THE G-20 IN PITTSBURGH
by Tom Over 9-23-09
<br><br>
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.
<br><br>
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.
<br><br>
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!”
<br><br>
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.
<br><br>
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.
<br><br>
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.”
<br><br>
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.
<br><br>
“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.
<br><br>
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.
<br><br>
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.
<br><br>
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
On October 5, 2008, Vicenza overwhelmingly said no to a second U.S.
military base. In a referendum that had officially been suspended just four
days before it was to take place, 24,094 voters, determined to express
themselves, showed up to cast their votes. The referendum asked local
residents if they agreed with the City of Vicenza taking up measures to
purchase the Dal Molin area, the site of the proposed base, in order to
designate its use in the public interest and to protect the environmental
integrity of the site. With a resounding no to the new base, 23,050 voters,
or 95.66%, voted in favor of the referendum.
The people of this city in northern Italy had been asking to have a say in this issue that has dominated local politics since May of 2006, when news of the proposed base first began to leak out. More than two years later, it had finally been called following a vote by the newly-elected city council this past June. Vicenza´s mayor, Achille Variati, had been elected in a runoff vote in April of this year on a platform that opposed the base and supported a local referendum.
The people of this city in northern Italy had been asking to have a say in this issue that has dominated local politics since May of 2006, when news of the proposed base first began to leak out. More than two years later, it had finally been called following a vote by the newly-elected city council this past June. Vicenza´s mayor, Achille Variati, had been elected in a runoff vote in April of this year on a platform that opposed the base and supported a local referendum.
What a week we have all had. I guess for those of us who make it to the
weekend without a single scratch, it will be important to sit quietly in a
corner making plans for the future. Obviously the time for tunnel vision and
full faith in ‘somebody’ at the top having some mercy on us, must be quickly
diffusing into an alternate form of thought. At least that is what I would
hope for, because although the social inclination so far seems to be the
blaming of a few rotten apples, based on my observations, I have no choice
but to accept that the whole apple basket seems to be fairly rotten.
All I have heard on the streets over the last few days are words about the financial crisis. Everyone all of a sudden is concerned about their mortgage, their savings, their retirement, their stocks or more importantly, their jobs. Dismal economic data keeps propping up on every major newspaper and news channel and talk shows are packed with voices talking about the dire straits of this economic Armageddon. Yet, I can’t help ask myself if we are all simply asleep or we are too scared to face the truth.
All I have heard on the streets over the last few days are words about the financial crisis. Everyone all of a sudden is concerned about their mortgage, their savings, their retirement, their stocks or more importantly, their jobs. Dismal economic data keeps propping up on every major newspaper and news channel and talk shows are packed with voices talking about the dire straits of this economic Armageddon. Yet, I can’t help ask myself if we are all simply asleep or we are too scared to face the truth.
The numbers are grim, whether in the West Bank or the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian economy is in one of its most wretched states, and the disaster is mostly, if not entirely manmade, thus reversible.
The World Bank made no secret of the fact that Israeli restrictions are largely to blame, as poverty rates in the Gaza Strip and West Bank have soared to 79.4 per cent and 45.7 per cent respectively. It concluded: "With a growing population and a shrinking economy, real per capita GDP is now 30 per cent below its height in 1999." "With due regard to Israel's security concerns, there is consensus on the paralytic effect of the current physical obstacles placed on the Palestinian economy," it added.
The World Bank made no secret of the fact that Israeli restrictions are largely to blame, as poverty rates in the Gaza Strip and West Bank have soared to 79.4 per cent and 45.7 per cent respectively. It concluded: "With a growing population and a shrinking economy, real per capita GDP is now 30 per cent below its height in 1999." "With due regard to Israel's security concerns, there is consensus on the paralytic effect of the current physical obstacles placed on the Palestinian economy," it added.
Yet more haunting images of blindfolded, stripped down Palestinian men being contemptuously dragged by soldiers in uniform from one place to another. Yet more footage of bloodied men lying on hospital beds describing their ordeals to television reporters who have heard this story all too often. Yet more news of Palestinian infighting, tit-for-tat arrests, obscene language and embarrassing behaviour from those who have elected themselves -- or were elected -- to represent the Palestinian people.
Once again, the important story that ought to matter the most -- that of a continually imposing and violent Israeli occupation -- is lost in favour of Palestinian-infused distractions, deliberate or not.
Once again, the important story that ought to matter the most -- that of a continually imposing and violent Israeli occupation -- is lost in favour of Palestinian-infused distractions, deliberate or not.
BANGKOK, Thailand -- The world's newest international fugitive from arrest is a wealthy, square-faced man with a PhD. in criminal justice from a university in Texas, and a former hand-holding ally of U.S. President George W. Bush.
But Thailand's ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was toppled in a bloodless September 2006 coup, blithely strolled the streets of Surrey, England, shopping with his family this week after dodging Bangkok's supreme court.
Seeing Thaksin and his family in Surrey, prompted a local Web site, getsurrey.co.uk, to stress he "is not the first wanted international leader" to appear in their neighborhood.
"Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet holed-up in a mansion near Egham as he awaited extradition to his home country, to answer human rights abuse charges," it said.
Bangkok's attorney general, meanwhile, was considering a seizure of Thaksin's frozen assets -- worth an estimated two billion U.S. dollars.
