THE G-20 IN PITTSBURGH
by Tom Over 9-23-09
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On Tuesday, Sept 22, activists from Philadelphia, New York City, Pittsburgh and other cities held a mock funeral procession to demand better policies for addressing the AIDS pandemic, a day ahead of the arrival of delegates for the G-20.
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The approximately 50 participants in the New Orleans-style funeral march drew a mix of interest, irritation, and amusement from onlookers in the business district of downtown Pittsburgh.
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At the head of the funeral march where pallbearers carried a cardboard coffin, a man shouted into a microphone while someone else carried a portable amplifier, “when people with AIDS are under attack, what do we do ?” and marchers shouted in unison, “fight back!”
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Amidst the early afternoon bustle of an weekday, the demonstrators repeated this call-and-answer and similar chants as the funeral march made its way around the perimeter of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, the site of the G-20 Summit later this week.
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Erica Goldberg works with ACT UP Philadelphia. She said global health is not on the agenda of the G-20 Summit.
“One of the things that some of the G-20 nations have promised us is funding for the global fund to fight, TB, malaria, and HIV/AIDS. This is all really important, especially if we want to meet the United Nations’ Millennium goal of eradicating these diseases by 2015. As of right now, this won’t be met. We have to hold our leaders accountable. They are the ones making decisions for the poorer countries,” Goldberg said.
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She commented on the timing of the demonstration. “We wanted this to be the first thing they (the G-20 delegates) see. They’re coming here tomorrow. We’re holding them accountable. This needs to be on the agenda.”
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She said AIDS activists chose Sept 22, two days before the official start of the G-20 Summit, and one day before the arrival of the delegates, so as to not have to compete with other protests. Also, she said the AIDS activists figured there would be less of a chance of conflict with police if they staged their protest earlier in the week.
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“We hope that this will hit the papers tomorrow, that it’s the first thing they see when they walk in, that they have this on their conscience and know we’re not going away,” Goldberg said. She urges people to contact legislators about supporting the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.
“President Obama, as much as I love him, went back on his promise to fulfill the funding,” Goldberg said.
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She commented on how drug companies factor into all of this. “ Medication does not need to be this expensive. They can definitely lower their prices. We have big drug interests lobbying to prevent AIDS medication from getting” to developing nations.
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Goldberg said debt cancellation for developing nations is a factor that comes into play.
“When you don’t cancel debts of nations and they have to pay back loans to the IMF and the World Bank, they won’t have the funds necessary for getting AIDS medication, or they might get the medication but can’t pay the health professional because of their debt.
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She said vested interested motivated by huge profits stand in the way of doing a better job of addressing tuberculosis, malaria, and HIV/AIDS. “We have the power, the ability, and the medication.”
World News
For historians who like dates and bookends for their events, the “global war on terror” started with the destruction of the Twin Towers and the attack on the Pentagon (9/11). The idea of perpetual war provided large benefits to a few and pain and terror to much of the world, and to the rest of the world an increasing disbelief in the intents, means, and rationales for the war. Unfortunately for the academic writers of history, history itself does not operate within the confines of given dates - the flow of actions and counter actions never ceases. The 9/11 attacks were by any real accounting only another incident in the fraud that the imperial powers of the world have ‘perpetuated’ on the citizens of the world.
BANGKOK, Thailand -- The Commander of the U.S. Army Pacific, Lt. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, predicted a coup was "unlikely" during the Pentagon's military training exercise on Thai soil, but a powerful Red Shirt opposition movement has now targeted America's relations with Thailand's coup-minded army.
"In the unlikely event of a coup, we will take our direction from D.O.D.," Lt. Gen. Mixon said a few days ago in an e-mail interview, referring to U.S. Department of Defense guidelines.
Ultimately, a coup did not occur during the Cobra Gold 2010 joint military exercise, which began on February 2 and successfully ended on Thursday (February 11).
South Korea participated for the first time, and joined Singapore, Japan, Indonesia and Thailand with a combined total of 11,500 personnel, including 6,000 from America, the U.S. Army's Pacific Public Affairs Office said.
But simultaneously, 20,000 Thai security forces are separately being deployed throughout Bangkok at strategic sites.
"In the unlikely event of a coup, we will take our direction from D.O.D.," Lt. Gen. Mixon said a few days ago in an e-mail interview, referring to U.S. Department of Defense guidelines.
Ultimately, a coup did not occur during the Cobra Gold 2010 joint military exercise, which began on February 2 and successfully ended on Thursday (February 11).
South Korea participated for the first time, and joined Singapore, Japan, Indonesia and Thailand with a combined total of 11,500 personnel, including 6,000 from America, the U.S. Army's Pacific Public Affairs Office said.
But simultaneously, 20,000 Thai security forces are separately being deployed throughout Bangkok at strategic sites.
In a country with the kind of tumultuous history that Ireland has it's not
surprising that a man being arrested and jailed for seven months would
escape the notice of the media, at least outside of Ireland. What should
hopefully pique some interest is that this is a man with a long history of
being bullied, intimidated, arrested and treated roughly by the authorities
for his nonviolent resistance against Shell Oil's construction of a gas
pipeline, and now the judge is calling him a bully and jailing him for
seven months on the extremely dubious charge of intimidating an officer.
