activism

activism

The Last Valley film screening @ Capitol Theatre (Melbourne)

The screening of the documentary film, The Last Valley will take place at the Capitol Theatre Melbourne, 113 Swanston St (Opposite Melbourne Town Hall) on Tuesday 14th November 2006 from 8pm. This is the only opportunity to see the film prior to the Victorian state election. ABC have yet to announce a screening date.

The film is about the collapse of the East Gippsland logging industry after 50 years of unsustainable logging and the consequences of that for the local communities and environment. The film includes the controversial attempt by the Victorian government to log the iconic Goolengook valley.

http://www.waitawhilefilms.com.au

An Australian History Mural

this is one story of the history of modern Australia told in mural format. it's painted on the side of a freeway at the rear carpark of Toombul Shoppingtown in Brisbane, Australia.

music is "The Block" by Morganics featuring the Wilcannia Mob

MSF plea for new AIDS drugs to be registered and available in Asia

This article is about MSF (Medecins Sans Frontiers aka Doctors Without Borders) claim that American drug manufacturer Abbott Laboratories are allegedly denying patients in Asia access to an improved version of the AIDS drugs lopinavir and ritonavir. These are apparently "important second-line drugs for people who have been on treatement for several years. The new version of the drug has advantages over the old version, including lower pill count, storage without refrigeration, and no dietary restrictions."

[quote]
"According to MSF, high temperatures and regular power failures are making storage and use of the older drug - the only one available - unreliable. And although the UN recently identified India as the country with the highest number of people liviing with HIV/AIDS in the world, the new version of the drug is not for sale."
[/quote]

According to the article, apparently, it's not for sale as it wasn't registered in 'developing countries' and without being registered, it cannot be sold here. The old version of the drug is not even available in China (or the new version) because the drug company has not marketed to this country. Countries such as Thailand which also has high temperatures (30C most of the year) would also benefit from the new version of the drug. The old version of the drug is no longer available to the US market - MSF Thailand rep calls it a "second-best product" and I can understand his point. The drug company IS distributing the new version of the drug in Africa, but it seems that this only happened after a time consuming set of procedures were followed.

I took a look on the MSF website for more info and found a few articles here, here and here but I couldn't find specific information about it's release in India but there was an article about the drugs not being released in Thailand anytime soon so that's bad enough in itself. most of the MSF articles were about African countries. so perhaps India isn't counted as one of the 'developing countries'. still I think if the drugs were not available here and they obviously need to be, then they should be!

Over the last week there have been a couple of articles speaking about AIDS in India - one said that India has the largest population of people outside of Africa infected with HIV/AIDS. I read in one of the Sarai Readers that many people here have not even heard of AIDS so they are trying to educate more people. on the tv the other night was an ad for the Heroes Project in Delhi / India. from their media campaign page :

[quote]
Media Campaign

The Mass Media Campaign seeks to create widespread awareness on HIV/AIDS, promote positive attitudes towards people living with HIV/AIDS, and influence groups to change high risk behavior that make them vulnerable to the infection. It will use a series of public service announcements (PSA), online and print content, television and radio programming as well as several educational events to do this. In order to best address HIV/AIDS through the various mass media, Heroes Project has developed a strategic communications approach to address diverse groups such as sexually active men, married women and youth across all levels of society.

One of the main objectives during the course of the mass media initiative is to expand and coordinate the campaign with a range of media partners. Areas of association and activities within these partnerships include amongst others:

* Pledging airtime/space for release of PSAs, which will be available rights-free to all.
* Developing original programming formats.
* Incorporation of HIV/AIDS storylines into existing programs such as serials, reality shows and documentaries.
* Support for journalist programs and enhanced news and editorial coverage - employee sensitization.
* Orientation workshops for creative content development.

[/quote]

the UN AIDS website released a report - here's a media summary listing some numbers - http://www.unaids.org has the full report and more info.

from http://www.unaids.org/en/Regions_Countries/default.asp

[quote]
Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa has just over 10% of the world’s population, but is home to more than 60% of all people living with HIV—25.8 million.

