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The pair spent two hours in the cold water and were suffering from hypothermia when they were transferred to Hadassah Mount Scopus Medical Center in Jerusalem.

A rescue team rappelled down ropes to reach the boy in the water, and then extricated the father, who was located 30 meters away on the other bank.

"The rescue crew saved me and my son's life," said Oren Carmel, the father, from Modi'in. "They did a wonderful job... The whole time I knew that I have to watch out for my son so we can survive. They also found our backpack that we were earlier forced to dispose of. They contacted my wife and updated her. It was tough... Now we just want to rest."

The Israel Nature and Parks Authority announced that the pair entered the water channel against explicit instructions issued to the public and endangered their lives-as well as those of the rescue team. Another four thrill seekers were found upriver and rescued as well as crews searched the length of the stream for others.

On happier terms, Israelis flocked to sites of water and snow Saturday leading to heavy congestion in the Golan Heights, especially leading up to Mount Hermon where it seemed that staff underestimated the amount of expected visitors. By 1:30pm, the site had been closed to visitors due to overcrowding.

The snow-capped mountain attraction was open free to visitors as conditions are not yet ripe for skiing and snowboarding. Many Israelis took advantage over the weekend and management advised the public that all are welcome throughout the coming week when crowds are expected to decrease and "there is enough snow for all."

The short but intense weather system also brought much needed rain to fill the many streams in the north of the country, after a long dry spell. Streams throughout the Judean and Negev deserts were replenished as well.

Residents from Arad reported that the many streams surrounding the generally parched city had been filled with flowing water. Revelers should be cautious, though, and stick to designated trails and not climb the cliffs near the waterfalls.
The Israel Nature and Parks Authority reported that 30,000 visitors visited national parks and nature reserves over the weekend; in addition to the many adventurers who set out on 4x4 vehicle to watch the desert streams flood with rain runoff from the highlands.
For the first time this winter, the dams in the Menashe Highlands were opened to catch the rain water flowing down the hillsides. Over 300,000 cubic meters of water was captured and added to the natural aquifers for domestic water consumption. The water is filtered as it trickles down through the soil. Additional facilities in the south captured water for agricultural use.

A Ryanair flight from Baden-Baden to Ovda (Eilat) Airport changed plans mid-flight and landed at Ben Gurion Airport due to weather conditions. Another flight from Larnaca Cyprus to Tel Aviv decided to abort and return to Cyprus because of the storm.

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Father, son, rescued from desert stream deluge

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The pair spent two hours in the cold water and were suffering from hypothermia when they were transferred to Hadassah Mount Scopus Medical Center in Jerusalem. A rescue team rappelled down ropes to reach the boy in the water, and then extricated the father, who was located 30 meters away on the other bank.

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Crescendo can be used as a musical term.

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Chronic disease is the major cause of death and disability in Illinois. Six common chronic diseases - cancer, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer's disease, and pulmonary conditions - account for the majority of the 10 leading causes of death in the state and affect more than 6.7 million Illinoisans, more than half its population (Illinois Center for Health Statistics). These conditions shorten lives, reduce quality of life and create considerable burden for caregivers. The human cost is enormous, but the economic cost also is great. Studies have found Illinois spends more than $12.5 billion a year in health care dollars to treat chronic diseases. The financial burden from the impact of lost work days and lower employee productivity during the same period resulted in an annual economic loss of $43.6 billion. These conditions also decrease human productivity. Over the course of three years (2006-2008), more than one million years of productive life was lost in Illinois due to chronic disease (Illinois Center for Health Statistics). Chronic diseases occur more often with age. With the aging of the baby boomer generation, Illinois will experience a dramatic increase in chronic disease in the next 20 years.

Chronic diseases are largely preventable conditions associated with an individual's health and lifestyle choices. At least 80 percent of premature heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes and 40 percent of cancer diagnoses could be prevented through healthy diet, regular physical activity and avoidance of tobacco products.

The Illinois Department of Public Health (Department) is committed to addressing the burden of chronic disease by supporting collaborative approaches to public health policy, communication, surveillance and epidemiology, evaluation, and community mobilization; strengthening delivery and use of chronic disease related clinical and other preventive services; and effective chronic disease management.

The Division of Chronic Disease Prevention and Control is located within the Office of Health Promotion. The Division is made up of many programs with the common goal to reduce the burden of chronic disease in Illinois. Those programs include:

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Chronic disease is the major cause of death and disability in Illinois. Six common chronic diseases - cancer, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer's disease, and pulmonary conditions - account for the majority of the 10 leading causes of death in the state and affect more than 6.7 million Illinoisans, more than half its population (Illinois Center for Health Statistics).

