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
Congressman John Conyers, still in the thick of his hearings on the firing of US Attorneys, is preparing a new target for investigation: Vultures.
We're not talking about the feathered birds of prey, but predators with allies in the White House and Swiss bank vaults full of untraceable currency. These speculators buy up the debt of the poorest nations on the planet for pennies on the dollar -- then use legal extortion or less-than-legal bribery to extract payments from these nations - payments equal to five, ten or twenty times what the vultures "invested."
Conyers has personally informed George Bush that he expects the President to join the other G8 leaders to put the vultures out of business. "I'm counting on the President to do the right thing," Conyers told BBC reporter Greg Palast. But if the President doesn't, Bush can expect another set of investigations and hearings on the Administration's inaction and ties to vultures.
We're not talking about the feathered birds of prey, but predators with allies in the White House and Swiss bank vaults full of untraceable currency. These speculators buy up the debt of the poorest nations on the planet for pennies on the dollar -- then use legal extortion or less-than-legal bribery to extract payments from these nations - payments equal to five, ten or twenty times what the vultures "invested."
Conyers has personally informed George Bush that he expects the President to join the other G8 leaders to put the vultures out of business. "I'm counting on the President to do the right thing," Conyers told BBC reporter Greg Palast. But if the President doesn't, Bush can expect another set of investigations and hearings on the Administration's inaction and ties to vultures.
BANGKOK, Thailand -- He shot 55 men and women in the back, killing them with a burst of bullets aimed at the heart, while each person was tied to a wooden cross.
"I think the system of execution has become more humane, compared with when they hammered nails under people's fingernails, and did other torture, or whiplashed them before they cut their heads off," Chavoret Jaruboon said in an interview.
"Those things are in the past."
Mr. Chavoret, 58, is a Buddhist who describes himself as Thailand's "last executioner."
"Every Buddhist monk would say that killing someone is a sin. But the question is whether you take pleasure in killing that person," Mr. Chavoret said.
"What I have seen is that these prisoners have done bad to others, and they are incarcerated because of their own karma."
After two decades as an executioner, Mr. Chavoret switched jobs three years ago to become head of foreign prisoners' section at Bangkok's dreaded Bang Kwang Central Prison, where he coordinates the detention of Americans, Europeans, Africans and Asians.
"I think the system of execution has become more humane, compared with when they hammered nails under people's fingernails, and did other torture, or whiplashed them before they cut their heads off," Chavoret Jaruboon said in an interview.
"Those things are in the past."
Mr. Chavoret, 58, is a Buddhist who describes himself as Thailand's "last executioner."
"Every Buddhist monk would say that killing someone is a sin. But the question is whether you take pleasure in killing that person," Mr. Chavoret said.
"What I have seen is that these prisoners have done bad to others, and they are incarcerated because of their own karma."
After two decades as an executioner, Mr. Chavoret switched jobs three years ago to become head of foreign prisoners' section at Bangkok's dreaded Bang Kwang Central Prison, where he coordinates the detention of Americans, Europeans, Africans and Asians.
Government of Sudan Bombards North Darfur; Africa Action Urges U.S. Action at the UN Security Council to Deploy UN Peacekeepers
Thursday, May 10, 2007 (Washington, DC) – In the wake of renewed government aerial bombardments in North Darfur, reported yesterday by United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Africa Action today stressed that civilians in Darfur remain acutely vulnerable to violent attacks in this ongoing genocide. The organization further emphasized that the U.S. mission at the UN, during its current presidency of the Security Council, must act to ensure the deployment of a peacekeeping force to Darfur to protect non-combatants from such attacks.
Nii Akuetteh, Executive Director of Africa Action, said today, “The international community, with the U.S. as a key member, keeps saying it will act to end the violence in Darfur. Recent attacks by the Sudanese government clearly illustrate that international action thus far has been insufficient. The U.S. must work now to advance Darfur on the UN Security Council agenda for this month and use this crucial opportunity to make the deployment of peacekeepers a reality.”
Thursday, May 10, 2007 (Washington, DC) – In the wake of renewed government aerial bombardments in North Darfur, reported yesterday by United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Africa Action today stressed that civilians in Darfur remain acutely vulnerable to violent attacks in this ongoing genocide. The organization further emphasized that the U.S. mission at the UN, during its current presidency of the Security Council, must act to ensure the deployment of a peacekeeping force to Darfur to protect non-combatants from such attacks.
Nii Akuetteh, Executive Director of Africa Action, said today, “The international community, with the U.S. as a key member, keeps saying it will act to end the violence in Darfur. Recent attacks by the Sudanese government clearly illustrate that international action thus far has been insufficient. The U.S. must work now to advance Darfur on the UN Security Council agenda for this month and use this crucial opportunity to make the deployment of peacekeepers a reality.”
"I will not tire of declaring that if we really want an effective end to violence we must remove the violence that lies at the root of all violence: structural violence, social injustice, exclusion of citizens from the management of the country, repression. All this is what constitutes the primal cause, from which the rest flows naturally."
