World Must ‘Speed Up’ Efforts To End AIDS Pandemic By 2030

Saturday, 11 June 2022, 1:55 pm
Press Release: UN News

To end AIDS, beat COVID-19 and “stop the pandemics of the future”, the world needs to ensure global access to lifesaving health technologies, the UN Chef de Cabinet has told a meeting of the General Assembly to review progress.

The AIDS pandemic continues to be responsible for more than 13,000 deaths every week.

Yet, one year after adopting a political declaration on HIV and AIDS: Ending Inequalities and Getting on Track to End AIDS by 2030, data from UNAIDS shows that HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths are not currently declining fast enough to end the pandemic in eight years, as Member States have pledged to do.

Member States have highlighted the need to “work together to speed up progress on implementation,” said the UN agency.

Tackling inequalities

In advance of the meeting, Secretary-General António Guterres released a report on implementing the HIV/AIDS political declaration entitled Tackling inequalities to end the AIDS pandemic.

The report sets out how inequalities and insufficient investment “leave the world dangerously underprepared to confront the pandemics of today and tomorrow.”

It also highlights solutions, including HIV prevention and societal enablers; community-led responses; equitable access to medicines, vaccines, and health technologies; sustainable financing for AIDS and pandemic response; and the need to strengthen global partnerships.

Getting on the path

Representing the UN chief, Chef de Cabinet, Courtenay Rattray, outlined three immediate steps to reverse current trends and get back on track.

“First, we need to tackle intersecting inequalities, discrimination and the marginalization of entire communities, which are often exacerbated by punitive laws, policies and practices,” he said, calling for policy reforms to reduce the HIV risks for marginalized communities – including sex workers, people who inject drugs, prisoners, transgender people and gay men.

The Chef de Cabinet pointed out how stigmatization obstructs public health while “social solidarity protects everyone”.

Invest in global health

The second step was to share health technologies, including antiretrovirals, and make them available to people in all countries throughout the world.

Thirdly, more resources must be committed: “Investments in AIDS are investments in global health security. They save lives – and money,” he said.

Investments in AIDS are investments in global health security -- UN chief

Meeting the targets

General Assembly President Abdulla Shahid noted that equal access to healthcare is “an essential human right to guarantee public health, for all.”

“Striving to achieve the 2025 AIDS targets is an opportunity to work together to increase investments towards public health systems and pandemic responses, and to draw on the hard-learnt lessons from the HIV/AIDS crisis for our recovery from COVID-19, and vice versa”, he said.

According to the political declaration, released last June, if the international community reaches the targets, 3.6 million new HIV-infections and 1.7 million AIDS-related deaths will be prevented by 2030.

It calls on countries to provide 95 per cent of all at-risk people with access to preventative care, and for countries to ensure that 95 per cent of HIV-positive citizens are aware of their HIV status.

The 95 per cent of those who know their status, should also have access to HIV treatment, according to the declaration.

Prioritizing collective action

Statements on behalf of the Africa Group in the General Assembly, the Caribbean Community and Central American Integration System, and European Union, all emphasized the urgency of stepping up collective action and rooting out inequality, to ensure a successful HIV response.

And the Africa Group and others spoke about addressing discriminatory laws that keep people from accessing healthcare and social services.

Haiti ranked 173 out of 180 in environment management

BY JUHAKENSON BLAISEJUN. 10, 2022

Haiti is the eighth worst country in environmental management in the Environmental Performance Index (EPI)'s 2022 standings. 

Photo by Georges H. Rouzier for The Haitian Times

PORT-AU-PRINCE — After receiving a score of 26.1 out of 100, Haiti finished in 173rd place in the 2022 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) standings of 180 countries.

“The 2022 ranking tells us what we already know, our environmental situation is critical, catastrophic,” Edgar Previlon, the executive director of Network for Youth Education, Environment and Health (REJES), told The Haitian Times.

“Unfortunately, no sustainable or structural actions can be considered in this context of weak, illegitimate central governance, marked by this revolting insecurity and the accelerated deterioration of living conditions,” he added.

Meanwhile Haiti’s neighbor, the Dominican Republic, holds the 89th spot in the EPI ranking. Denmark topped the list with a score of 77.9 while India finished last, accumulating 18.9 points.

Researchers from Yale and Columbia University started the EPI ranking in January 2006. It ranks countries based on climate change performance, environmental health and ecosystem vitality.

EPI’s latest ranking came out at a time when the Haitian government has chosen June to be environment month to raise awareness among citizens about environmental protection. The ranking was also released days after Haiti’s Civil Protection disaster response agency announced that 19 tropical storms, including four hurricanes, might hit Haiti this hurricane season.

Authorities urged residents to stay informed of bad weather and remain vigilant.

Haiti is the fifth most exposed country to natural disasters in the world, according to the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR). Residents have not been well-prepared for hurricanes in years past and ended up sustaining much loss of life, limb or property from storms that caused significantly less devastation in neighboring countries

In August 2020, Storm Laura passed through Haiti, killing at least 20 people and damaging or destroying about 465 homes from flooding.

“It’s time to recognize the need for an environmental emergency,” Previlon said. “The state and civil organizations should work on implementing a solid plan to find the appropriate resources to manage Haiti’s environment well.”

Death Sentence For Ukraine Foreign Fighters Is A War Crime: UN Rights Office

Saturday, 11 June 2022
Press Release: UN News

The UN human rights office, OHCHR, on Friday condemned the death sentence handed down to three foreign fighters in Ukraine by a court in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic. “Such trials against prisoners of war amount to a war crime,” said OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani.

The three men - Britons Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, and Moroccan Saaudun Brahim – were captured while fighting for Ukraine, reportedly defending the southern port city of Mariupol.

Bitter fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces since the Russian invasion on 24 February flattened the city, where UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet has previously condemned attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, that have likely caused thousands of deaths.

“OHCHR is concerned about the so-called Supreme Court of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic sentencing three servicemen to death,” said Ms. Shamdasani. “According to the chief command of Ukraine, all the men were part of the Ukrainian armed forces and if that is the case, they should not be considered as mercenaries.”

Answering a question at the regular briefing in New York on Thursday about the death sentences handed down, the UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, said the the Organization always has "and we always will", opposed the death penalty under any circumstances. "And we would call on the combatants who have been detained, to be afforded international protection, and to be treated according to the Geneva Conventions", he added.

Longstanding concerns

The UN rights office spokesperson also highlighted longstanding concerns about fair trial violations in Ukraine’s breakaway eastern regions bordering Russia. “Since 2015, we have observed that the so-called judiciary within these self-contained republics has not complied with essential fair trial guarantees, such as public hearings, independence, impartiality of the courts and the right not to be compelled to testify.”
Speaking in Geneva, Ms. Shamdasani added that “such trials against prisoners of war amount to a war crime. In the case of the use of the death penalty, fair trial guarantees are of course all the more important.”

Pro-Russian rebels have sentenced to death two British fighters and a Moroccan who were captured while fighting for Ukraine. 

BY LIBYAN EXPRESS JUN 11, 2022 - 04:12 UPDATED: JUN 11, 2022 -

COPY LINK

Alexander Mozhaev, a pro-Russian separatist whose photograph has appeared in numerous publications

 in recent days and who says he is not employed by the Russian state, stands with fellow separatists 

in the town of Slavyansk on April 20 Maxim Dondyuk

The death sentences on Thursday came from separatist authorities in the Donetsk region, which is part of the Donbass, as Moscow concentrates its firepower on the strategic industrial hub of Sievierodonetsk.

Rebels ordered the death penalty for Aiden Aslin, Shaun Pinner and Saaudun Brahim after they were accused of acting as mercenaries for Kiev, Russian media reported.

Britain said it was “deeply concerned” by the sentences. A spokesperson for Prime Minister Boris Johnson stressed that “Under the Geneva Convention, prisoners of war are entitled to combatant immunity.”

The two Britons surrendered in April in Mariupol, the southern port city that was captured by Russian troops after a weeks-long siege. They later appeared on Russian TV calling on Johnson to negotiate their release.

Brahim surrendered in March in the eastern town of Volnovakha.

During a trial that lasted three days, the men pleaded guilty to committing “actions aimed at seizing power and overthrowing the constitutional order of the Donetsk People’s Republic”, Russian news agency Interfax said.

‘Fate of Donbass’

Western countries have provided weapons and aid for Ukraine since the February 24 attack, while a number of people from abroad have come to fight against Russian forces.

The fiercest fighting is now focused on Sievierodonetsk in the Luhansk region, where Ukrainian officials say their outgunned forces are still holding out amid street battles despite the city being mostly under Russian control.

The regional governor of Luhansk, also part of the Donbass, said Western artillery would quickly help secure a Ukrainian victory for the bombarded city.

“As soon as we have long-range artillery to be able to conduct duels with Russian artillery, our special forces can clean up the city in two to three days,” governor Sergiy Gaiday said.

In his evening address to the Ukrainian people on Wednesday, Zelenskyy said the battle for Sievierodonetsk was “probably one of the most difficult throughout this war.

“In many ways, the fate of our Donbass is being decided there.”

The city of Lysychansk, which is separated from Sievierodonetsk by a river, is still in Ukrainian hands but under fierce Russian bombardment.