To be sure, this is not Nigeria, where Shell regularly massacres those opposed to the oil drilling which is destroying the environment and the livelihoods of so much of the population. Shell doesn't run Ireland in the way it controls Nigeria. But at the same time, much like my own country, the Irish government has proven itself to be far from free of corruption.
To be sure, this is not Nigeria, where Shell regularly massacres those opposed to the oil drilling which is destroying the environment and the livelihoods of so much of the population. Shell doesn't run Ireland in the way it controls Nigeria. But at the same time, much like my own country, the Irish government has proven itself to be far from free of corruption.
Yesterday a major earthquake devastated Haiti.
The worst reported earthquake in the region in 200 years struck, killing countless numbers of people and wounding many more. According to preliminary reports, 3 million people have been affected by the quake.
We need your help to respond.
The American Friends Service Committee is seeking financial contributions to help Haitians recover from the devastation of the earthquake and rebuild their lives and communities. Please make a gift today and aid Haitian earthquake survivors.
As I write, we have been in contact with some partners and are analyzing ways AFSC can work with them to help Haitians recover from this tragedy and help those most in need. In the quake's aftermath, power and telephone access is difficult right now, but we continue to try to reach our many contacts in Haiti to assess the best way for AFSC to help.
The worst reported earthquake in the region in 200 years struck, killing countless numbers of people and wounding many more. According to preliminary reports, 3 million people have been affected by the quake.
We need your help to respond.
The American Friends Service Committee is seeking financial contributions to help Haitians recover from the devastation of the earthquake and rebuild their lives and communities. Please make a gift today and aid Haitian earthquake survivors.
As I write, we have been in contact with some partners and are analyzing ways AFSC can work with them to help Haitians recover from this tragedy and help those most in need. In the quake's aftermath, power and telephone access is difficult right now, but we continue to try to reach our many contacts in Haiti to assess the best way for AFSC to help.
Prior to the establishment of Israel, Palestine had been multi-religious and multi-cultural. Christians, Muslims and Jews, Armenians, Greek Orthodox, to name a few, all had a place there; and all lived in relative harmony. Other nations fought wars and waged epic struggles to attain the kind of coexistence that was already a reality in Palestine.But while the world strives toward the noble truths that we are all created equal, Israel legislates the notion of a Chosen People with exclusive rights and privilege for Jews. Where countries have worked to integrate their citizens to create the richness of diversity, Israel is working in reverse, employing racist policies to "Judaize" the land whereby property and resources are confiscated from Christians and Muslims for the exclusive use of Jews. Where there is consensus that certain human rights are inalienable, Palestinians have lived subject to the whims of soldiers at checkpoints; of airplanes and helicopters raining death onto them with impunity; of curfews and restrictions and denials; and of violent armed settlers who fancy themselves disciples of God.
Contradictions on the Horizon
You see them as you fly in. 'Wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen, Lovely Ol' Girl of the Sea,' as Danny Kaye's Hans Christian Anderson character once sang in the '50's movie, embodies in its skyline the contrasts and contradictions facing us all in the inevitable transition to a post-carbon future. A scan across the harbor's horizon reveals a phalanx of giant wind-generators spinning ponderously in the ocean breeze, flanked by an array of coal- and gas-fired power plants discharging plumes of carbon into the lowering overcast. Just visible to the east across the narrow strip of ocean that separates Denmark from Sweden you can make out the inactive cooling tower of Barsebek nuclear power plant, shut down as a result of public pressure generated by anti-nuclear NGO's in both countries.
You see them as you fly in. 'Wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen, Lovely Ol' Girl of the Sea,' as Danny Kaye's Hans Christian Anderson character once sang in the '50's movie, embodies in its skyline the contrasts and contradictions facing us all in the inevitable transition to a post-carbon future. A scan across the harbor's horizon reveals a phalanx of giant wind-generators spinning ponderously in the ocean breeze, flanked by an array of coal- and gas-fired power plants discharging plumes of carbon into the lowering overcast. Just visible to the east across the narrow strip of ocean that separates Denmark from Sweden you can make out the inactive cooling tower of Barsebek nuclear power plant, shut down as a result of public pressure generated by anti-nuclear NGO's in both countries.
Washington, DC - On December 9th, representatives of several dozen U.S.
antiwar groups posted an open letter to the Nobel Committee expressing
regret that President Obama, so close upon his receipt of this honor,
has opted to escalate the U.S. war in Afghanistan with the deployment of
30,000 additional troops.
The letter calls attention to statements made by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., upon receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize, in 1964, when he urged people to reject retaliatory violence. "President Obama has insisted that his troop escalation is a necessary response to dangerous instability in Afghanistan and Pakistan," the document states, "but we reject the notion that military action will advance the region's stability, or our own national security."
The signatories pledged "to mobilize our constituencies in the spirit of Dr. King's nonviolent and committed example. His prophetic words will guide us as we assemble in the halls of Congress, in local offices of elected representatives, and in the streets of our cities and towns, protesting every proposal that will continue funding war."