---Archbishop Oscar Romero (1917-1980)
Contrary to the perpetual barrage of bovine fecal matter spewed forth by our beloved corporate media whores, terrorism is not an imminent threat to the continued existence of moral, peaceful human beings. Certainly there are groups and individuals who kill innocents in pursuit of demented agendas. However, by and large, those labeled “terrorists” by the Bush administration and their unofficial mouth-pieces at Fox News and similar outlets are people who are simply using "asymmetrical warfare" to resist the ongoing oppression, exploitation and subjugation of an imperialist aggressor.
---Archbishop Oscar Romero (1917-1980)
Contrary to the perpetual barrage of bovine fecal matter spewed forth by our beloved corporate media whores, terrorism is not an imminent threat to the continued existence of moral, peaceful human beings. Certainly there are groups and individuals who kill innocents in pursuit of demented agendas. However, by and large, those labeled “terrorists” by the Bush administration and their unofficial mouth-pieces at Fox News and similar outlets are people who are simply using "asymmetrical warfare" to resist the ongoing oppression, exploitation and subjugation of an imperialist aggressor.
BANGKOK, Thailand -- This Buddhist-majority nation is gripped with suspense over an unsolved, bloody New Year's Eve terrorist attack in Bangkok.
Who planted nine bombs in the capital's streets during public count-down celebrations, killing three people and injuring 30 others in neon-lit darkness?
Consider the clues and characters:
Immediately after synchronized bombs exploded in scattered urban areas during New Year's Eve, Thailand's unelected military regime insisted Islamist insurgents were not involved.
Synchronized bomb attacks in urban areas, however, have been an impressively successful tactic for ethnic Malay-Thai rebels fighting for independence in the south.
Police however pointed at two men, filmed by closed-circuit security cameras, wandering Bangkok's Seacon Square shopping mall while lugging a shopping bag, alongside other customers near one New Year's Eve bomb site.
Grainy, poorly focused video did not reveal much about the suspects.
But two nervous Thai men, Pradya Prichavej and Yutapong Kitisriworapan, soon came forward and publicly announced they were the people in the mall's video.
Who planted nine bombs in the capital's streets during public count-down celebrations, killing three people and injuring 30 others in neon-lit darkness?
Consider the clues and characters:
Immediately after synchronized bombs exploded in scattered urban areas during New Year's Eve, Thailand's unelected military regime insisted Islamist insurgents were not involved.
Synchronized bomb attacks in urban areas, however, have been an impressively successful tactic for ethnic Malay-Thai rebels fighting for independence in the south.
Police however pointed at two men, filmed by closed-circuit security cameras, wandering Bangkok's Seacon Square shopping mall while lugging a shopping bag, alongside other customers near one New Year's Eve bomb site.
Grainy, poorly focused video did not reveal much about the suspects.
But two nervous Thai men, Pradya Prichavej and Yutapong Kitisriworapan, soon came forward and publicly announced they were the people in the mall's video.
BANGKOK, Thailand -- Six months after the military grabbed power in a bloodless coup, Thailand faces a worsening Islamist insurgency, a plunging economy, fears of more Bangkok bomb blasts, and widespread despair.
Washington voiced some displeasure over the September 19 coup, but the Pentagon's "non-NATO ally" is considered a productive partner in the "war on terrorism".
Washington and Bangkok have now "reached an agreement" for Thailand to buy 16 second-hand F-16 jet fighters, for 130 million U.S. dollars, according to F-16.net
"The U.S. Congress endorsed the deal on March 6, while the Thai cabinet is expected to approve the purchase of the 16 used F-16 jets soon," said 16.net's report titled, "Thailand, U.S. Agree on F-16s Deal" posted on March 12.
"An official answer to Washington should be made by mid-March," it added.
This Buddhist-majority Southeast Asian nation was a thriving but flawed democracy under former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
The billionaire ruled with a repressive hand amid massive alleged corruption, while offering popular inexpensive care for the poor.
Washington voiced some displeasure over the September 19 coup, but the Pentagon's "non-NATO ally" is considered a productive partner in the "war on terrorism".
Washington and Bangkok have now "reached an agreement" for Thailand to buy 16 second-hand F-16 jet fighters, for 130 million U.S. dollars, according to F-16.net
"The U.S. Congress endorsed the deal on March 6, while the Thai cabinet is expected to approve the purchase of the 16 used F-16 jets soon," said 16.net's report titled, "Thailand, U.S. Agree on F-16s Deal" posted on March 12.
"An official answer to Washington should be made by mid-March," it added.
This Buddhist-majority Southeast Asian nation was a thriving but flawed democracy under former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
The billionaire ruled with a repressive hand amid massive alleged corruption, while offering popular inexpensive care for the poor.
BANGKOK, Thailand -- Thailand's U.S.-backed
military regime is
warning that Islamist insurgent infiltrators
will try to bomb Bangkok
and escalate their war for independence, which
has killed 2,000 people
in the past three years.
American military forces have boots on the ground in this Southeast Asian "non-NATO ally," and are currently involved in a fresh series of training exercises for Thailand's army, which seized power in a bloodless coup last September.
