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
What would be the consequences of a US or Israeli attack on Iran's
nuclear energy sites?
At the 2006 Perdana Global Peace Forum, Australian medical scientist Dr. Helen Caldicott provided an authoritative analysis of the devastating impact on human life that would result from the radiation release from such an attack.
Dr. Caldicott described the catastrophic deaths that would result from a conventional attack on nuclear facilities and the long-term increase in cancer deaths from the radiation release.
Should the attack be made with nuclear weapons--as some of Bush's criminally insane neoconservative advisers advocate--the populations of many countries would suffer for generations from radioactive particles in air, water, and food chains. Deaths would number in the many millions.
Such an attack justified in the name of "American security" and "American hegemony" would constitute the rawest form of evil the world has ever seen, far surpassing in evil the atrocities of the Nazi and Communist regimes.
At the 2006 Perdana Global Peace Forum, Australian medical scientist Dr. Helen Caldicott provided an authoritative analysis of the devastating impact on human life that would result from the radiation release from such an attack.
Dr. Caldicott described the catastrophic deaths that would result from a conventional attack on nuclear facilities and the long-term increase in cancer deaths from the radiation release.
Should the attack be made with nuclear weapons--as some of Bush's criminally insane neoconservative advisers advocate--the populations of many countries would suffer for generations from radioactive particles in air, water, and food chains. Deaths would number in the many millions.
Such an attack justified in the name of "American security" and "American hegemony" would constitute the rawest form of evil the world has ever seen, far surpassing in evil the atrocities of the Nazi and Communist regimes.
Today, Friday, February 9, 2007 at 11:15AM, four intense detonations shook
several zones of Vieques. The windows in the office of the Committee for
the Rescue and Development of Vieques (CRDV) at the Peace and Justice Camp,
in front of what used to be the entrance to the naval base here, vibrated
as a result of the explosions that frightened tourists at the Sun Bay Public
Beach on Vieques south coast. From high points in the Destino sector, a
large cloud was seen from the explosion that forms part of the Navy’s
“clean up” process.
At the January meeting of the Resotation Advisory Board (RAB) that meets periodically with representatives of government agencies and the company (CHM2Hill) in charge of the clean up, the CRDV and the RAB’s community members unanimously demanded the detonations stop. Despite the demands of the community that for over a year has argued for the cessation of the detonations until an adecuate monitoring system can guarantee that military toxics dispersed into the air from the explosions are not getting to the civilian sector of Vieques.
At the January meeting of the Resotation Advisory Board (RAB) that meets periodically with representatives of government agencies and the company (CHM2Hill) in charge of the clean up, the CRDV and the RAB’s community members unanimously demanded the detonations stop. Despite the demands of the community that for over a year has argued for the cessation of the detonations until an adecuate monitoring system can guarantee that military toxics dispersed into the air from the explosions are not getting to the civilian sector of Vieques.
Analysts both in the Muslim and the Western world by and large agree that “fear” and lack of objective dialogue are the root cause of Islamophobia and Anti-Americanism. And while the debate on which one of the two ignited the other is still ongoing, one fact remains irrefutable: more people were victimized as a result of Islamophobia than the other way around.
A recent public opinion survey conducted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) indicates that Muslims are still viewed negatively in the U.S. There are estimated 7 million Muslims in America and over 50 thousand in Central Ohio alone- the majority being Somalis.
A recent public opinion survey conducted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) indicates that Muslims are still viewed negatively in the U.S. There are estimated 7 million Muslims in America and over 50 thousand in Central Ohio alone- the majority being Somalis.
A new front in the “global war on terror” has emerged with its center in war-torn Somalia. The target of the new front, the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), both brought back normalcy to seemingly untamable southern Somalia and anxiously legislated morality to the point of social suffocation. According to the U.S. State Department, its greatest sin was its purported link to al-Qaida.
The military action to crush these “Islamic extremists” is already underway. Washington-supported Ethiopian troops carried out a preemptive attack against Somalia at the end of December. Ethiopian tanks roared all the way to the capital Mogadishu and then on to Kismayo near the Kenyan border. The invasion proved easier than expected. The comparatively more powerful Ethiopian army teamed up with a militia loyal to the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) to achieve their objective of regime change with an ease ominously reminiscent of the entry into Baghdad of the “coalition of the willing.”
The military action to crush these “Islamic extremists” is already underway. Washington-supported Ethiopian troops carried out a preemptive attack against Somalia at the end of December. Ethiopian tanks roared all the way to the capital Mogadishu and then on to Kismayo near the Kenyan border. The invasion proved easier than expected. The comparatively more powerful Ethiopian army teamed up with a militia loyal to the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) to achieve their objective of regime change with an ease ominously reminiscent of the entry into Baghdad of the “coalition of the willing.”
