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
The travails of Mordechai Vanunu continue.
Last week, the Israeli government indicted the former nuclear technician on 22 counts of violating restrictions it had imposed upon him last April. A hearing date has not yet been announced.
During the past year Vanunu has openly defied the Israeli authorities. Indeed, on the very day, last spring, when he completed his 18 year sentence for treason, Vanunu walked out of Ashkelon prison to the cheers of his supporters and immediately violated the government’s restrictions by issuing a press statement on the nuclear issue.
Who would have guessed that this brave man would not only survive 18 years in a 6X9 foot windowless cell, eleven and a half of them in solitary confinement, not to mention near-continuous harassment by his handlers, but would emerge unbowed and unbroken, as plucky as ever? Vanunu’s resiliency is amazing.
Last week, the Israeli government indicted the former nuclear technician on 22 counts of violating restrictions it had imposed upon him last April. A hearing date has not yet been announced.
During the past year Vanunu has openly defied the Israeli authorities. Indeed, on the very day, last spring, when he completed his 18 year sentence for treason, Vanunu walked out of Ashkelon prison to the cheers of his supporters and immediately violated the government’s restrictions by issuing a press statement on the nuclear issue.
Who would have guessed that this brave man would not only survive 18 years in a 6X9 foot windowless cell, eleven and a half of them in solitary confinement, not to mention near-continuous harassment by his handlers, but would emerge unbowed and unbroken, as plucky as ever? Vanunu’s resiliency is amazing.
In an ever-changing world, as gender roles are constantly being redefined and refuted, it is paramount that we look at the impact of women in the context of a global society.
Gillian Martin Sorensen, Senior Advisor at the United Nations Foundation, is in a position to do just this. She is a member of the Women’s Foreign Policy Group and a national advocate on matters related to the UN and the UN-U.S. relationship. Her words are a testament to her devotion: “The health, educational rights, and opportunity for women and girls, has been a key component of the work of the UN for sixty years—not only for the free and developed nations of the world, but for the poor and underdeveloped nations as well.”
At her lecture entitled “The International State of Women,” Ms. Sorensen will offer her perspective on how the UN can continue this mission. The event will be held on April 14th from noon to 1:15pm at the Athletic Club of Columbus.
This address is part of the Columbus Council on World Affairs Women’s Series and is hosted in partnership with the United Nations Association Columbus Chapter.
Gillian Martin Sorensen, Senior Advisor at the United Nations Foundation, is in a position to do just this. She is a member of the Women’s Foreign Policy Group and a national advocate on matters related to the UN and the UN-U.S. relationship. Her words are a testament to her devotion: “The health, educational rights, and opportunity for women and girls, has been a key component of the work of the UN for sixty years—not only for the free and developed nations of the world, but for the poor and underdeveloped nations as well.”
At her lecture entitled “The International State of Women,” Ms. Sorensen will offer her perspective on how the UN can continue this mission. The event will be held on April 14th from noon to 1:15pm at the Athletic Club of Columbus.
This address is part of the Columbus Council on World Affairs Women’s Series and is hosted in partnership with the United Nations Association Columbus Chapter.
It is amazing how little was said in US mainstream media about the decision by Israel's supreme court recognizing some non-Orthodox conversion to Judaism. Israeli and European papers debated this issue clearly revealing that Israel is the only country in the world that recognizes members of a particular religion as nationals of the state entitled to automatic citizenship regardless of where they live and what their current citizenship happens to be (or even if they want such "right").
Despite a concerted propaganda campaign with billions spent, most Jews chose to live outside Israel and most are non-Zionist or even anti-Zionist. Zionists thus made sure on many occasions that persecuted Jews have only one place to migrate (e.g. by pressuring the US Congress and the German government not to increase Soviet Jewish migration to the West but to insist on migration to Israel).
Despite a concerted propaganda campaign with billions spent, most Jews chose to live outside Israel and most are non-Zionist or even anti-Zionist. Zionists thus made sure on many occasions that persecuted Jews have only one place to migrate (e.g. by pressuring the US Congress and the German government not to increase Soviet Jewish migration to the West but to insist on migration to Israel).
It has been 11 years since the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) marched down from the highlands and into the international spotlight. Overrunning the Mexican military, the EZLN seized control of four highland towns in Chiapas. The Zapatistas declared the passage of NAFTA a “death sentence” and after years of preparation rose up in armed rebellion. They stated that they fought for Tierra, Libertad, y Justicia (Land, Liberty, and Justice). They claimed that they did not seek power, but wanted to create a political space for all to participate in the remaking of society. I recently had the honor to travel throughout Chiapas as part of a Fair Trade coffee tour. I saw the struggle for human dignity and the way the Zapatista movement and fair trade coffee cooperatives have empowered the indigenous communities.
On March 8 women in all corners of the world will join together to observe International Women's Day (IWD). A national holiday in some countries, IWD has become a day to celebrate women's achievements and to focus on the many problems that women face today. Indeed, the pandemic of threats to the welfare and livelihood of women in today's world is truly horrific.
Intimate Violence
Intimate Violence
Last year, Parade Magazine reported The 10 Worst Living Dictators (David Wallechinsky, The 10 Worst Living Dictators, Parade). A new assessment was made for 2004. To compile this year's list, at least one more prominent Dictator can be added without a doubt. Consulting independent human-rights organizations willing to expose both left- and right-wing regimes, including Freedom House, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Reporters Without Borders using a standard set of criteria. But the "Bloggers" have overwhelmingly made an addition fro dictator number! For the new list, G. W. Bush, President and Thief of the United States of America!! Bolggers have the mission to provide some good Journalism and save our America!!