Bangkok expects America's annual multinational, Thailand-based Cobra Gold military exercise to be held in May. Previous Cobra Golds included anti-terrorist strategies for protecting oil platforms in the Gulf of Thailand and other targets.
America's smaller Exercise Cope Tiger 2007, specializing in air force training, was held in northern Thailand Jan. 29 through Feb. 9, involving 600 U.S. service members, plus 600 from Thailand and Singapore combined, according to the U.S. Air Force.
American military forces have boots on the ground in this Southeast Asian "non-NATO ally," and are currently involved in a fresh series of training exercises for Thailand's army, which seized power in a bloodless coup last September.
Bangkok expects America's annual multinational, Thailand-based Cobra Gold military exercise to be held in May. Previous Cobra Golds included anti-terrorist strategies for protecting oil platforms in the Gulf of Thailand and other targets.
America's smaller Exercise Cope Tiger 2007, specializing in air force training, was held in northern Thailand Jan. 29 through Feb. 9, involving 600 U.S. service members, plus 600 from Thailand and Singapore combined, according to the U.S. Air Force.
Four years ago today, I was in Nablus in the Occupied Territories of Palestine, volunteering with the International Solidarity Movement that supports the nonviolent movement among the Palestinians. I was also supporting my friend Neta Golan, an Israeli woman and one of the founders of ISM, now married to a Palestinian, who was about to give birth. I had spent a strangely idyllic day in a small village outside Nablus, where a group of ISM volunteers had gone because we’d received a report that the Israeli army was harassing villagers. When we got there, the army had left, the cyclamen and blood-red anemones were in bloom underneath ancient olive trees, and the villagers insisted we stay for a barbecue.
We were just passing through the checkpoint on our way back to Nablus when we got a call from Rafah, in the Gaza strip. Rachel Corrie, a young ISM volunteer, had trying to prevent an Israeli bulldozer from demolishing a home near the border. The bulldozer operator saw her, and went forward anyway, crushing her to death.
We were just passing through the checkpoint on our way back to Nablus when we got a call from Rafah, in the Gaza strip. Rachel Corrie, a young ISM volunteer, had trying to prevent an Israeli bulldozer from demolishing a home near the border. The bulldozer operator saw her, and went forward anyway, crushing her to death.
The G8-Summit is to be held in Heiligendamm, Germany from June 6th to June 8th 2007. The high costs for security measurements are bringing the hosting state of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania to the brink of bankruptcy. Massive protests are expected to accompany the summit.
For about thirty years now, the heads of the eight leading industrial nations, France, Great Britain, Italy, Germany, Japan, Canada, Russia and the United States are meeting annually at the so called G8-Summit to discuss economic, as well as global issues, such as terrorism and climate change.
The meetings are informal, thus meaning, no contracts are signed. Instead, declarations of intend are adopted. Yet, the economic and political resolutions passed effect not only summit members, but the rest of the world. Especially the recent discussions on development issues had an impact with disastrous consequences for third world countries.
For about thirty years now, the heads of the eight leading industrial nations, France, Great Britain, Italy, Germany, Japan, Canada, Russia and the United States are meeting annually at the so called G8-Summit to discuss economic, as well as global issues, such as terrorism and climate change.
The meetings are informal, thus meaning, no contracts are signed. Instead, declarations of intend are adopted. Yet, the economic and political resolutions passed effect not only summit members, but the rest of the world. Especially the recent discussions on development issues had an impact with disastrous consequences for third world countries.
I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world….
---Louis Armstrong
In an increasingly frightening and unstable world, there is one nation we know will stand firm and resolute in its commitment to freedom, human rights, democracy and the rule of law. Without the relentless, selfless efforts of the United States, humankind would plunge into a seething cauldron of tyranny, slavery, chaos and endless war. Besides Israel, severely weakened as it is by the constant strain of fending off the barbarian hordes seeking to “wipe it off the map” and Great Britain, incessantly pressured by its Leftist, pacifist neighbors to appease and negotiate, the home of the brave wages its courageous struggle virtually alone.
But fear not. The time draws nigh when an aspiring superpower will stand firmly alongside the United States in its defense of humankind. India, the world’s largest democracy and a haven for the free market economics of Capitalism, is forging a deep alliance with the United States.
I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world….
---Louis Armstrong
In an increasingly frightening and unstable world, there is one nation we know will stand firm and resolute in its commitment to freedom, human rights, democracy and the rule of law. Without the relentless, selfless efforts of the United States, humankind would plunge into a seething cauldron of tyranny, slavery, chaos and endless war. Besides Israel, severely weakened as it is by the constant strain of fending off the barbarian hordes seeking to “wipe it off the map” and Great Britain, incessantly pressured by its Leftist, pacifist neighbors to appease and negotiate, the home of the brave wages its courageous struggle virtually alone.
But fear not. The time draws nigh when an aspiring superpower will stand firmly alongside the United States in its defense of humankind. India, the world’s largest democracy and a haven for the free market economics of Capitalism, is forging a deep alliance with the United States.