BROOKLIN, Canada, January 24, 2007 (IPS) - The world is now eating
more food than farmers grow, pushing global grain stocks to their
lowest level in 30 years.
Rising population, water shortages, climate change, and the growing costs of fossil fuel-based fertilisers point to a calamitous shortfall in the world's grain supplies in the near future, according to Canada's National Farmers Union (NFU).
Thirty years ago, the oceans were teeming with fish, but today more people rely on farmers to produce their food than ever before, says Stewart Wells, NFU's president.
In five of the last six years, global population ate significantly more grains than farmers produced.
And with the world's farmers unable to increase food production, policymakers must address the "massive challenges to the ability of humanity to continue to feed its growing numbers", Wells said in a statement.
Rising population, water shortages, climate change, and the growing costs of fossil fuel-based fertilisers point to a calamitous shortfall in the world's grain supplies in the near future, according to Canada's National Farmers Union (NFU).
Thirty years ago, the oceans were teeming with fish, but today more people rely on farmers to produce their food than ever before, says Stewart Wells, NFU's president.
In five of the last six years, global population ate significantly more grains than farmers produced.
And with the world's farmers unable to increase food production, policymakers must address the "massive challenges to the ability of humanity to continue to feed its growing numbers", Wells said in a statement.
The Bush Administration has failed miserably to construct a logical, workable, long-term foreign policy to deal with our national dependence on imported oil. Our trade policies are creating strong deflationary pressure on the US Dollar in world trade. Our lack of government provided national healthcare puts our manufacturers at an extreme disadvantage in competition with foreign manufacturers. Our government has not promoted energy conservation or the systematic promotion of alternative, renewable energy industries. Our national dependence on imported oil is a critical weakness of and threat to American global interests.
Our trade deficits in both manufactured products and energy imports are undermining our currency and our national security. If oil producers completely abandon trade in American dollars, our energy import costs could explode in dollar terms. Our nation would likely suffer runaway inflation, energy shortages and a sharp drop in economic output. Unemployment will soar. Our national debt and trade deficits would rise rapidly.
Our trade deficits in both manufactured products and energy imports are undermining our currency and our national security. If oil producers completely abandon trade in American dollars, our energy import costs could explode in dollar terms. Our nation would likely suffer runaway inflation, energy shortages and a sharp drop in economic output. Unemployment will soar. Our national debt and trade deficits would rise rapidly.
Delegates include mother of current prisoner, former Guantanamo
detainee, and high-level US peace activists
On January 9-13, a first-ever international delegation of former prisoners, families of current prisoners, US lawyers and human rights activists will travel to Guantanamo, Cuba to hold a conference on prison abuses and march to the Cuban-side security gate of the US Naval Base to call for the closure of the illegal prison. The protest in Cuba is part of the January 11 International Day to Shut Down Guantanamo, the day that marks the 5-year anniversary of the first prisoners being sent to Guantanamo.
"I am traveling all the way from Dubai because by heart is overflowing with grief over the abuse and ongoing detention of my son," says Zohra Zewawi, who claims her son has been tortured and blinded in one eye during his detention, and has never been charged or tried. Her son was imprisoned in September 2002 and is still a prisoner in Guantanamo. Asif Iqbal, a former detainee who was freed on no charges after years of abuse, is coming to show his support for the basic rights of detainees.
On January 9-13, a first-ever international delegation of former prisoners, families of current prisoners, US lawyers and human rights activists will travel to Guantanamo, Cuba to hold a conference on prison abuses and march to the Cuban-side security gate of the US Naval Base to call for the closure of the illegal prison. The protest in Cuba is part of the January 11 International Day to Shut Down Guantanamo, the day that marks the 5-year anniversary of the first prisoners being sent to Guantanamo.
"I am traveling all the way from Dubai because by heart is overflowing with grief over the abuse and ongoing detention of my son," says Zohra Zewawi, who claims her son has been tortured and blinded in one eye during his detention, and has never been charged or tried. Her son was imprisoned in September 2002 and is still a prisoner in Guantanamo. Asif Iqbal, a former detainee who was freed on no charges after years of abuse, is coming to show his support for the basic rights of detainees.
NEW YORK (December 29, 2006) – The Rainbow PUSH Coalition’s Wall Street Project celebrates its 10th anniversary as a force for economic justice and equal opportunity with a gala reception from 7 to 10 p.m. Wednesday, January 10, at the United Nations Headquarters, First Avenue at 46th Street, New York City.
