, beginning with, “American intelligence officials have concluded that a Russian military intelligence unit secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing coalition forces in Afghanistan—including targeting American troops…”

This is followed by a paragraph beginning with the inimitable words, “The United States concluded,” in which the CIA official dictating to his Times stenographers is given the authority of all 330 million inhabitants of this country.

NYT is an embarrassment.

This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" for Monday:

Monday, June 29, 2020.  Who is running Iraq -- or is it: who's ruining Iraq?



Where is the prime minister of Iraq?


It's a question that needs to be asked as all the problems continue in the country.  In July, he'll be in the US meeting with President Donald Trump.  Will Iraq still exist?

As the coronavirus rages in Iraq, THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE reports:

Iraqi authorities said Sunday 13 doctors have succumbed to coronavirus in the country since February.

A further 775 doctors have contracted the virus, Abdulalameer al-Shimmary, head of Iraq's Doctors' Association, told Anadolu Agency.



Hundreds of #Iraq's medical staff are now infected with #COVID19. Those doctors are risking their lives and their families' lives in order to contain the catastrophe with minimum resources. Many have died after getting the virus.
Image
Image
Image
Image
1:30 PM · Jun 24, 2020Twitter Web App
11
Retweets
13
Likes


As a result, the government has made a move.  THE NATIONAL notes:

Men sit at a traditional cafe in the historic city of Shaqlawah, about 48 kilometres northeast of Erbil, in the northern Iraqi Kurdish autonomous region. AFP

Iraqi authorities ordered medical students to volunteer at the country’s hospitals after a sharp increase in coronavirus deaths was reported.

The National Security Council made the decision during a Saturday session chaired by Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi, state media said.

Fifth and sixth-year medical students will be “directed to volunteer to work at hospitals” to support health staff “in the confrontation against the coronavirus pandemic”, the council said.


The 'volunteer' term is an issue.  Will they be paid or not?  This is an issue and it's a serious one.  Iraq cannot find paying jobs for their citizens.  The government has noted earlier this month the decision to stop paying some workers.  You're ordering students to volunteer -- are you paying them?  Are you paying them a living wage?



Authorities in Erbil province announced a total lockdown on late Sunday as the number of coronavirus infections continues to rise. Meanwhile, Kurdistan Region health officials reported 139 new cases and six deaths due to the complications related to the disease over 24 hours.

A ministry statement detailed that among over 1,400 coronavirus tests given in the past day, 139 returned positive. It also said the total number of infections had risen to about 5,700.

The statement noted that six more patients had passed away due to the highly contagious disease and added that, since the beginning of the outbreak, 186 people in the Kurdistan Region had succumbed to the virus.



 
Firsat Sofi, governor of Erbil, informed Rudaw that the provincial lockdown will begin on Tuesday, rather than on Monday as previously noted in a statement

The order will now be put in place between Tuesday, June 30, at 6:00 am and 11:59 pm on Saturday, July 4.

All civilian movement will be prohibited, including vehicle traffic.

Residents will be allowed to purchase essentials at their local bakeries, supermarkets, groceries, and pharmacies, which will remain open during the lockdown, according to the issued order. No hours of operation have been specified for the essential businesses.


This morning Djhword Tweets:

Stop Turkey from bombing the Kurds in Iraq | We the People: Your Voice in Our Government petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/stop-
Lets get it to 100,00 signatures #TurkeyIsInvadingKurdistan


Yes, another problem the prime minister of Iraq should be addressing.  Turkey is in violation of international law and Iraq's sovereignty by bombing Iraq and by sending ground soldiers into Iraq. Seth J. Frantzman (JERUSALEM POST) reports:


There are growing concerns about Turkey’s military operations in northern Iraq, two weeks after Ankara began bombing areas of the country claiming it was “fighting terrorists.”
Turkey began operation “Claw-Tiger” on June 17 and it seems to come in the context of Turkey launching new military attacks every month in different countries to distract from failures at home by Ankara’s leading party.
Turkey has had almost a year of near-constant new conflicts and militarist saber-rattling.
Last spring and summer it threatened to invade eastern Syria, threatening US troops and the Trump administration in the process. The US tried to appease Turkey by having its anti-ISIS partners on the ground remove obstacles to Turkey’s invasion. It wasn’t enough, in October Turkey told Washington it would begin bombing the region and US troops must move.