In 2005, an estimated 3.2 million people in the region became newly infected, while 2.4 million adults and children died of AIDS.
Asia

In 2005, some 8.3 million people were living with HIV in Asia, including 1.1 million people who became newly infected in the past year. AIDS claimed some 520,000 lives in 2005
[/quote]

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update 10/07/2006

ok, I don't feel as bad now about the decision making policy of the Times newspaper editors on what should be front page news. the front page of the Times International this morning had the article "Latest AIDS treatment is a daily pill" and spoke of the new drug being available in India shortly. I don't think it's the same as the one MSF are referring to, but hopefully it'll be of some help to the people here.

A Tear in the Darkness - A Request for Help

Dear Australian Members,

My apologies if this post seems out of place in this forum, but I think this is an important issue for all Australians. We have tried to reach as many people as possible in the short time that we have, and if you should agree with the message below and any of the information that the web links point you to, then we would be honoured to have you help us in this human endeavour.

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EntheoGenisis Australia Conference 2006 - Experimental Shamanic Trance Dance, Sacred Plant and Sound System Workshop

The organizers and speakers at EGA believe that information about psychoactive plants and chemicals should be readily available. Also that only through creating such a space, where we can talk freely on such matters, can methods for harm reduction and the true benefits of such substance be explored. Entheogenesis Australis is a collection of thinkers from all walks of life, we come together to share knowledge about sacred plants, chemical alchemy and states of consciousness. We are coming to tune in to the Mother Earth and take her fight back out into the world. We want to share and explore experiences, trance and dance. it is about growth, for the mind and the land.

This experimental workshop is an invitation to those individuals who are interested in the trance dance experience as providing an opportunity for mind/body/spirit/soul development. EGA 2006 will be a unique opportunity for people who are experienced in the dance floor and consciousness development approach to try something new, different, fun and well focused, that is totally aimed at extending the boundaries of each participants current experiential and knowledge paradigms.

Read more for details or visit http://www.entheo.net

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Combat Wombat

Combat Wombat are an outspoken troupe of hip hop punks mainly located in Melbourne. They've just released their second album "Unsound System". Armed with only samplers, mics and turntables, powered by solar energy and an uncompromising belief in Truth over Spin, these desert nomads are the real deal, creating an album that reflects the frontline activism they have become famous for. Unsound System is a bullet to the dark heart of the Australian psyche.

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Tactical media in Brazil summary mind map

a summary of the Sarai Reader 04 paper called "The Revenge of Lowtech : Autolabs, Telecentros and Tactical Media in Sao Paulo" by Ricardo Rosas.

the freemind mind map tactical_media_in_Brazil.mm is attached - this contains html links or expand / collapse the xhtml version below

http://www.sarai.net/publications/readers/ is the new Sarai Reader link - they've changed their website and all the links have changed

http://www.sarai.net/publications/readers/04-crisis-media/55ricardo.pdf is the new link for the article

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mondo 2000

Finding my old bookmark files has made me nostalgic for the early computing days when everything was new and exciting and full of possibilities. One of my favourite magazines back in the early 90s was Mondo 2000. It was hard to get - only a few places in Brisbane stocked it, actually only two that I recall and even then it was occasional. By the time I got round to subscribing to the magazine it had finished being published and I lost my subscription renewal to the cause so to speak. At the time, it was cutting edge and the full gloss images and interviews with leading thinkers made it a great read. R.U. Sirius who was the editor of the mag has a podcast these days and can be found around mondoglobo.net. Here's a collection of links to mondo 2000 stuff:

mondo articles from the well (link updated : original link broken 25/09/2008 : http://www.well.com:70/1/Publications/MONDO )

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Spunk Library - anarchy, anarchist and alternative materials

The Spunk Library collects and distributes literature in electronic format, with an emphasis on anarchism and related issues. For a more complete description of what Spunk is about you can view the Spunk Manifesto.

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