The northern North Americans in Canada are taking another cautious step for drug policy reform. NAOMI, the North American Opiate Maintenance Project, will shortly begin providing maintenance doses of heroin to addicts in Vancouver, moving later in the year to Toronto and Montreal as well. Drug warriors in the US and Canada alike are likely to characterize the project as reckless or wrongheaded. In reality it is a cautious first step only, but an urgently needed one.
In Vancouver's Downtown East Side, where many of the city's hard drug users congregate, the addicted each day face unnecessary levels of risk from overdose, spread of infectious diseases such as Hepatitis or HIV, marginalization from society and the health system, a wearing and time consuming search for money to pay for expensive street drugs, general destabilization of their lives, and all the obstacles to survival, recovery or prosperity these conditions present.
In Vancouver's Downtown East Side, where many of the city's hard drug users congregate, the addicted each day face unnecessary levels of risk from overdose, spread of infectious diseases such as Hepatitis or HIV, marginalization from society and the health system, a wearing and time consuming search for money to pay for expensive street drugs, general destabilization of their lives, and all the obstacles to survival, recovery or prosperity these conditions present.
Hard-core heroin users began lining up this week in Vancouver to participate in a pioneering study where researchers will provide them with free heroin. The study, known as the North American Opiate Maintenance Project (NAOMI), won final approval Monday from Health Canada. Moving quickly, researchers this week began the process of selecting 158 participants, 88 who will receive free heroin and 70 -- the control group -- who will get methadone.
The NAOMI project is slated to expand to Toronto and Montreal later this year. In all, some 450 heroin users will participate in the one-year pilot project. At the end of the study period, the doses of heroin will tail off. The study is designed to see whether heroin is more effective than methadone in getting users who have proven resistant to other therapies to quit using. It will also examine whether providing free heroin will lead to decreases in criminality and homelessness among participants.
The NAOMI project is slated to expand to Toronto and Montreal later this year. In all, some 450 heroin users will participate in the one-year pilot project. At the end of the study period, the doses of heroin will tail off. The study is designed to see whether heroin is more effective than methadone in getting users who have proven resistant to other therapies to quit using. It will also examine whether providing free heroin will lead to decreases in criminality and homelessness among participants.
Was it Colonel Klink or Captain Schultz who said "I know NUTHINK!"?
Neither. On Sunday’s Meet the Press, when asked if there were a goal or timetable for an exit strategy for Iraq, Donald Rumsfeld hid under the shadows of the "unknowable" and said that there are just some things we can't know. Well, Ted Kennedy disagrees. You know what you plan and intend to execute. You can have a reasoned best estimate of the likelihood of people getting on planes that you deploy to leave. Ted Kennedy understands that if your goal is to truly leave the Iraqi government and self defense to the Iraqis then you plan an exit strategy and you execute it with all due diligence. You train adequate numbers of troops, and you leave them at it.
This might be a bit too much "tough love" in approach for Rumsfeld, but it has to happen. No one is fooled when he says that he can't know when it will happen.
Neither. On Sunday’s Meet the Press, when asked if there were a goal or timetable for an exit strategy for Iraq, Donald Rumsfeld hid under the shadows of the "unknowable" and said that there are just some things we can't know. Well, Ted Kennedy disagrees. You know what you plan and intend to execute. You can have a reasoned best estimate of the likelihood of people getting on planes that you deploy to leave. Ted Kennedy understands that if your goal is to truly leave the Iraqi government and self defense to the Iraqis then you plan an exit strategy and you execute it with all due diligence. You train adequate numbers of troops, and you leave them at it.
This might be a bit too much "tough love" in approach for Rumsfeld, but it has to happen. No one is fooled when he says that he can't know when it will happen.
The forces of empire are encountering stiff public resistance at home and abroad. Here are glimpses:
- The Israeli army executed 6 Palestinians in Tulkarem on Sunday (including two teenagers). Another Israeli sodier at a checkpoint beat a Palestinian student, slammed his head on the ground and then shot at him with a rifle causing moderate injuries (according to Israeli sources).
+ Thousands of Lebanese and Palestinians attended a gathering to commemorate the 23 July 1952 revolution in Egypt that ushered in modern Arab nationalism. Speakers emphasized the importance of unity of Arabic and Islamic people and countries in the face of US imperial interests in the Middle East. They also emphasized their solidarity with the resistance to occupation in Iraq and Palestine. Palestinians in the ooccupied areas continue to put their own fragile bodies in front of the US supplied war machine intent on keeping refugees away, enclosing others in ghettos, and confiscating the remainder of their lands and livelihoods. See stopthewall.org
- The Israeli army executed 6 Palestinians in Tulkarem on Sunday (including two teenagers). Another Israeli sodier at a checkpoint beat a Palestinian student, slammed his head on the ground and then shot at him with a rifle causing moderate injuries (according to Israeli sources).
+ Thousands of Lebanese and Palestinians attended a gathering to commemorate the 23 July 1952 revolution in Egypt that ushered in modern Arab nationalism. Speakers emphasized the importance of unity of Arabic and Islamic people and countries in the face of US imperial interests in the Middle East. They also emphasized their solidarity with the resistance to occupation in Iraq and Palestine. Palestinians in the ooccupied areas continue to put their own fragile bodies in front of the US supplied war machine intent on keeping refugees away, enclosing others in ghettos, and confiscating the remainder of their lands and livelihoods. See stopthewall.org