Torture is an organism that lives in the dark, it's done in secret and seems to be successful in staying as such. It's more successful in hiding when it's inexplicable. The fewer the (logical) reasons behind torture, the more your testimony will be difficult to believe and the more questions will be raised around your absence. Even from people who know you best.

This organism evolved the ability to live in the dark. From being part of the law in the middle ages to a rejected practice. So to survive, torture denies its own existence (read: torturers deny the existence of their actions) which is the best way to keep a secret and stay in the dark and avoid rejection (read: persecution/justice).

The ticking time bomb scenario is an idea that torture has spread to make itself less objectionable and thus nourishes it. Other more primitive ideas include deterrence.

Logically, asking 'why did they torture someone' implies that there can be an acceptable reasons for it to happen. Thus devoting part of our mental capacity to come up with excuses to make it less bewildering and thus less objectionable (like the ticking time bomb scenario). It's our nature, it's how our brain works. It tries to make sense out of things. This creates, unknowingly, a crack in our morality for torture to inhabit.

Do people ask why someone was infected with Polio? There is how, but the answer for why Polio isn't really an answer; it's either God or bad luck. People ask why HIV and got mixed up with how and created the stigma. Well you can ask Polio for why it picked someone to infect and the honest answer will be to self-propagate. The same thing with torture, any reason given is for self-preservation. I know this sounds absurd, but torture tries to propagate itself.

Lina Attalah and Mohamed El Dahshan of Al-Masry Al-Youm followed up on my post about the Magen Abraham synagogue that was turned into an NDP office in Hadayeq el-Quba. They did a very good job in finding answers to many of the questions regarding why this building is in such a horrible state.

“This temple was built by the Adda family,” says Carmen Weinstein, president of the Egyptian Jewish Community Council (JCC).

"The Adda's were a Jewish Egyptian family of industrialists and bankers, who contributed to the growth of the Egyptian economy in the 1940s. I wish the state would preserve this temple, which is unique in this part of the city." For Jewish communities in Egypt before 1952 it was customary to erect neighborhood synagogues. "In each neighborhood, the local Jewish collectivity built a synagogue," says Weinstein, who also points out that while 29 synagogues once existed in Cairo, only 13 remain.

When contacted for more information about the building, Cairo Governorate officials expressed surprise with respect to the building's unusual status, and gratitude that Al-Masry Al-Youm reporters brought the matter to their attention. According to one governorate employee who wanted to remain anonymous, the building is recognized in the district's files, but has no licenses or ownership documents.

"This means that no measures of demolition, or restoration, have been taken with respect to the building. Nevertheless, the Hadayeq el-Qubba district headquarters believe the construction to be stable and safe," he says. "Since there has been no ownership documents for the synagogue, the government has put its hand on it."

The hypothetical column on the left is meant to show that as a result of the stigma of mental illness, most people think that mental illnesses are always severe.

Delirium is a totally reversible state, people with dementia need long term care and can never be more harmless. Lots of people recover from psychosis totally and some retain symptoms.

Only 10% of violent crime in a society is from people with Schizophrenia.

كتب بلال فضل في المصري اليوم يوم 12/10/2009 عن طبيبة سورية تعالج التوحد بعلاج غذائي مُعين و ينتقد وزارة الصحة المصرية في عدم توفير هذا العلاج للمرضى المصريين و عدم توفير تحليل للكشف المبكر للمرض.

الطبيبة أسمها هيفاء الكيالى و مكتوب على موقعها أنها حصلت على ماجستير الكيمياء الحيوية و خبيرة بالعلاج بلأعشاب و عضوة جمعية المخترعين السوريين و " لها عدة لقاءات في الصحف والمجلات ولها العديد من المقابلات التلفزيونية".

التوحد من الأمراض النفسية الشديدة التي تصيب الأطفال و تعوق نمو الأعصاب الدماغية الخاصة بالتواصل مع الأخرين. و يشخص في السنين الأولى من العمر. و الحقيقة أنه تعددت النظريات حول المرض و أتهمت أشياء كثيرة بأنها تسبب للمرض مثل العوامل البيئية و الغذاء و المواد التي يتعرض لهل الحوامل في الأسابيع الأولى من الحمل. و الأرجح أن المرض سببة طفرة جينية في عدد كبير من الجينات (مثل أغلب الأمراض النفسية).

في الولايات المتحدة والمملكة المتحدة و بعض الدول الأخرى قامت حملة شرسة من أولياء الأمور و أطباء الطب البديل و الإعلام يإتهام تطعيم الحصبة (الثلاثي) بأنة السبب. و لا أعلم كيف أنتشرت تلك المعلومة و لكنها كانت قوية لدرجة أن تطعيم أحد أطفال توني بلير كان خبر هام جدا و للأسف زادت أعداد الأصابة بالحصبة. و نشرت دراسة ممتازة في الدورية المفتوحة بلوس وان تؤكد أن تطعيم الحصبة لا يزيد من فرص حدوث التوحد.

التوحد ليس له علاج و العلاجات السلوكية و الدوائية كلها للأعراض الثانوية للمرض و تحسين جودة الحياة.

ولا يوجد تحليل للمرض حتى الآن و كلها مازلت أبحاث أولية جدا تحوال إيجاد علاقة بين مواد في الجسم مختلفة و إن كانت تعطي مؤشر عن وجود المرض أم لا.

و للأسف تظهر العلاجات البديلة لتعطي أمل كاذب لأولياء الأمور. فظهر علاج يمنع الأطفال من تناول الجلوتن (بروتين في القمح و الشعير) و الكازيين(بروتين الألبان).

UPDATE: Read Sarah's post she has more details.

Woke up this morning to learn from Twitter and text messages that early this morning at 2am, Per Björklund was stopped by the Cairo Airport security and wasn't allowed entrance to the country. He is to be deported back to Prague.

3arabawy sent a twitter message saying that Per was told the reason for stopping him is because they have his name on their computer. Nothing more.

Per is a foreign journalist and blogger. He covers strikes, protests and stories related to human rights abuses.

This may be linked to Travis Randall's ordeal early this month. He is an American free style writer for a lifestyle magazine, who was also detained in the airport for several hours and sent back to London on his own expenses. Randall participated in a pro-Gaza march in February this year, in which Philip Rizk was kidnapped and detained by the state security. Per covered this protest.

Per is a brave journalist and his writing is almost always highly informative. He is a nice guy. This is both outrageous and depressing. I wonder if this stupid government is trying to reduce the number of foreign journalists in anticipation of the next two politically intense years.

In April 2008, in Hadayeq el Qobba I stumbled upon this synagogue which was turned into a public affairs office, NDP office, a nursery and a small mosque.

Taking photos is strictly prohibited. But I managed to snap some shots while claiming that I am studying architecture and interested in the building style.

This is apparently the most looked after synagogue in Egypt. Thanks to Farouk Hosni. Probably the next president of the UNESCO.

UPDATE: Yes, it is "the most looked after" synagogue as in the wooden floors are in a horrible shape, cables coming and going everywhere, horrible neon lights, overstuffed filing cabinets piled over each other rusting, broken window panes replaced with cardboard and the whole sanctity of the place, that was once there and can be vaguely felt radiating from the large dome and the star of David windows, is replaced with a grim dark grey Mogama3 feel.

UPDATE 2: Lina Atallah and Mohamed El Dahshan of Al-Masry English went and investigated this synagogue: The curious case of a Cairo synagogue.