The letter calls attention to statements made by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., upon receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize, in 1964, when he urged people to reject retaliatory violence. "President Obama has insisted that his troop escalation is a necessary response to dangerous instability in Afghanistan and Pakistan," the document states, "but we reject the notion that military action will advance the region's stability, or our own national security."
The signatories pledged "to mobilize our constituencies in the spirit of Dr. King's nonviolent and committed example. His prophetic words will guide us as we assemble in the halls of Congress, in local offices of elected representatives, and in the streets of our cities and towns, protesting every proposal that will continue funding war."
If you pay attention only to the commercial and so-called "public" media in the United States, you'd get the impression that the response around the world to President Obama's proposed escalation of the decades old U.S. war on Afghanistan has ranged from tepid to positive.
Inside Afghanistan - well; when do we ever hear from anyone actually in Afghanistan? I mean the Afghans themselves? Obama claims, as the Bush administration did, that The U.S. will be heading an international peacekeeping force representing more than 40 nations in an all-out effort to, in the words of both Obama and Bush "get the job done". What job? That's a question the media, by and large seems reticent to ask.
In the few days immediately following 9-11 ( September 11th, 2001, that is) I had occasion to be in New York City. The Pacifica Radio network was in a state of crisis as self-appointed rogue national board of directors had assumed control of the 5-station network and was busy scuttling its best programs and dismantling Pacifica station by station.
Inside Afghanistan - well; when do we ever hear from anyone actually in Afghanistan? I mean the Afghans themselves? Obama claims, as the Bush administration did, that The U.S. will be heading an international peacekeeping force representing more than 40 nations in an all-out effort to, in the words of both Obama and Bush "get the job done". What job? That's a question the media, by and large seems reticent to ask.
In the few days immediately following 9-11 ( September 11th, 2001, that is) I had occasion to be in New York City. The Pacifica Radio network was in a state of crisis as self-appointed rogue national board of directors had assumed control of the 5-station network and was busy scuttling its best programs and dismantling Pacifica station by station.
U.S. government hypocrisy has grown so pervasive over the last decades that it provokes yawns and glazed looks. Senators denounce government interference in health care while partaking in their own top of the line government health insurance that they designed – at taxpayer expense. Secretary of State Clinton demanded Pakistani leaders remove terrorists from their streets while self-proclaimed anti-Castro terrorists parade down Miami’s thoroughfares – as freedom fighters, of course.
Duplicity in language coincides with stupidity of policy. In Afghanistan (which costs a million dollars per year per soldier to keep Hamid Karzai in the president business), U.S. and NATO troops pursue a vague anti-terror mission in which they have caused immense death and destruction -- with few or no results. “Send more troops to fight for the Karzai government,” scream John McCain and his ilk, while Karzai vies for a place in the Guinness Book of Records for corruption. He retains legitimacy among those who benefit directly from his theft – and the U.S. government.
Duplicity in language coincides with stupidity of policy. In Afghanistan (which costs a million dollars per year per soldier to keep Hamid Karzai in the president business), U.S. and NATO troops pursue a vague anti-terror mission in which they have caused immense death and destruction -- with few or no results. “Send more troops to fight for the Karzai government,” scream John McCain and his ilk, while Karzai vies for a place in the Guinness Book of Records for corruption. He retains legitimacy among those who benefit directly from his theft – and the U.S. government.
BANGKOK, Thailand -- Thailand's military wants the U.S. to provide satellite equipment and imagery so it can hunt thousands of Islamist separatists who are killing Thai troops and civilians with hidden roadside bombs in the south.
About 30,000 soldiers are fighting against 8,000 people who support the insurgency, including 2,000 armed rebels, said the Chief of the Royal Thai Army in the south, Lt. Gen. Pichet Wisaijorn.
A London-based Amnesty International official, however, said the Thai military was "torturing" suspects with "suffocation" and "electric shock" at Thai Buddhist temples and elsewhere in the south.
More than 3,700 people on all sides have perished during the past five years in Buddhist-majority Thailand's three Muslim-majority southern provinces.
Much of the southern war is fueled by Muslim ethnic Malay-Thais who are fighting for autonomy or a separate homeland.
Asked in an interview on Wednesday (November 18) what help Thailand's military would like America to provide, so Bangkok can crush the insurgency, Lt. Gen. Pichet replied:
About 30,000 soldiers are fighting against 8,000 people who support the insurgency, including 2,000 armed rebels, said the Chief of the Royal Thai Army in the south, Lt. Gen. Pichet Wisaijorn.
A London-based Amnesty International official, however, said the Thai military was "torturing" suspects with "suffocation" and "electric shock" at Thai Buddhist temples and elsewhere in the south.
More than 3,700 people on all sides have perished during the past five years in Buddhist-majority Thailand's three Muslim-majority southern provinces.
Much of the southern war is fueled by Muslim ethnic Malay-Thais who are fighting for autonomy or a separate homeland.
Asked in an interview on Wednesday (November 18) what help Thailand's military would like America to provide, so Bangkok can crush the insurgency, Lt. Gen. Pichet replied: