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Saturday, March 06, 2004
Saturday, March 6, 2004
I don't usually post news articles, but this one is too compelling not to. It is an edited excerpt of the press briefing given by Stephen Lewis, U.N. special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, in New York on Wednesday:
"I've asked for this press briefing in order to sound an alarm. It's an alarm relating to the World Health Organization's plan, with the support of UNAIDS, to put 3 million people into anti-retroviral treatment by 2005.
The '3 by 5' initiative, as it is called is, in my view, one of the most important initiatives that has emerged from the United Nations in the life of the pandemic. We're dealing with a new World Health Organization, under new leadership, and as a hallmark of that new leadership, they have launched this Herculean effort to confront and subdue HIV/AIDS; to introduce hope where there was only despair.
It's an extraordinary undertaking, suffused by courage and commitment. It deserves the unqualified support of the international community. Millions of lives are at stake. Astonishingly, that support is not forthcoming.
The World Health Organization needs $200 million, over 2004 and 2005, to put 3 by 5 in place. So far, donor governments have been unwilling to contribute the money. WHO must have the money to train 100,000 people, to marshal the groups of experts to provide technical assistance, to establish the logistical supply lines, to improve and upgrade every aspect of the health systems infrastructure. Without the money, 3 by 5 will be a pipe dream.
How is it possible that the resources for WHO can't be mobilized? Thus far, only the United Kingdom, Spain and Sweden have indicated a willingness to consider some relatively modest sums. We shall wait and see. This is the best chance we've had in more than 20 years to turn the pandemic around. To be sure, the challenge is huge. But it can be done. It simply requires a single-minded exercise of political will, the kind of political will that reverses the moral paralysis of the last 20 years.
One by one, the 30 countries of the OECD have to cough up the money. No one is exempt. The millennium development goals are being held hostage by AIDS, entire societies are staring into the abyss, 20 million people are already dead, 3 million people are begging for the right to cling to life, another 3 million are behind them, and millions more after that, and we can't raise one-tenth of 1 per cent of what we're spending on war and reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan, to break the back of the pandemic.
How do we explain it to the generations of the future? If 3 by 5 fails, as it surely will without the dollars, then there are no excuses left, no rationalizations to hide behind, no murky slanders to justify indifference. There will only be the mass graves of the betrayed."
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This kind of news makes me want to drop everything I am doing and live the rest of my life in protest. It's the kind of thing that makes me want to pack up and walk across the United States of America to get people to listen, to awaken the dormant conscience of a nation that calls itself Christian. I've done crazier things in my life. Who's with me?
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Friday, March 05, 2004
Friday, March 5, 2004
Go see "Miracle." I've seen it twice. It will restore in you the truth that you are capable of anything that you and God come up with for yourself - that natural talent is over-rated - that destiny is a real thing - that there is a place for you in this world and that your dreams can come true. It will bring to life for you another basic truth - that a band of dedicated misfits can conquer the most overwhelming odds if they will believe in themselves, in one another, and in their cause. And it will help you remember not to listen to the experts. There's a reason they are called ex - perts. They used to be pertinent, but not anymore.
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Thursday, March 4, 2004
Gay and lesbian people have to come up with arguments in our heads on why we should be able to marry, why we should be able to have children, and why people shouldn't be able to fire us. And the arguments we come up with had better be persuasive, because if they're not, we don't have a chance at any of these things. No other human beings live with that pressure. I for one am sick and tired of having to figure out what the most persuasive argument is to justify my human existence.
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Wednesday, March 03, 2004
Wednesday, March 3, 2004
On this day when Disney's so much in the news, it's important to remember that that entire global enterprise was begun by a kid with a drawing of a mouse in which he believed. Don't ever let go of the crazy things in which you believe, no matter how much you are laughed at or how great seem the odds. I imagine Walt Disney endured a lot of self-doubt and ridicule and peer pressure to do something more normal. Imagine what our childhoods would have been like if he listened to them. No Mickey Mouse, no Sleeping Beauty, no Disneyland, no Fantasia, No Snow White, no Mary Poppins. How does this apply to issues like breast cancer and AIDS and world peace?
It applies fundamentally. Why? Because ending AIDS, eradicating breast cancer, achieving world peace and other great aspirations for social change are the craziest dreams of them all. Perhaps Disney's stock would improve if it embarked on a great adventure in that realm. That is the nature of what Disney did, and what great dreamers do. They do not copy the dreams of others. They elevate dreaming into new categories of endeavor and up to new levels. And this is what the world needs now. New dreams where no dreams have ever really dared to go - cures for the great diseases, the end of hunger, peace in our time, and the like.
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Monday, March 01, 2004
Tuesday, March 2, 2004
I watched the Academy Awards with a mixture of emotions the other night. On the one hand, it is exciting to watch dreams come true for people. It is gratifying to see the success of stories that honestly portray the struggles of the wounded and the disenfranchised in movies like "Mystic River." It's great that such important issues as the psychology of war are being explored in movies like "The Fog of War."
On the other hand, there are the trappings of the whole thing - the red carpet - the Harry Winston multi-million dollar necklaces, and the focus on who's wearing Versace and who's wearing Helmut Lang and who's wearing Armani. One cannot help but wonder what the children with AIDS in Africa are wearing tonight. One cannot help but wonder how they will ever be acknowledged for their heroic struggle simply to survive. One has to wonder why their plight will never get three hours of prime time television coverage on ABC. One has to wonder when they will ever walk down a red carpet.
The greatest epic that could ever be told would be the story of a generation of humanity that put aside its jewels and its entertainment to come to the aid of the poor and the hungry and the sick. A generation that made impossible declarations for the eradication of all inhumanities, and committed itself heart and soul to their realization within their lifetime. That goal is within our grasp if we will envision the story and commit ourselves to it. This is the only way to reconcile these ironies.
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Sunday, February 29, 2004
Monday, March 1, 2004
Have you let go of your dream? Have you let go of all of your dreams? Get them back. Do whatever it takes. Do not let the debilitating forces of self-doubt, self-loathing, and self-hate cloud your ability to see who you really are and who you are meant to be. Do not let society beat you down. Do not listen to those who ridicule you and most of all do not listen to your own ridicule of yourself. You have no idea the remarkable, glorious, fantastic things of which you are capable. Only God knows that. All you need to do is stay out of the way. All you need to do is not kill your own dreams. If all you can do is that - even if you cannot muster the strength to go after your dreams - if you will only muster the strength not to kill them - with your doubts and your despair - then God can get in there and God can help give you the energy to do the rest. You are not alone. Do not act as if you are.
Do not ever forget that there is an entirely other realm of living in which dreams come true. That is the real world. The world in which you cannot see your dreams coming true - that is not real - that is the world of illusion. Never forget this. The real world is pure magic. It is the realm into which you were born and to which you are destined. There is a real world where dreams come true and it is your birthright. It is a gift from God. Receive it. Claim it as your own. Refuse to live in the suffocating boredom of despair. Refuse to listen to its soundtrack playing in your head. Refuse to watch its movie in your eyes. Silence the negativity and open your eyes. Watch what happens in the real world. Begin playing again with your dreams and they will begin playing with you.
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Sunday, February 29, 2004
"Dare to be what your best self knows you ought to be; dare to be a bigger human being than you have ever been."
Norman Vincent Peale
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Saturday, February 28, 2004
"Here is a test to find out if your mission in life is complete: if you're alive, it isn't."
Richard Bach, Illusions
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