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 -- President-elect Trump's blistering portrayal of illegal immigrants eating cats and dogs, plus his tough threats of steep tariffs against China, are expected to intimidate Asians hoping to move to the U.S. or profit from Chinese-U.S. trade.
Mr. Trump's victory however may bring some relief for the leaders of three authoritarian, pro-China, Southeast Asian nations -- Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia.
"In his first term, he [Trump] did not exhibit interest in the promotion of democracy or human rights," Kantathi Suphamongkhon, a Thai former foreign minister, said in an interview. "This tendency is expected to continue.
"Governments in Southeast Asia with human rights or democracy issues will feel less or no pressure on this front," Mr. Kantathi said.
Those leaders could expect a much less confrontational Washington responding to their countries' lack of fair elections, free speech, and other human rights which are often highlighted by Democratic administrations.
Asian leaders are also presumably adjusting their diplomatic behavior and style to respond to Mr. Trump's often erratic statements and get past the bluster.
Israeli officials keep repeating that Israel is fighting on multiple fronts. The truth is that Israel chooses to fight on multiple fronts. The two claims are fundamentally different.
Recently, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went as far as saying that his country is fighting on seven different war fronts, all driven by the objective of "defending ourselves against ... barbarism."
On Thursday October 16, 2023, Commander Yahya Sinwar was killed above the ground after a gun battle with the IOF in Rafah. He was found above ground wearing a combat vest loaded with extra magazines, hand grenades, and an AK by his side alongside three of his bodyguards. He was not hiding in a tunnel among civilians or using the hostages as human shields to protect himself as Israel always claimed. And most certainly Sinwar was not dressed up as a woman to avoid detection.
If one is to visit the Mahal website, a pop-up reminder, reading ‘Apply online’, keeps appearing. It is as if the repeated beep is a reminder of the state of emergency, if not outright panic, in the Israeli military.
Mahal is one of several recruiting agencies that aim to entice mercenaries from all around the world to fight Israel’s dirty wars, in Gaza and on all fronts.
BANGKOK, Thailand -- A China-Thailand military air force exercise recently deployed Chinese and Swedish warplanes above this Southeast Asian nation but below their friendly warplanes, Chinese criminals, cheap goods, e-commerce and investment are annoying the close relations between Thailand and China.
Even with Chinese boots in the sky during the Aug. 18 to Aug. 29 Falcon Strike 2024, the U.S. expects its non-NATO treaty alliance with Thailand will remain secure if regional tensions between Washington and Beijing increase.
Bangkok tries for balanced relations with both superpowers, and neutrality when Washington and Beijing sink into confrontations.
For Falcon Strike, "the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has sent some of its main combat aircraft to Thailand," China's Global Times reported.
The joint air force training exercise, seventh in its annual series, is using refurbished U.S.-built Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base as its headquarters.
The U.S. Air Force launched bombing raids from the northeast base in the 1960s and 1970s during the Vietnam War.
With assassination by pagers and electronic devices occurring in Lebanon, the weaponization of things electronic, the world has entered into a sphere of activity where there is no refuge, no safety, no security, and no privacy.
This weaponization, the booby trapping of, the hacking of all things electronic can make phones, laptops, computers, television and radios vulnerable to being blown up.
It affects all modes of communication, transportation, utilities, all local and state law enforcement, all national defense installations, including nuclear sites, the entire infrastructure of modern life. Nothing is protected and nothing is safe. Everything electronic is a weapon.
BANGKOK, Thailand -- Thailand's new Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, 38, is the daughter of a coup-toppled, convicted, former international fugitive and prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, 74, who is perceived as trying to manipulate her new populous, capitalist-friendly coalition government.
"I insist he is not trying to dominate," Prime Minister Paetongtarn ["peh-tong-tarn"] told reporters after parliament elected her on Aug. 16.
"I can think for myself."
If proven in the nine-judge Constitutional Court that Mr. Thaksin is influencing, guiding, or dominating his daughter or their Pheu Thai (For Thais) Party, he could be jailed, the party dissolved, and her government finished.
"Her weakness is being Thaksin's daughter," Rangsit University Political Science lecturer Wanwichit Boonprong said in an interview.
Mr. Thaksin "has many political enemies," Mr. Wanwichit said.
Ms. Paetongtarn has little political experience except witnessing the ugly, treacherous fate of her father and aunt.