That's a lot of tobacco in that spliff! (lb)
Friends identify activist Derek Soberal as man who reportedly set himself on fire at Toronto gas station
A long-time activist and father has been identified by friends as the man who died after he reportedly set himself on fire, then was Tasered by Toronto police Tuesday morning.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday, activist organization Occupy Canada announced the death of the group’s founder, Derek Soberal, a father of two young boys who was known for his long-time involvement in the city’s activist circles and for making a documentary about Toronto’s G20 summit.
“Right now we are all in shock, as you might well imagine,” said the post published to the Facebook group Wednesday.
Ontario’s police watchdog, the Special Investigations Unit, is probing the incident that police say began with a call about a man who had set himself on fire near Dundas Street East and Church Street around 8:45 a.m. Tuesday.
The SIU has not released the man’s name, but several friends who spoke to the Star confirmed it was Soberal.
According to a source with knowledge of the incident who was not authorized to speak publicly, Soberal set himself on fire near a gas station, then entered, prompting someone inside to douse the flames using a fire extinguisher.
The man then ran away toward a nearby convenience store on Jarvis Street and began stabbing himself with a knife, the source said. Police officers at the scene then Tasered him. He was transported by ambulance to hospital, but later died.
A video posted to Youtube on Wednesday appears to show the incident as seen from a nearby balcony. In it, a man partially on fire can be seen walking in front of the gas station with his arms outstretched. He then walks back toward the gas station. Sirens can be heard in the distance, then two police cars arrive.
https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1240667625056763904
https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-dr-anthony-fauci-runs-11584626400
Why Dr. Anthony Fauci Runs
Dr. Anthony Fauci has been running the same federal entity through some of the worst crises of the last half-century: AIDS, anthrax, swine flu, Ebola and, now, a coronavirus pandemic that has turned this infectious disease expert into the most influential person in American public health.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8130183/Police-Ecuador-BLOCKADE-runway-stop-Spanish-Dutch-jets-landing.html
Police in Ecuador BLOCKADE a runway to stop Spanish and Dutch jets landing after international flights are banned
Police in Ecuador have blockaded a major runway to stop foreign planes from landing after international flights were banned.
Hundreds of emergency service workers were parked on the strip at Jose Joaquin de Olmedo International airport - the second biggest in the country.
Guayaquil city mayor Cynthia Viteri reportedly ordered officers on to the tarmac to stop planes from Europe amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The move was understood to have been taken to stop an Iberia Airbus A340 travelling from Madrid and a KLM Boeing 777 from Amsterdam.
But local media claimed the planes landed in Quito with just crew members on-board.
They had reportedly been sent to Ecuador to pick up their citizens in the country to take them home.
Prosecutors are believed to be investigating the incident, with the Ministry of Transport and Public Works blasting the Guayaquil City Council for clamping down on air travel.
Up to 170 passengers reportedly boarded the KLM plane in Quito but it is unclear if the two flights have returned to Europe.
Mayor Viteri, who is part of the conservative Social Christian Party party, claimed responsibility for the incident.
She said she would do it again to protect the city from the arrival of people who may have caught coronavirus.
The politician claimed the planes had been about to land in the city and the crew members were scheduled to spend the night there before leaving the next day.
She said Guyauquil is bringing in strict restrictions on movement to prevent the spread of the coronavirus as the city is one of the worst-affected in the country.
Ecuador has suffered 168 confirmed cases of the virus and three deaths.
The aviation investigation ongoing.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-8130023/Planets-set-earliest-March-equinox-124-years.html
Planets set to put on a show for the earliest Spring equinox in 124 years on Friday - with Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and a crescent moon appearing very close together in the night sky
Tomorrow marks the earliest Spring equinox in more than a century and three planets are combining with our moon to put on a spectacular celestial show.
Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and a crescent moon will appear very close to each other in the southeastern sky to mark the earliest March equinox in 124 years and is expected to happen at 03:49 GMT (11:49 pm EDT).