That alone was already disturbing.  But now Orhan Coskun (REUTERS) is reporting:

Turkey plans to set up more temporary military bases in northern Iraq after stepping up its strikes against Kurdish militants there, a senior Turkish official told Reuters, saying the effort would ensure border security.
[. . .]
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) said on Wednesday that Turkish and Iranian military interventions violated Iraqi sovereignty. The UAE and Turkey in opposition on several fronts, including in Libya where they back rival sides.  


The spokesperson for the Iraqi military laughably declared weeks ago that ISIS was vanquished.  That's never happened.  ISIS remains active in Iraq and continues to carry out attacks.  It's an issue the prime minister needs to seriously address.  THE NEW DELHI TIMES notes:

The resurgence of the Islamic State can be attributed to a weakened Iraqi government along with an administrative and security vacuum in the country.

The Islamic State (IS) has carried out a series of attacks in recent times which has led security studies analysts to take note of the resurgence of the terrorist and extremist groups in Iraq. According to a May 2020 report by the Combating Terrorism Centre (CTC), there has been a surge in attack activities in the second half of 2019 and the first quarter of 2020.
The number of reported Islamic State attacks increased from 1,470 in 2018 to 1,669 in 2019, with 566 reported attacks in the first quarter of 2020 alone. As per the CTC report, the number of areas with active attack cells seems to nearly double, from an assessed 27 areas in December 2018 to an assessed 47 areas in May 2020. The IS attacks have taken place in the provinces of Anbar, Baghdad, Diyala, Kirkuk, Ninewa and Salah al-Din. The IS has also plenty of fighters at its disposal.

In May 2020, assessments from the U.S. Central Command, the Defence Intelligence Agency and the U.S.-led coalition, shared in a report by the Defense Department Inspector General, claimed that the IS as a group was still operating mostly on the margins, both in Iraq and Syria and the terror group lacks the capabilities to sustain that pace over several months. However, many security experts contend that the U.S.-led coalition is unable to see key changes on the ground.

The most recent U.S. estimates put the terror group’s force strength in Iraq and Syria at anywhere from 14,000 to 18,000 fighters. Further, despite the U.S. raid that killed former IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in October last year, IS has maintained command and control under new leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi.





Let's close with this:


We are so excited to announce the launch of Ms. magazine's very first podcast, On the Issues with Michele Goodwin! 

You read Ms. online and in print. You follow along on social media. Now, keep up with the feminist movement and even more of Ms.’s substantive, unique reporting with your new favorite podcast. 

Tune in for our premiere episode on Tuesday, June 30 on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or MsMagazine.com. 

Get a sneak peek of the feminist analysis, insightful conversations and exciting guests to come: a trailer is available now! We hope you’ll give it a listen, subscribe and rate the podcast. 

On the Issues is a show where we report, rebel, and tell it like it is. Join host Dr. Michele Goodwin as she and special guests tackle the most compelling issues of our times, centering your concerns about rebuilding our nation and advancing the promise of equality. 

Listen to a trailer for On the Issues with Michele Goodwin now — on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

And we’d love if you help spread the word, too! The number one thing you can do to help the Ms. magazine podcast reach new listeners? Subscribe and rate the podcast on Apple. Let’s show the power of independent, feminist media! 

Meet Your On the Issues Host: Dr. Michele Goodwin is a frequent contributor to Ms. magazine and on MsMagazine.com. She is a Chancellor’s Professor at the University of California, Irvine and also serves on the executive committee and national board of the ACLU. Dr. Goodwin is a prolific author and an elected member of the American Law Institute, as well as an elected Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and the Hastings Center. Her most recent book, Policing The Womb: Invisible Women and The Criminalization of Motherhood, is described as a "must read."

