the US Federal Reserve Budget..
Image description: This chart illustrates the federal government’s budget challenges. The budget deficit for fiscal year 2011 was $1.3 trillion. This is the third largest shortfall in the past 40 years.
View a larger version of this image.
Infographic courtesy of the Congressional Budget Office
Equal Marriage Rights - Gay Marriage
Get Up!
Got this from a tumblr I follow… it is an amazing video..
Sign the Petition
http://www.getup.org.au/campaigns/marriage-equality/petition/sign-and-share
In honor of World AIDS Day, we will spend the next 24 hours sharing photos, videos, and quotes from our Volunteers around the world helping to stop the spread of the disease.
Worlds Aids Day - Emma Phippen (the Metro) is right; Ignorance is to blame for the HIV rise…
Since it is World Aids Day (1st December) I thought HIV would be a great topic to write about…
Currently, the situation facing societies is the increase in HIV cases, predicted to rise from 90,000 to 100,000 for 2012 in the UK, of which 26% do not know their status. It is the amalgamation of the existing ignorance, discrimination, stigmas, and limited campaigning which contributes to this augmentation.
Fact is a majority of citizens are unaware of how the virus is transmitted and how to protect themselves. Some people also believe in ridiculous stigmas such as “only gay men can contract the disease; you can catch HIV through sneezing and coughing; you can catch HIV from kissing; you cannot have children if you are HIV positive… etc.” This further leads to issues in discrimination (in communities and in employment), as well as harassment and abuse.
Being a HIV Peer Educator for the British Red Cross, I have heard shocking perspectives from teenagers supporting the segregation and even the death of HIV infected people. This is all due to the factor of being misinformed.
This all boils down to a few factors of Government and independent bodies obligations, as well as responsibilities of HIV positive and HIV negative people:
(a) An increase in the circulation of information (campaigning) about the disease is an imperative because this would provide knowledge in how HIV can be contracted, the difference between HIV and AIDs, the reduction of risk (even after contraction with Post Exposure Prophylaxis [not 100% effective]), the knowledge that HIV positive people can have children who are negative (via drugs, C-sections, and NOT breast feeding), as well as the fact that people living with HIV can live a normal life (with the help of Antiretrovirals, counselling, and continuous check medical check ups on CD4 levels)…this would also contribute in removing stigmas..
(b) An increase in clinics and funding for charities (i.e. Terrance Higgins, NATs, British Red Cross) in order to provide resources for the public to be tested. This although difficult in times of economic turmoil and government spending cuts, is a necessary requirement because if people do not know their statuses then they will have no knowledge of the risk they may be putting themselves and others.
(c) Introducing curricular classes/ modules in schools looking (for 16+), focusing on STDs and STIs to raise awareness and to diminish stigmas and ignorance.
(d) To raise awareness of the responsibilities of HIV positive people (telling sexual partners, using protection); and responsibilities of HIV negative people (including safe sex, awareness and continuous check-ups)
The Metro Newspaper on November 28, 2011 (“Igonorance to blame for HIV rise” by Emma Phippen) covered the current facts and the situation in the UK; where by 7 out of 1000 in Brighton and Hove, and about 5 in every 1000 are HIV positive; 54% of the 6,658 cases (in 2010) were probably exposed through heterosexual contact; and the groups most affected are gay and bisexual men, and black African heterosexuals. In addition the article focused on Lily, a 21 year old student who tested positive in March 2010, and believed she was handed a death sentence. However she proves that you can lead a normal life even if one is HIV positive; after counselling, she began to accept her diagnosis and began to believe she had a future. She is now studying at university, has a very supportive boyfriend, and is planning to have a baby after studying.
This article was extremely note-worthy and it must be said that articles as such are needed continuously in all media formats for they provide facts and promote awareness.
However what is rarely conversed are the issues of non-developed societies such as areas in Africa and South America where HIV is prevalent. In most of these areas, healthcare is scarce, and smaller communities have no knowledge at all of their HIV status, they have no access to medication or protection, and only ‘traditional’ (unacceptable) options in treatment. Communities as such rely on NGOs and International Charities (i.e. Red Cross and MSF) for aid; and their work must be commended and praised.
In short and in conclusion AWARENESS is key in combating the disease; the Department of Health needs to work with organisations for HIV prevention programmes; and increases in overseas aid is necessary.
Zach Wahls - An Absolutely Inspirational Person and Truthful Speech, “..The Sexual Orientation of my parents has had ZERO effect on the content of my character..”
This to the furthest extent proves that discrimination against (a) Same Sex Parents (legal and in communities), as well as (b) the Gay Community as a whole, is highly unacceptable… Equality should be imposed, supported, and protected…
Gender is the only distinction between Heterosexuals and Homosexuals.. Love, Passion, and Family values are indistinguishable…. As Zach says, they should not be seen as second class citizens..