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Over the decades, successive civilian leaderships here in Pakistan have demonstrated sheer indifference when it comes to reforming the country's draconian blasphemy laws. Thus these, over time, have gone from being a source of despair for a majority of the citizenry to representing deadly legislation.

This makes all the more welcome the recent ruling by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) that saw the five bloggers, who mysteriously disappeared at the beginning of the year, cleared of all trumped up charges of blasphemy. Yet it also serves as a poignant reminder of how these laws continue to be misused. Enough is surely enough.

Given that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had found no evidence of blasphemy, Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui - who was presiding over the aforementioned case - directed that no action be taken against the 'defendants' in the absence of incriminating evidence. This must come as an enormous relief to the bloggers, who were known for being critical of authority, extremism and intolerance. But, to be blunt, their lives will likely never be the same again. Not only in terms of the torture they may or may not have received - but charges of blasphemy, however false these may be, are not forgotten in Pakistan. Equally worrying is that no agency has admitted to picking them up.

Many politicians and religious scholars have, over the years, conceded that the country's blasphemy laws are being misused. Indeed, the Supreme Court, in its 2015 verdict in Malik Muhammad Mumtaz Qadri v the State, reiterated concerns that the majority of blasphemy cases are based on false accusations. Thus in the absence of adequate safeguards, once someone is accused of this crime - their very life becomes forever under threat. And it matters not if one is a public figure, as the case of Junaid Jamshed only serves to underscore.

There is hope to be had in the fact that many religious scholars have joined hands with the legal fraternity, as it were, to argue that intent is critical when determining whether or not blasphemy has been committed. This is a view supported by Tahir Ashrafi, a religious scholar and former CII member

Ever since their inception, these laws and their dastardly implementation have provoked consternation among national and international human rights organisations. Indeed, the world community regularly calls for the repeal of this legislation, or at the very least, for appropriate changes to its application. Yet our civilian leadership has turned both deaf ear and blind eye to all of this.

In their written form, the blasphemy laws violate Pakistan's international human rights obligations, particularly those falling under the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The latter include freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief; and freedom of opinion and expression. Thus is Pakistan under obligation to respect and bring its laws in line with such commitments as per all international conventions ratified by the state.

One of the main reasons that has prevented successive regimes from doing just that is the threat posed by Islamist extremist groups. The latter all too often target both churches as well Christian settlements; which our security agencies seem at a loss to prevent. This is to say nothing of the targeted assassination of those who have been (wrongly) accused of blasphemy.

In addition, the usually vague wording of charges also leads to a violation of the principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Right (UNDHR). Principally, "the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law" as well as the right to equal protection of the law "without any discrimination".

Pakistan is furthermore also obliged to honour additional commitments to the UNDHR - to which it became a signatory back in 1948 - when it comes to protecting its citizenry against arbitrary arrest and detention. For the UNDHR stipulates: "Anyone arrested or detained on a criminal charge shall be brought promptly before a judge or other officer authorised by law to exercise judicial power and shall be entitled to trial within a reasonable time or to release."

Everyone has the right to be tried in a timely manner. Meaning that if the accused is held in pre-trial detention - the state is obliged to hear their case on a priority basis with a view to conducting proceedings with particular expedition. After all, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture has termed solitary confinement not punishment but torture. Those who are routinely subjected to this are found to suffer serious health problems including irreversible psychological harm. And here in Pakistan, individuals charged with blasphemy are oftentimes kept in solitary confinement, ostensibly for their own good. Yet it doesn't always work out that way. A Christian prisoner, Qamar David, who was serving a life sentence for blasphemy died a year after his custodial term began, despite being considered to be in good health. Though, in this case, it must be noted that he had spent some four years in pre-trial detention; in a 'Christian only' block.

Sadly, his is not a lone case. Many variations exist. There was Ranjha Masih, another Christian man charged with blasphemy back in 2003. Though he was acquitted after eight years - here, again, it is pertinent to note he had spent five additional years in pre-trial detention, bringing the total number of years spent in prison to 14. Yet only his physical being gained freedom; his mind remained mentally unstable before he died a few years later. Then there is Asia Bibi, yet another Christian inmate. She was arrested back in 2009 and sentenced to life imprisonment a year later. It has been reported that she has spent the last three years in solitary confinement where no one - neither her husband nor her five children - has been allowed to meet her during this time. The bitterest irony is that while almost the whole world knows her name she is not permitted to speak to anyone. And no one knows if she will ever get life back.

Pakistan's blasphemy laws have even been deliberately misused to target the vulnerable, such as Rimsha Masih who was said to have suffered mental health issues that effectively placed her at an even younger age than her estimated 14 years at the time of her arrest. There is also Asif Masih. And so the list goes on.