Tune in Tuesday, June 30 for the first episode of On the Issues with Michele Goodwin—Policing in America: A Tale of Race, Sex and Violence. Professor Goodwin and her guests will ask critical questions like: where are the women in the field of policing? And why does it matter?

You have received this e-mail because of your interest in women's issues. To unsubscribe, please click here.
1600 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 801, Arlington, VA, 22209 | 703.522.2214 | webmaster@feminist.org









 
Posted by at

Friday, June 26, 2020

Doris Day's ''Sentimental Journey"





That is Doris Day's "Sentimental Journey."  And that's the answer to Robin's question.  Robin e-mailed wondering what song I grew up hearing?  His mother, he explained, used to sing the theme to The Patty Duke Show ("Here's Cathy who's lived most everywhere . . .").  He didn't even know it was from a TV show until the '00s when he stumbled upon the TV show for the first time.

My mother loves to sing "Sentimental Journey."  Or maybe she doesn't.  Maybe it's just the song that gets stuck in her head?  Whichever it is, we would hear her singing it while she was cooking or cleaning, if my father is around, he chimes in on the song as well.  They danced to it at their wedding. 

It's a great song but I didn't appreciate Doris' version for years.  

She really sings the devil out of that song.  Her vocal is like a coronet or something.  The way she handles the notes, I mean, she's a jazz singer.  It took me years to realize that.  I'd stumble across someone calling her that on TV or the radio or in something online and I'd think, "She's a good singer but she's not a jazz singer."  

She's a good singer and I never doubted that.  I only knew her songs from her films.  But to hear her do "Sentimental Journey" is to realize that she wasn't just talented, she was a vocal genius.  

I didn't notice it because I really didn't listen to the song.  If it came on the radio, in my head, I heard my mom singing it because that's what the song reminds me of.  I was nasty sick with the flu the year the song came on the radio and I finally heard it.  I was in bed, sick with the flu, trying to sleep and I had the radio on.  And that song came on and I was just amazed.


 A remarkable opinion piece appeared Monday in the New York Times. Penned by Dr. Sandeep Jauhar, it is headlined, “People Have Stopped Going to the Doctor. Most Seem Just Fine.” An underline asks, “Do Americans really need the amount of treatment that our health care system is used to providing?”

The column makes the argument that while the pandemic “has resulted in grievous financial losses for hospitals and clinics… Most patients, on the other hand, at least those with stable chronic conditions, seem to have done OK.” From this, Jauhar draws the conclusion that “unnecessary” and “wasteful” doctor’s visits should be sharply curtailed. At the same time, he argues that tax payer cash should be injected into the health care industry.

In other words, the health of the American people, currently suffering through the greatest public health crisis in a century, should be further subordinated to the for-profit health care system. Going forward, a health care system that already denies tens of millions of Americans any coverage and provides inadequate coverage for millions more should be made even more restrictive.

COVID-19’s ravaging of the US population has a lucrative “silver lining.” It provides an opportunity to further restructure the health care system in favor of the profit interests of giant corporations and banks.

Jauhar is a cardiologist practicing in Long Island, New York. He is the author of two New York Times bestselling books and another that received the Amazon Best Book of the Month award.

Merrill Singer and Rebecca Allen write in their book Social Justice and Medical Practice that Jauhar argues in one of his books that “being a caring and altruistic physician has become cost-prohibitive.” They continue: “To pay his medical school loans, live the comfortable lifestyle in New York City that he wants, and pay for his child’s private school, Jauhar accepts speaking fees from a pharmaceutical company that makes a heart medicine he prescribes to his patients.”

Can there be any doubt that financial considerations, for his own bottom line and that of the health care industry, influence Jauhar’s arguments?

His supposed proof that patients skipping doctor’s appointments are generally doing “OK” is a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) published May 27. To support his argument, Jauhar both cherry-picks from the study’s findings and misrepresents its significance.