Finally… In the words of Wanda Sykes, “If you don’t believe in Gay Marriage, then don’t marry someone of the same sex….I don’t think same sex couples is the biggest threat to marriage, I think its divorce… What are people afraid of, are you scared that gay marriage will be better than you’re marriage, , ‘Look at those happy ass gays’, you scared your wife will nag you and stuff, ‘Honey Honey, look at Bill and Ted, OMG I love those guys, they sat on that porch for hours and talked’…”
In 2000, MSF teams in Thailand first provided triple antiretroviral (ARV) therapy to people living with HIV/AIDS. A year later, teams in six other countries followed suit. At the time, a consensus held that treating patients with HIV was too expensive—ARV treatment cost around $10,000 per patient per year—too complicated, too time-consuming.
MSF doctors could not countenance simply offering palliative care and watching patients die, however. They resolved to find a way to provide people living with HIV/AIDS access to the same lifesaving medicines available in wealthier countries. Concurrently, MSF and its Access to Essential Medicines Campaign teamed with AIDS activists to advocate for price reductions in HIV/AIDS medications and against trade barriers threatening production of affordable generics.
The impact has been dramatic. By 2010, MSF was treating 160,000 people with HIV/AIDS in 20 countries—at a cost of around $200 per year per patient—and the international community was backing HIV/AIDS treatment programs once thought untenable. By the end of 2010, 6 million people in developing countries were on antiretroviral treatment, the bulk of it funded by the Global Fund to Fight TB, AIDS, and Malaria and the US government’s President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
Some 10 million more people still urgently need treatment, but last year, amid the global financial downturn, numerous governments reneged on funding promises to the Global Fund and PEPFAR flat-lined. European trade barriers threatened production of generics in India, the source of 90 percent of the HIV/AIDS medicines used in MSF programs and 80 percent of all ARVs purchased for developing countries.
The progress of the past decade must be protected. “The World Health Organization now recommends early treatment with newer and more robust drugs,” says Sharonann Lynch, the HIV/AIDS policy advisor at MSF’s Access Campaign. “Treatment can both save lives and dramatically reduce the risk of transmission of HIV. MSF is providing this treatment
even in places where doctors are few and far between, using trained nurses and peer counselors. A successful model exists, and the science is on our side—now the international community needs to step up to the plate.”Photo: © Susan Sandars/MSF
“Young Contracts” - UK Government’s answer to the 1,163,000 (16-24 year olds) who are unemployed…
Nick Clegg… - note how he quickly dismisses answering the question, “Where is the money coming from…?”
Somalia: The Challenges of Bringing Medical Aid
In Mogadishu, about half of the more than one million inhabitants are displaced persons. The camps are overcrowded. Amidst insecurity and a growing health crisis, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is scaling up its medical response.
We’ve outlined the seven deadliest sins of the big banks. Read them here, and then tell us which one you think is the worst.
1. JPMorgan Chase kicks 54 military families out of their homes—despite a law against doing so.
2. Wells Fargo gives bonuses to loan officers to put minority borrowers into high-priced subprime mortgages—internally dubbed “ghetto loans.”
3. Citigroup, Bank of America, and Goldman Sachs all pay huge fines to settle charges they duped their own clients.
4. Goldman Sachs assists in Europe’s economic collapse by helping Greece mask the truth about its finances.
5. JPMorgan turns a blind eye to Bernie Madoff’s deceptions.
6. Bank of America pays $137 million to settle government claims it rigged the municipal-bond market.
7. Despite these and other unpardonable sins, banks showers tens of millions of dollars in bonus money on top executives.
Or tweet using hashtag #TheWorstBank.
America is having a fire sale. Why not sell wealthy foreigners the right to live here, too?
That’s the notion behind a bill introduced last week by Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah and Democrat Senator Charles Schumer of New York: Stoke demand for American homes by allowing foreign nationals…
After heavy fighting erupted on October 20 in Daynille, on the outskirts of Mogadishu, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) was forced to suspend its measles vaccination campaign in the area. The campaign had been scheduled to last three weeks and to reach 35,000 children. Measles is currently wreaking havoc in Somalia, and MSF has vaccinated more than 60,000 people for measles over the past two months. Read more
Photo: Somalia 2011 © Feisal Omar
“Its called the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it”
George Carlin
Dadaab is the largest refugee camp in the world, literally the third largest city in Kenya. In the Starved for Attention film “Why Do We Have To Wait For A Crisis?” photojournalist Lynsey Addario documents the food crisis in Somalia and northeastern Kenya. All children have the same nutritional needs to grow and thrive. It shouldn’t take a war or famine to occur before vulnerable children have access to a healthy diet.
This is one of 195 million stories of malnutrition. Sign the petition and donate your profile to help us rewrite the story.
Photo: © Lynsey Addario/VII
You don’t need to be an economist to see why Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan, which includes a national sales tax on food, is incredibly regressive. All you really have to do is take a gander at this chart.
(via newsweek)