There remains a small sliver of hope, however. Meaning that many religious scholars have joined hands with the legal fraternity, as it were, to argue that intent is critical when determining whether or not blasphemy has been committed. This is a view supported by Tahir Ashrafi, a religious scholar and former member of the Council of Islamic Ideology.

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) in its Concluding Observations on the combined twenty-first to twenty-third periodic reports on Pakistan from 3 October 2016 expressed the following: concern "at the broad and vague definition of offences against religions provided for in those laws, including sections 295, 295-A, 295-B, 295-C, 298-A, 298-B and 298-C of the Pakistan Penal Code 1860, and the disproportionate use of those laws against individuals belonging to ethnic and religious minorities"

Thus we here in Pakistan have time and again borne unwelcome witness to how the country's blasphemy laws and their practical implementation have routinely violated its international human rights obligations. Yet if our political leadership fails to put this right - then the responsibility must necessarily fall to the apex court; in terms of directing the Centre to do the needful. For it is no longer sufficient for scholars to take to our television screens to press home the point of how the burden of proof rests on the accuser. This is because as far as I, or many others can tell, this very rarely happens. Meaning that those who level such detrimental allegations usually don't make it before the courts as these types of cases are all too often hijacked by the extremist agenda.

The 21st century is said to be one of changes and many countries, including Saudi Arabia, have found themselves with little choice other than to adopt new laws and values for the progression and welfare of their people. This should give courage to Pakistan; inspiring us to do our utmost to resort to national and international legal norms as well as the work of religious scholars to reform these anachronistic laws. Or at the very least, prevent their utter misuse. For in this way, would our political leadership demonstrate its commitment to putting the citizenry before religious extremists.
The writer is a freelance columnist Published in Daily Times, December 29th 2017.

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Blasphemy in the 21st century - Daily Times

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Over the decades, successive civilian leaderships here in Pakistan have demonstrated sheer indifference when it comes to reforming the country's draconian blasphemy laws. Thus these, over time, have gone from being a source of despair for a majority of the citizenry to representing deadly legislation.

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At a time when the world seems more divisive than ever, a group of individuals from agencies, advertisers, the media, government and academia will meet next month to kick off what is expected to be a series of open forums tackling transparency and trust issues in the advertising industry. In an effort to symbolize its neutrality, the first meeting will take place at the United Nations in New York City.

Dubbed the Advertising Transparency & Trust Forum, the organizers describe themselves as an "ad hoc working group" that is explicitly non-partisan and its only goal is to discuss the current state of "trust systems" in the advertising world to see if better business practices can be developed.

The forum's agenda is being developed by Jerry (Yoram) Wind, a professor of marketing at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, who is well known for tackling big industry problems.

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"The idea is that it's become apparent that the current situation with no trust has become destructive to all parties," says Andrew Susman, vice president-East Coast of Empower MediaMarketing, an independent media agency based in Cincinnati that pulled out of the American Association of Advertising Agencies last year when the ad agency trade association failed to endorse and support media-buying transparency initiatives proposed by the Association of National Advertisers.

"Instead of having another ANA event or a 4As event, the idea was to have all the minds in a room at an industry-neutral event," he explains, adding that he is not acting explicitly on behalf of Empower, but as an individual interested in improving the state of the industry's trust, because, "the current state is unsustainable."

Susman said the group has begun inviting a cross-section of industry executives, as well as regulators, measurement
and technology firms to participate in an open dialogue and that the goal is to "identify a process that will solve the problems of the industry's trust systems."

The ANA has pledged sending representatives, as have some individual big marketers including Procter & Gamble and U.S. Cellular.

The 4As said it is still evaluating whether it will participate.

"We are engaging in conversations with the Trust Forum to determine what our participation would entail, as well as how our members would be involved," 4As President-CEO Nancy Hill said in a statement, adding: "Our members' voices are an important part of any discussion of trust and transparency, and we want to ensure that their input is given the appropriate weight it deserves."

Susman said the UN was chosen as the location for the first meeting because it is neutral territory, literally. While it occupies U.S. soil, the UN property technically is "extraterritorial" through a treaty agreement with the U.S. government.

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at a time when the world seems more divisive than ever

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government and academia will meet next month to kick off what is expected to be a series of open forums tackling transparency and trust issues in the advertising industry. in ... 02/14/2017

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Ad Hoc 'Trust' Group Wants To Be Neutral Ground, Will Use UN As Its Venue

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At a time when the world seems more divisive than ever, a group of individuals from agencies, advertisers, the media, government and academia will meet next month to kick off what is expected to be a series of open forums tackling transparency and trust issues in the advertising industry.