This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" for Thursday:


Thursday, June 25, 2020.  MSNBC trots out a War Criminal, Iraq's government still at a loss on how to diversify economy, and much more.

Are all the War Criminals supporting Joe Biden?  It certainly seems that way -- neocons and War Criminals.  If you missed it, MSNBC NEWS GUTTER reported this week:


When it came to Donald Trump's presidency, retired Army Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez bit his tongue for years. Every time Trump took another step the retired general found offensive -- the attack on Muslim Gold Star parents, Charlottesville, DACA, et al. -- Sanchez restrained himself and made no public comments.

This month's developments, including the Lafayette Square scandal, led him to believe he had to step up and speak up. 


That's from Rachel Maddow's staff.  Remember boys and girls, if it's about gay rights, Rachel's strong.  If it's about anything else?  She can't be trusted.


Who is Ricardo?  Well first, let's note he was a Lt Gen and let's point out Ruth's "NN and NPR parade their bias against General Flynn" which notes NPR and CNN are happy to call everyone by their military title they retired at -- even David Petraeus -- except retired Gen Michael Flynn.  Are we not supposed to notice that?

And are we not supposed to note who Rachel Maddow's team is now pimping?  Here's a little backstory on Ricardo that Steven Benen leaves out:

Sánchez was commander of coalition forces during a period when abuse of prisoners occurred at Abu Ghraib and at other locations. In a memo signed by General Sánchez and later acquired by the ACLU through a Freedom of Information Act request, techniques were authorized to interrogate prisoners, included "environmental manipulation" such as making a room hot or cold or using an "unpleasant smell", isolating a prisoner, disrupting normal sleep patterns and "convincing the detainee that individuals from a country other than the United States are interrogating him."[3]

On May 5, 2006, Sánchez denied ever authorizing interrogators to "go to the outer limits". Sánchez said he had told interrogators: "...we should be conducting our interrogations to the limits of our authority." Sanchez called the ACLU: "...a bunch of sensationalist liars, I mean lawyers, that will distort any and all information that they get to draw attention to their positions."[4]

Documents obtained by The Washington Post and the ACLU showed that Sanchez authorized the use of military dogs, temperature extremes, reversed sleep patterns, and sensory deprivation as interrogation methods in Abu Ghraib.[5] A November 2004 report by Brigadier General Richard Formica found that many troops at the Abu Ghraib prison had been following orders based on a memorandum from Sanchez, and that the abuse had not been carried out by isolated "criminal" elements.[6] ACLU lawyer Amrit Singh said in a statement from the union that "General Sanchez authorized interrogation techniques that were in clear violation of the Geneva Conventions and the army's own standards."[7]


That's from WIKIPEDIA.  Sanchez should be in prison for what he did.  Leave it to the always oblivious Rachel Maddow to pimp Ricardo as someone we need to hear from, as someone who's opinion on anything matters.

Lives were destroyed at Abu Ghraib.  What took place was outrageous and it was criminal -- War Crimes.  

The 'resistance' is a joke and always will be because they have no ethics, they have no knowledge, and they blindly root for whatever con man stands in front of them at the moment -- be it Michael Avenatti or Ricardo.  Of course, Ricardo's much worse than con man Avenatti, Ricardo's a War Criminal.  Shame on anyone who tries to rehabilitate him.

You have ethics or you don't.

You care about human lives or you don't.

This is not something where you can be "yes and" on it.  People were tortured because of Sanchez.  Sy Hersh has stated repeatedly that Iraqis were raped at Abu Ghraib.

Shame on anyone celebrating Ricardo for anything.  He belongs behind bars.  If there's an afterlife, you can be sure that he will be soundly punished.  He is not 'fixable,' he is not 'redeamable.'  He is a War Criminal.

From a November 2007 column by Amy Goodman entitled "Have They No Shame?":

 This past Saturday the Democrats chose retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez to give their response, the same general accused in at least three lawsuits in the U.S. and Europe of authorizing torture and cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment of prisoners in Iraq. This, combined with the Democrats’ endorsement of Attorney General Michael Mukasey despite his unwillingness to label waterboarding as torture, indicates that the Democrats are increasingly aligned with President Bush’s torture policies.

