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
BANGKOK, Thailand -- Wounded and terrified survivors waited for help on Tuesday, picking through flimsy bamboo, thatch and wooden wreckage in villages flattened by Cyclone Nargis, which Burma's military regime said killed more than 22,000 people on the exposed Irrawaddy River delta.
International and local relief agencies, medical teams, food convoys and clearance teams grappled with paperwork, debris-covered roads, swollen rivers and a lack of telecommunications, unable to reach most victims along Burma's worst-hit southern coast.
Punishing winds and horizontal sheets of rain, lifted from the warm Bay of Bengal, caused death and destruction in a diagonal path across the delta after hitting the coast at noon on Saturday and shoving northeast past Bogalay town toward the port of Rangoon 12 hours later.
The weakening storm has since crept further northeast across mountainous terrain on the Burma-Thailand border, but survivors stuck on the delta are now in danger of disease, hunger and neglect.
International and local relief agencies, medical teams, food convoys and clearance teams grappled with paperwork, debris-covered roads, swollen rivers and a lack of telecommunications, unable to reach most victims along Burma's worst-hit southern coast.
Punishing winds and horizontal sheets of rain, lifted from the warm Bay of Bengal, caused death and destruction in a diagonal path across the delta after hitting the coast at noon on Saturday and shoving northeast past Bogalay town toward the port of Rangoon 12 hours later.
The weakening storm has since crept further northeast across mountainous terrain on the Burma-Thailand border, but survivors stuck on the delta are now in danger of disease, hunger and neglect.
Rosalynn, Jeff, and I arrived in Israel Sunday, 4/13/08, after a very exciting and successful election monitoring mission in Nepal (see prior trip report). Since Israel had declined to approve a previously planned visit by three of us Elders (Kofi Annan, Mary Robinson, and me), I expected a similar negative reaction when I substituted this trip on behalf of The Carter Center. Sure enough, all my requests to meet with ministers of the government were publicly rejected and, more seriously, three requests from our Secret Service detail to work with Israeli security were rejected. This was our first experience of this kind in more than 125 foreign nations we've visited since leaving the White House. (After several news stories on this subject, when we returned to Israel, Shin Bet security met us at the airport and worked with us.)
Just when it seemed things could get no worse on the Italian political landscape following the first round of elections, run-off elections this past Sunday and Monday proved the contrary. But the northern city of Vicenza, home to a vibrant citizens’ movement against a second US military base in their city, proved to be the silver lining.
Round One
In the mid-April elections that came after the collapse last January of the center-left government led by Romano Prodi, the center-right coalition led by media magnate, billionaire and staunch Bush ally Silvio Berlusconi not only beat out former Rome Mayor and leader of the newly formed Democratic Party, Walter Veltroni, but also with a very comfortable 9-point lead.
Round One
In the mid-April elections that came after the collapse last January of the center-left government led by Romano Prodi, the center-right coalition led by media magnate, billionaire and staunch Bush ally Silvio Berlusconi not only beat out former Rome Mayor and leader of the newly formed Democratic Party, Walter Veltroni, but also with a very comfortable 9-point lead.
New York -- The National Lawyers Guild calls on Israel to permit Richard Falk, an eminent and widely-respected law professor and scholar, to enter Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories it seized forty years ago and has held illegally ever since. Professor Falk was recently appointed as the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Israel has barred entry to Professor Falk, claiming he cannot be fair because of his prior condemnation of persistent and pervasive human rights violations carried out by Israel in the Occupied Territories. In fact, Professor Falk made no claims any different from those made by John Dugard, the man he was to replace, in several reports on conditions in the Occupied Territories.
BANGKOK, Thailand -- The U.S. Air Force wanted to use "nuclear weapons" against Vietnam in 1959 and 1968, and Laos in 1961, to obliterate communist guerrillas, according to newly declassified secret U.S. Air Force documents.
In 1959, U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Thomas D. White chose several targets in northern Vietnam, but other military officials blocked his demand to nuke the Southeast Asian nation.
"White wanted to cripple the insurgents and their supply lines by attacking selected targets in North Vietnam, either with conventional or nuclear weapons," one declassified Air Force document said.
"Although White's paper called for giving the North Vietnamese a pre-attack warning, the other chiefs tabled it, possibly due to the inclusion of nuclear weapons. Seven months later, the proposal was withdrawn," it said.
The 400-page document, titled, "The United States Air Force in Southeast Asia: The War in Northern Laos 1954-1973," was written in 1993 by the Center for Air Force History in Washington and "classified by multiple sources."
In 1959, U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Thomas D. White chose several targets in northern Vietnam, but other military officials blocked his demand to nuke the Southeast Asian nation.