The reception brings to a close the 10th Annual Rainbow PUSH Wall Street Project Economic Summit, to be held Jan. 7-10, 2007, at the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers, 811 7th Ave. at 53rd Street in midtown Manhattan. For more information regarding the economic summit go to www.wallstreetproject.org.
“When we originated the Wall Street Project a decade ago, our goal was to bring Wall Street to Main Street, broadening economic opportunities nationwide,” said Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr., founder and President of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. “Today, the dominant force in business is globalization, and the Wall Street Project, accordingly, is expanding its scope to highlight the worldwide need for access to economic opportunity.”
The reception brings to a close the 10th Annual Rainbow PUSH Wall Street Project Economic Summit, to be held Jan. 7-10, 2007, at the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers, 811 7th Ave. at 53rd Street in midtown Manhattan. For more information regarding the economic summit go to www.wallstreetproject.org.
“When we originated the Wall Street Project a decade ago, our goal was to bring Wall Street to Main Street, broadening economic opportunities nationwide,” said Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr., founder and President of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. “Today, the dominant force in business is globalization, and the Wall Street Project, accordingly, is expanding its scope to highlight the worldwide need for access to economic opportunity.”
BANGKOK, Thailand -- After staging a bloodless, right-wing coup to expand their political and economic control, Thailand's U.S.-trained military has been unable to crush Muslim guerrillas in the south, resulting in hundreds of Buddhists fleeing in fear.
In one of the world's worst Islamist insurgencies outside of Iraq, Thailand's southern separatists are using the strategy of Afghanistan's Taliban who torch government schools, and the horrific tactic of Baghdad's beheadings -- resulting in dozens of burnt schools and more than 25 decapitated victims since 2004.
Enjoying small but spectacular victories on almost a daily basis, southern Islamist guerrillas have kept their leaders, and organizations, anonymous to avoid arrest.
"This land must be separated between Muslims and the non-believers. This land must be liberated, and an Islamic system must be its foundation," warned a leaflet distributed in the south, which the military showed reporters.
"This is a land of war that is no different from Palestine and Afghanistan," it said, tightening a demand for a separate homeland.
In one of the world's worst Islamist insurgencies outside of Iraq, Thailand's southern separatists are using the strategy of Afghanistan's Taliban who torch government schools, and the horrific tactic of Baghdad's beheadings -- resulting in dozens of burnt schools and more than 25 decapitated victims since 2004.
Enjoying small but spectacular victories on almost a daily basis, southern Islamist guerrillas have kept their leaders, and organizations, anonymous to avoid arrest.
"This land must be separated between Muslims and the non-believers. This land must be liberated, and an Islamic system must be its foundation," warned a leaflet distributed in the south, which the military showed reporters.
"This is a land of war that is no different from Palestine and Afghanistan," it said, tightening a demand for a separate homeland.
Chile’s former military dictator General Augusto Pinochet died today at the age of 91.
Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother, Tinker Bell and General Augusto Pinochet had much in common.
All three performed magical good deeds. In the case of Pinochet, he was universally credited with the Miracle of Chile, the wildly successful experiment in free markets, privatization, de-regulation and union-free economic expansion whose laissez-faire seeds spread from Valparaiso to Virginia.
But Cinderella’s pumpkin did not really turn into a coach. The Miracle of Chile, too, was just another fairy tale. The claim that General Pinochet begat an economic powerhouse was one of those utterances whose truth rested entirely on its repetition.
Chile could boast some economic success. But that was the work of Salvador Allende - who saved his nation, miraculously, a decade after his death.
In 1973, the year General Pinochet brutally seized the government, Chile’s unemployment rate was 4.3%. In 1983, after ten years of free-market modernization, unemployment reached 22%. Real wages declined by 40% under military rule.
Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother, Tinker Bell and General Augusto Pinochet had much in common.
All three performed magical good deeds. In the case of Pinochet, he was universally credited with the Miracle of Chile, the wildly successful experiment in free markets, privatization, de-regulation and union-free economic expansion whose laissez-faire seeds spread from Valparaiso to Virginia.
But Cinderella’s pumpkin did not really turn into a coach. The Miracle of Chile, too, was just another fairy tale. The claim that General Pinochet begat an economic powerhouse was one of those utterances whose truth rested entirely on its repetition.
Chile could boast some economic success. But that was the work of Salvador Allende - who saved his nation, miraculously, a decade after his death.
In 1973, the year General Pinochet brutally seized the government, Chile’s unemployment rate was 4.3%. In 1983, after ten years of free-market modernization, unemployment reached 22%. Real wages declined by 40% under military rule.