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
In his just-released book, 'Disaster Capitalism: Making a Killing out of Catastrophe', http://www.versobooks.com/books/1985-disaster-capitalism Antony Loewenstein offers us a superb description of the diminishing power of national governments and international organisations to exercise power in the modern world as multinational corporations consolidate their control over the political and economic life of the planet.
BANGKOK, Thailand -- Police hoping to boost tourists' confidence
visited one of Bangkok's raunchiest red-light enclaves and described
the security situation to foreign men drinking beer with Thai bar
girls, five nights after a pipe-bomb killed 20 people at a shrine.
Grinning foreigners, clutching chilled bottles of beer while sitting
next to dolled-up Thai women at bars in the Nana Entertainment Zone,
listened with surprise to National Police Chief Somyot Poompunmuang
and his uniformed officers.
The garish, multistory Nana cul-de-sac is popular for its sensational
striptease bars, uninhibited nude lesbian cabaret, campy transsexual
clubs and illicit prostitution.
The August 22 nighttime meet-and-greet was one of several examples of
damage control, including earlier assurances by Thailand's military
regime to international diplomats that their embassies, staff,
commercial interests and citizens would be protected.
Detectives meanwhile appeared on August 22 at apartment buildings in
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remains of victims and wreckage in the streets on August 18, but said
they did not know who detonated a powerful pipe bomb in the heart of
Bangkok crowded with shoppers, tourists and rush-hour commuters.
The blast killed at least 19 people -- including foreigners -- and
injured 123 others but no one immediately claimed responsibility.
Officials began inspecting CCTV evidence of the explosion which set
off a billowing fire when nearby motorcycles ignited.
They will also be scrutinizing personal videos recorded by screaming
pedestrians who fled in all directions and later posted their escapes
online.
Rescuers removed the corpses they had covered with white sheets where
they lay in the intersection, though some said they could retrieve
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The military's powerful Internal Security Operation Command (ISOC) was
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It would be fair to assume that Gershon Baskin’s recent article in the Jerusalem Post - Encountering Peace: Obviously no peace now, so what then? (June 24) – is not a mere intellectual exercise aimed at finding ‘creative’ solutions to the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
Baskin is a regular contributor to the Jerusalem Post, a rightwing newspaper. He is more or less embodied in the Israeli political establishment, otherwise, he would have never been allowed to initiate the “secret back channel for the release (of captured Israeli soldier) Gilad Schalit” as he proudly states in his bio.
BANGKOK, Thailand -- After receiving loud and embarrassing complaints,
the U.S. Embassy has tried to defuse its diplomatic blunder by
publicly apologizing a second time for officially identifying a
prominent Thai as an enemy of one of Thailand's most popular former
prime ministers.
"To err is human! I delivered a properly addressed invite to Dr.
Pramote, apologized for our mistake. #HumblePie," tweeted U.S. Embassy
Charge d'Affaires W. Patrick Murphy on June 23.
https://twitter.com/wpatrickmurphy
The American diplomat also posted a photograph of himself -- dressed
in a dark blue suit with a tiny pin displaying a U.S. flag and a Thai
flag -- handing a white envelope to an unsmiling, gray-haired Pramote
Nakornthab, who is a former Thammasat University professor.
Mr. Murphy was trying to fix his gaffe which appeared during the
weekend when the Embassy mailed an invitation card to Dr. Pramote and
addressed the envelope: "Dr. Pramote Nakornthab, Anti-Thaksin
Activist."
Remember the World Trade Organization, which slipped into the shadows after massive Seattle protests in 1999? The same day last week that Congress initially blocked the possibility of fast track approval for the TPP trade agreement, the House voted to overturn rules requiring country-of-origin labeling for meat. Those supporting the vote said they were responding to a World Trade Organization ruling, judging US country-of-origin labeling unfair competition with meat coming from foreign countries like Canada and Mexico, and therefore a violation. They said they had no choice for fear of triggering sanctions or lawsuits from countries exporting meat across our borders.
When the United States government declared its war on Afghanistan in October 2001, thus taking the first step in its so-called ‘war on terror’, following the devastating attacks of September 11 earlier that year, Iran jumped on board.
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Khatami’s ‘friendly’ gesture towards the anti-terror crusade lead by George W. Bush was not by any means an Iranian departure from a supposed policy of non-intervention in the region. Iran is a country with porous borders, political and strategic interests, serious and legitimate fears, but also unquestionable ambitions.
BANGKOK, Thailand -- Naked foreign tourists publicly cavorting at
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angering local governments, resulting in at least 10 arrests this year
amid concern that exhibitionism at exotic destinations may be a new
fad.
The nudity also purportedly sparked an international spoof tricking
much of the world's media.
Several days ago, Canadian Emil Kaminski created a satirical,
expletive-filled video -- that he now claims tricked the Washington
Post, Canadian and British media -- in which he mocked death threats
he received for convincing nine foreign tourists to strip off their
clothes on Malaysia's Mount Kinabalu.
Imitating the successful format of Comedy Central's Daily Show hosts
John Stewart and John Oliver, 33-year-old Mr. Kaminski created the
caustic YouTube video falsely describing himself as joining nine
people who actually did strip and frolic on Mount Kinabalu, a UNESCO
World Heritage site.
Later on Wednesday, here in Oslo as part of a “Stand Up For Truth” tour, Drake warned at a public forum that “national security” has become “the new state religion.” Meanwhile, his Twitter messages were calling the USA Freedom Act an “itty-bitty step” — and a “stop/restart kabuki shell game” that “starts w/ restarting bulk collection of phone records.”
That downbeat appraisal of the USA Freedom Act should give pause to its celebrants. Drake is a former senior executive of the National Security Agency — and a whistleblower who endured prosecution and faced decades in prison for daring to speak truthfully about NSA activities. He ran afoul of vindictive authorities because he refused to go along with the NSA’s massive surveillance program after 9/11.
BANGKOK, Thailand -- The American Embassy welcomed the arrest of a
Thai army general on charges "related to migrant smuggling, abuses,
trafficking" and other crimes after President Obama and the U.S. State
Department voiced support for Myanmar's victimized Muslim Rohingyas.
When heavy-set Lt. Gen. Manas Kongpan, 58, turned himself in on June
3, police charged him with human trafficking, illegal detention, and
assisting foreigners to illegally enter Thailand.
"After eight hours interrogation at a police station in Songkhla
province last night, police decided to charge him with nine more
offenses, including concealment of dead bodies, physical assault, and
conspiring in a transnational crime, police say," Khaosod's English
news site reported on June 4.
Lt. Gen. Manas, detained without bail on June 4, is the highest
official to be arrested and linked to deadly Asian trafficking
syndicates, sparking optimism that Bangkok's coup-installed military
regime is cracking down on the gangs.
Police arrested more than 51 others on the same 13 charges --