Sanchez headed the Army’s operations in Iraq from June 2003 to June 2004. In September 2003, Sanchez issued a memo authorizing numerous techniques, including “stress positions” and the use of “military working dogs” to exploit “Arab fear of dogs” during interrogations. He was in charge when the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison occurred.

Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, who headed Abu Ghraib at the time, worked under Gen. Sanchez. She was demoted to colonel, the only military officer to be punished. She told me about another illegal practice, holding prisoners as so-called ghost detainees: “We were directed on several occasions through Gen. [Barbara] Fast or Gen. Sanchez. The instructions were originating at the Pentagon from Secretary Rumsfeld, and we were instructed to hold prisoners without assigning a prisoner number or putting them on the database, and that is contrary to the Geneva Conventions. We all knew it was contrary to the Geneva Conventions.” In addition to keeping prisoners off the database there were other abuses, she said, like prison temperatures reaching 120 to 140 degrees, dehydration and the order from Gen. Geoffrey Miller to treat prisoners “like dogs.”


Again, there's a side.  You are responsible for torture?  You belong in prison.  It says a great deal about THE ATLANTIC -- and about Rachel Maddow -- that they rush to embrace Ricardo.

Grasp that Ricardo's not even offering anything.

He thinks Donald Trump is a racist?  Oh, wow, that's an opinion no one's ever expressed before, right?  Let's forget that Ricardo is a War Criminal because he's got this brand new idea that no one else ever had before, he's detected something no one else could!!!!

What a load of rubbish.

Iraq has many problems -- most of them created by Ricardo and people like Ricardo.  Their economy remains in turmoil.  Maya Gebeily (AFP) reports:


So if they need reform, that would mean diversifying the economy.  There was a period, for example, in the early years of the war, when efforts were made to help with the date farm sector   I knocked it at the time and got a nasty e-mail from a US military official.  I knocked the fact that it wasn't a serious effort and it wasn't fixing anything.

We haven't checked on the date farm sector since Bully Boy Bush left the White House.  Was I right?  Was I wrong?


Iraq is to plant 70,000 date palms south of Baghdad, hoping to revive production of a crop it was famed for across the Middle East.

The country once produced three-quarters of the world’s dates but now accounts for just 5 percent after it switched its economic focus to oil and after decades of conflict devastated its farms.

Backed by a state loan worth 10 billion dinars($8.43 million), a Shi’ite Muslim foundation has planted 16,000 date trees outside the holy city of Kerbala, some 90 kilometers (56 miles) south of the capital Baghdad. It is the biggest state-backed farming project for the crop since the U.S. invasion toppling Saddam Hussein in 2003.

“We plan to have more than 70,000 date trees in future,” said Faiz Eissa Abu Maali, the project’s manager, during a tour.


So that was 2018?  Here's a video report from 2018.




So the US tossed some money at the problem and then Barack Obama became president for two terms and then left office and Donald Trump was then president and that's when the Iraqi government decided, "Hey, maybe that project that all the money was spent on over a decade ago, maybe even though we ignored it and didn't fund it when it needed it, maybe we should try to kick start it again?"


Nothing changes because nothing changes.

The money -- US taxpayer money -- tossed out in the early years of the war for the date farming was a waste of money.  That had nothing to do with Iraqi farmers, it had everything to do with a corrupt government that provided no support and continues to provide no support. 


How many years is it going to take for that reality to set in?  In 2018, MIDDLE EAST EYE noted:

 The blazing sun beats down on Mohammed Khalil Ibrahim as he points to what is left of his date palms and the damage caused by a scarcity in water. Bent over his cane on his farm in the Iraqi southern city of Basra, the 73-year-old farmer describes how they are sad examples of the fruit-bearing tree. 

“You see the trunks, they're too thin. And the dates my trees produce are barely edible," said Ibrahim.