"White wanted to cripple the insurgents and their supply lines by attacking selected targets in North Vietnam, either with conventional or nuclear weapons," one declassified Air Force document said.
"Although White's paper called for giving the North Vietnamese a pre-attack warning, the other chiefs tabled it, possibly due to the inclusion of nuclear weapons. Seven months later, the proposal was withdrawn," it said.
The 400-page document, titled, "The United States Air Force in Southeast Asia: The War in Northern Laos 1954-1973," was written in 1993 by the Center for Air Force History in Washington and "classified by multiple sources."
When trying to understand the geopolitical reality of Spain, one must never
forget the two military bases the United States actively maintains in the
country. One of which currently serves as the main transit point between the
United States, Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2004, following a large-scale
terrorist attack in the country’s capital, attributed to Islamic terrorists,
Spanish voters swept the ballot boxes and demanded a new foreign policy. For
a brief moment during the after shock of destruction at home, the Spanish
population rose to a leading role in the resistance against illegal wars and
occupations. Soon after, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero became Prime Minister
and Spain’s troops were removed from Iraq, silencing angry Spaniards.
What happened to the Flower Power of the 70’s? Did we use it all up? Drain our reserves already? Or have we given up on our ability to make a difference? And while burning bras and free love may have not done a lot toward ending the war, at least large groups of people were getting together and believing that they could make a difference. What happened to that drive in America to do the right thing, and not just when election time, or some national disaster, rolls around? I think it’s quite simple. We have lost our faith in our leaders and their desire to listen and respond to our needs. Oh, and we now have “better things” to do.
DAYTON, OHIO -- Local activists and citizens gathered at the Pearl Nightclub in downtown Dayton Thursday, March 6, to raise funds for Dayton for Darfur. Dayton for Darfur comprises dozens of members working to raise awareness about the genocide in Darfur and to lobby policy-makers and world leaders to stop the killing and enact a lasting peace agreement guaranteeing civilians’ security and human rights.
On 17 February 2008 in South-eastern Europe, the Serbian Southern province of Kosovo declared independence from Republic of Serbia, and self proclaimed new Republic of Kosovo. New proclaimed Republic of Kosovo was later recognized by few sovereign states, but not by the UN. Involvement of the world's two (the EU and the US) out of five superpowers in this event can be explained through experimental theory and as a secret plan of the European Union and the United States.
Experimental theory: Kosovo, an Ultimate Testing Ground of Giants
Things have changed in the international system, now we have new superpowers, superpowers that do not look like anything we saw before. Today, superpowers, states with leading positions in the international system and ability to influence events and project power on worldwide scales are: the European Union, the United States, Russia, China and India. These superpowers sometimes need a testing ground to show their superiority over others. These days that testing ground is Kosovo.
The European Union
Experimental theory: Kosovo, an Ultimate Testing Ground of Giants
Things have changed in the international system, now we have new superpowers, superpowers that do not look like anything we saw before. Today, superpowers, states with leading positions in the international system and ability to influence events and project power on worldwide scales are: the European Union, the United States, Russia, China and India. These superpowers sometimes need a testing ground to show their superiority over others. These days that testing ground is Kosovo.
The European Union
KATHMANDU, Nepal -- When this nation's capital is cut off from electricity, survival becomes a surreal mix of medieval streets lit by candles, people stimulated as if in a Pavlov experiment, and concern that climate change and poverty may doom Kathmandu.
If it's Monday, and you are living in Kathmandu's trendy, tourist-packed Thamel neighborhood, take your hot shower and go online before 9 a.m., because this prosperous section of town will not get electricity again until 1 p.m.
Also plan for a blacked-out dinner on Monday evenings, when Thamel's electric supply stops again from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
The next day, stagger your electric needs differently, because on Tuesdays, Thamel's supply stops from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and from 8 p.m. to midnight.
Kathmandu's electric "load shedding" schedule changes daily, while rotating throughout the city, making it impossible to do the same things at the same time each day, even in the same neighborhood.
If it's Monday, and you are living in Kathmandu's trendy, tourist-packed Thamel neighborhood, take your hot shower and go online before 9 a.m., because this prosperous section of town will not get electricity again until 1 p.m.
Also plan for a blacked-out dinner on Monday evenings, when Thamel's electric supply stops again from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
The next day, stagger your electric needs differently, because on Tuesdays, Thamel's supply stops from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and from 8 p.m. to midnight.
Kathmandu's electric "load shedding" schedule changes daily, while rotating throughout the city, making it impossible to do the same things at the same time each day, even in the same neighborhood.