Mercury will peek above the horizon but it will be very close to the Sun and hard to see.
As the month progresses, the planets will continue to come closer together.
>Dr. Grady has authored more than 175 papers in the biomedical and bioethics literature and authored or edited several books, including The Oxford Textbook of Clinical Research Ethics.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Oxford_Textbook_of_Clinical_Research_Ethics
https://cc.nih.gov/about/news/newsletter/2008/jun08/newsletter.html
Members of the Clinical Center Department of Bioethics recently edited and published "The Oxford Textbook of Clinical Research Ethics," a comprehensive textbook on the ethics of research with human beings, according to Bioethics Chair Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel. “We wanted the definitive text that assesses the history of research and the elements necessary for making research ethical such as risk-benefit ratio, informed consent, conflict of interest,” Emanuel said.
The textbook includes 73 chapters by 87 contributing authors addressing topics including a selected history of research with humans; codes, declarations, and other ethical guidance for research with humans; the context, purpose, and value of clinical research; scientific design; participant selection; risk-benefit assessments; independent review and oversight; informed consent; respect for human research participants; multinational research; and clinical investigator behavior.
According to Emanuel, Department of Bioethics faculty, fellows, and past fellows wrote nearly one third of the chapters, and fellows or former fellows co-authored five chapters.
The work is dedicated to CC Director Dr. John I. Gallin, “whose vision and continuing support made the Department of Bioethics at the NIH—and, as a consequence, this textbook—possible.”
CC staff who edited the work included Emanuel; Dr. Christine Grady, head of the section on human subjects research; Reidar K. Lie, head of the unit on multinational research; Dr. Franklin G. Miller, a bioethicist with NIMH’s Intramural Research Program and the CC; and Dr. David Wendler, head of the unit on vulnerable populations. Robert A. Crouch from the Poynter Center for the Study of Ethics and American Institutions at Indiana University also edited the work.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippocampus_(mythology)
A message from Her Majesty The Queen
19th March 2020
As Philip and I arrive at Windsor today, we know that many individuals and families across the United Kingdom, and around the world, are entering a period of great concern and uncertainty.
We are all being advised to change our normal routines and regular patterns of life for the greater good of the communities we live in and, in particular, to protect the most vulnerable within them.
At times such as these, I am reminded that our nation’s history has been forged by people and communities coming together to work as one, concentrating our combined efforts with a focus on the common goal.
We are enormously thankful for the expertise and commitment of our scientists, medical practitioners and emergency and public services; but now more than any time in our recent past, we all have a vitally important part to play as individuals - today and in the coming days, weeks and months.
Many of us will need to find new ways of staying in touch with each other and making sure that loved ones are safe. I am certain we are up to that challenge. You can be assured that my family and I stand ready to play our part.
ELIZABETH R
https://syria.liveuamap.com/
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-51955509
https://twitter.com/SpeakerPelosi
https://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/31920
Pelosi Statement Calling on President Trump to Use Defense Production Act Powers Immediately
San Francisco – Speaker Pelosi today called on President Trump to use the Defense Production Act to address widespread shortages of key materials during the coronavirus epidemic, including ventilators, diagnostic test supplies, masks and other personal protective equipment. Last week, 57 House Democrats wrote a letter to the President asking him to invoke the Defense Production Act. Yesterday evening, President Trump tweeted that he had signed the Defense Production Act but was not yet invoking its powers.
“Right now, shortages of critical medical and personal protective equipment are harming our ability to fight the coronavirus epidemic, endangering frontline workers and making it harder to care for those who fall ill.
“The President must immediately use the powers of the Defense Production Act to mass produce and coordinate distribution of these critical supplies, before the need worsens and the shortages become even more dire. There is not a day to lose. We must put more testing, more protective equipment and more ventilators into the hands of our frontline workers immediately.”