Thaksin's enemies suspect he and his wife will apply for asylum in England where he owns Manchester City Football Club.
That could complicate a possible future extradition request.
But Thailand's ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was toppled in a bloodless September 2006 coup, blithely strolled the streets of Surrey, England, shopping with his family this week after dodging Bangkok's supreme court.
Seeing Thaksin and his family in Surrey, prompted a local Web site, getsurrey.co.uk, to stress he "is not the first wanted international leader" to appear in their neighborhood.
"Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet holed-up in a mansion near Egham as he awaited extradition to his home country, to answer human rights abuse charges," it said.
Bangkok's attorney general, meanwhile, was considering a seizure of Thaksin's frozen assets -- worth an estimated two billion U.S. dollars.
Thaksin's enemies suspect he and his wife will apply for asylum in England where he owns Manchester City Football Club.
That could complicate a possible future extradition request.
While eastern Canada suffers unseasonable rains, the west enjoys its average warm/hot summer. In the Middle East however, the heat is rising in the geo-political field.
I noticed an article in the local paper (The Province, Friday, August 15, p. A41) concerning Prime Minister Harper and his claim that Russia is returning to a Soviet-era mentality. That may well be true, but it is only because the Americans adopted their own unilateral, interventionist, first-strike, supreme military "full spectrum dominance" ethos that has proven so disastrous around the world, but specifically in military terms in the Middle East.
I noticed an article in the local paper (The Province, Friday, August 15, p. A41) concerning Prime Minister Harper and his claim that Russia is returning to a Soviet-era mentality. That may well be true, but it is only because the Americans adopted their own unilateral, interventionist, first-strike, supreme military "full spectrum dominance" ethos that has proven so disastrous around the world, but specifically in military terms in the Middle East.
We live in a time when rapid change is the norm. We experience more technological, cultural and political transformation in a decade now, than there was change over centuries in the past. Globalization has put history in a permanent fast forward mode. We will witness significant changes in the next ten years and I hope I can identify the five major drivers of global change.
The challenge of climate change -- global warming - is going to have the biggest impact on the planet. It not only threatens the topography of our planet, but it demands that we systematically alter our lifestyle. As we become more and more aware of the dangers of global warming, we will realize that in order to cope with the challenge, we may have to reorganize on a global scale. Perhaps the Federation made famous by Star Trek programs and movies may yet come to pass, albeit to combat climate change and not some alien threat.
The challenge of climate change -- global warming - is going to have the biggest impact on the planet. It not only threatens the topography of our planet, but it demands that we systematically alter our lifestyle. As we become more and more aware of the dangers of global warming, we will realize that in order to cope with the challenge, we may have to reorganize on a global scale. Perhaps the Federation made famous by Star Trek programs and movies may yet come to pass, albeit to combat climate change and not some alien threat.
The exit of Bush from the White House is already anticipated in the Arab region with sighs of relief. But what is ahead under the next US president; more of the same, regardless of who wins, or change?
True, Obama has promised some degree of withdrawal from Iraq and a level of communication with Iran. But even these promises are ambiguous and can be easily modified to fit political interests and lobby pressures at any time. Any military redeployment in Iraq would, now we are told, be matched with greater military build up in Afghanistan, a sign that the militant mentality that motivated the war hawks in the Bush administration is yet to change; the valuable lesson that bombs don't bring peace, yet to be heeded.
True, Obama has promised some degree of withdrawal from Iraq and a level of communication with Iran. But even these promises are ambiguous and can be easily modified to fit political interests and lobby pressures at any time. Any military redeployment in Iraq would, now we are told, be matched with greater military build up in Afghanistan, a sign that the militant mentality that motivated the war hawks in the Bush administration is yet to change; the valuable lesson that bombs don't bring peace, yet to be heeded.
For some folks interested in genealogy, tracing one's roots is a stimulating activity. It's immensely interesting and meaningful to learn where one's life started. DNA testing has made it possible to trace one's roots back many generations and there are even free web sites that can help users trace their family history based on a few simple clues.
Recent findings in my own personal history have been interesting indeed. The present task of tracing my family roots was inspired by a book project with Pluto Press, narrating the story of my father, as once a fighter from Gaza who died recently under tragic circumstances in the same refugee camp to which he was expelled, along with his family sixty years ago.
Just weeks into my research, I found myself stumbling into the details of a massacre, one that is conveniently overshadowed by the dust of the battle, the rigidity of academic research and the lack of media access of those who have survived.
And now, what started as a mere phase of my father's torn childhood in Palestine has morphed into being the core of my book's narrative.
Recent findings in my own personal history have been interesting indeed. The present task of tracing my family roots was inspired by a book project with Pluto Press, narrating the story of my father, as once a fighter from Gaza who died recently under tragic circumstances in the same refugee camp to which he was expelled, along with his family sixty years ago.
Just weeks into my research, I found myself stumbling into the details of a massacre, one that is conveniently overshadowed by the dust of the battle, the rigidity of academic research and the lack of media access of those who have survived.
And now, what started as a mere phase of my father's torn childhood in Palestine has morphed into being the core of my book's narrative.
Tikkun magazine today announced that Rabbi Michael Lerner has accepted the invitation extended to him by the King of Saudi Arabia to attend an international conference of Muslim, Christian and Jewish religious leaders that will begin Wed. July 16 in Madrid, Spain. The conference seeks to foster interfaith dialogue and mutual understanding.