The Ibrahim family have been farmers for three generations. Back in the 80s, the family owned around 50,000 date palm trees in the city of Basra. Today, only a few thousand trees have survived the drought and salinity and none of Ibrahim’s sons want to take over the farm since it is no longer profitable. 

“Many neighbouring farmers give up and look for work in the cities," Ibrahim said.

Once a water-rich country, Iraq is facing drought, a significant drop in annual rainfall, salinity and a decline in the level of water flowing into the country, following the construction of major dams in Turkey and Iran since the 1970s.

Additionally, a lack of funds targeting the agricultural sector is preventing the development of Iraq's infrastructure. Basra, now a crumbling city, was once dubbed the "Venice of the Middle East" for its network of canals.

Real steps have to be taken and they have not been.  Iraqi leaders like Nouri al-Maliki have enriched themselves by stealing the public funds.  



  • Iran is pressing Iraq to expand its already game-changing oil and gas infrastructure deal with China.
  • Tehran is looking to include Iraq in the Sino-Russian power bloc in order to expand its influence in the oil-rich country.
  • Chinese money, equipment and technology should, Baghdad and Tehran think, allow Iraq to gradually increase its oil production to the 7 million bpd targeted by end-2022.


The above could be very good for Iraq's economy, if they made the deal with China and if they used money (profits) to invest into diversifying the economic base.  But they've refused to do that.  The prime minister focuses on what foreign governments want -- the US or Iran mainly -- and stick their hands into the people's money.  


Let's turn to the topic of the coronavirus.




MENAFM notes, "The daily tally of cases has been rising since the holy month of Ramadan and as many Iraqis flout coronavirus lockdown measures."  XINHUA notes, "The Iraqi health ministry on Wednesday warned of serious health situation, as it recorded 2,200 new COVID-19 cases, the highest daily increase since the outbreak of the disease, bringing the total number of infections nationwide to 36,702.  The ministry also confirmed 79 more deaths, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 1,330 in the country." 
 

The minister's statement came during a press briefing along with and after a meeting with the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, and the World Health Organization (WHO) representative to Iraq, Adham Rashad.

From her end, Hennis-Plasschaert warned against the lack of adherence to health regulations that are aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus.

"We must commit to fighting the spread of the Coronavirus at all levels, primarily through the individual actions of each of us," said Hennis-Plasschaert.

"The local, regional and national health authorities, as well as friends and partners of Iraq, have warned of great consequence in case of taking the virus lightly," she added. "[W]e cannot exaggerate the seriousness of the situation, but fear and misinformation is no less dangerous," stressing the need for "resistance with courage, sound information, practical advice and collective discipline."

Meanwhile Zhelwan Z. Wali (RUDAW) reports that  Sulaimani Province's Health Dept spokesperson Dr Yad Naqishbandi has declared that he has the coronavirus and that, "My health is good and I have quarantined myself at home."  And Hardi Mohammed (RUDAW) reports:

Photos of a coronavirus patient lying on the ground unattended in a Kirkuk hospital have angered his family, who demand answers about the treatment of the man, who later died on Tuesday.

The disturbing photos circulating on social media in recent days appear to show Najat Rasheed, 57, lying on the ground meters away from a bed and an overturned chair. No hospital staff are seen in the photos, and it’s not known who is responsible for taking the photos.

Rasheed, who is Kurdish, had served as a medical worker in the city for 12 years. He was hospitalized in two separate hospitals for 13 days, but died on Tuesday. His son, Sirwan Najat, remained in contact with his father via their mobile phones while he was hospitalized. After losing contact with him Thursday night Sirwan visited the hospital and found his father abandoned. The next morning, he was pronounced dead.

“My father could not breathe. At 7 am I called to ask the medical personnel of the hospital whether he was alive or not. The doctor said that he would check on him, but he came at 10am," he told Rudaw on Wednesday. "They did not serve him at all," Najat says. 

  

The following sites updated:






Posted by at
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)