Tree Rings Shed Light on a Stradivarius Mystery

Analyses of 17th-century stringed instruments suggest that a young Antonio Stradivari might have apprenticed with a particular craftsman.

The “Hellier” violin, made by Antonio Stradivari in 1679.Credit...Henry Nicholls/Reuters

By Katherine Kornei
June 8, 2022

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History is revealed in tree rings. They have been used to determine the ages of historical buildings as well as when Vikings first arrived in the Americas. Now, tree rings have shed light on a longstanding mystery in the rarefied world of multimillion-dollar musical instruments.

By analyzing the wood of two 17th-century stringed instruments, a team of researchers has uncovered evidence of how Antonio Stradivari might have honed his craft, developing the skills used in the creation of the rare, namesake Stradivarius violins.

Mauro Bernabei, a dendrochronologist at the Italian National Research Council in San Michele all’Adige, and his colleagues published their results last month in the journal Dendrochronologia, and their findings are consistent with the young Stradivari apprenticing with Nicola Amati, a master luthier roughly 40 years his senior. Such a link between the two acclaimed craftsmen has long been hypothesized.

In the 17th and early 18th centuries, Stradivari created stringed instruments renowned for their craftsmanship and superior sound. “Stradivari is generally regarded as the best violin maker who ever lived,” said Kevin Kelly, a violin maker in Boston who has handled dozens of Stradivarius instruments.

Only about 600 of Stradivari’s masterpieces survive today, all prized by collectors and performers alike. A Stradivarius violin currently on the auction block — the first such sale in decades — is predicted to fetch up to $20 million.

An 18th-century depiction of Antonio Stradivari, the Italian crafter of instruments.

Credit...World History Archive/Alamy

Stradivari likely learned his craft by apprenticing with an older mentor, as was customary at the time. That could have been Amati, who, by the mid-17th century, was well established and also living in Cremona, a city in what is now Italy.

“Some people assume that because Stradivari was Cremonese and he was such a great violin maker, he must have apprenticed with Amati,” said Mr. Kelly, who was not involved in the new study.

But evidence of a link between Stradivari and Amati has remained stubbornly tenuous: One violin made by Stradivari bears a label reading “Antonius Stradiuarius Cremonensis Alumnus Nicolaij Amati, Faciebat Anno 1666.” That wording implies that Stradivari was a pupil of Amati, said Mr. Kelly, but it was the only label like it that has surfaced.

With the goal of shedding light on this musical mystery, Dr. Bernabei and his team visited the Museum of the Conservatory of San Pietro a Majella in Naples and analyzed the wood of a small harp made by Stradivari in 1681. Using a digital camera, the researchers precisely measured the widths of 157 tree rings visible on the instrument’s spruce soundboard.

A small harp by Stradivari from 1681.Credit...DeAgostini/Getty Images

The pattern created by plotting the width of tree rings, one after the other, is like a fingerprint. This is because the amount that a trees grows each year depends on the weather, water conditions and a slew of other factors, Dr. Bernabei said. “Plants record very accurately what happens in their surroundings.”

The researchers compared their measurements from the Stradivari harp with other tree ring sequences measured from stringed instruments. Out of more than 600 records, one stood out for being astonishingly similar: a spruce soundboard from a cello made by Nicola Amati in 1679. “All the maximum and minimum values are coincident,” Dr. Bernabei said. “It’s like somebody split a trunk in two different parts.”

The same wood was indeed used to make the Stradivari harp and the Amati cello, Dr. Bernabei and his colleagues suggest. This was consistent with the two craftsmen sharing a workshop, with the elder Amati possibly mentoring the younger Stradivari, the team concluded.

Perhaps that is true, said Mr. Kelly, but it is not the only possibility. Instead, Mr. Amati and Stradivari might simply have purchased wood from the same person, he said. After all, luthiers in 17th-and 18th-century Cremona belonged to a small community, said Mr. Kelly. “They basically all lived on the same street.”

Stradivarius used by Einstein’s teacher sells for $15.3 million

Instrument belonged to virtuoso Toscha Seidel, who played it in ‘Wizard of Oz’; he and Einstein participated in 1933 concert to support fleeing German Jewish scientists

By AFP

Today

Albert Einstein. (AP Photo)

NEW YORK — A rare Stradivarius violin that belonged to a Russian-American virtuoso and was used in the “Wizard of Oz” soundtrack sold at auction in New York Thursday for $15.3 million, just below the record for such an instrument, according to auction house Tarisio.

The violin, made in 1714 by master craftsman Antonio Stradivari, belonged to virtuoso Toscha Seidel, who not only used it on the score for the 1939 Hollywood classic, but also no doubt while teaching his famous student Albert Einstein.

“This violin has sat side by side with the great mathematician scientist as they played quartets in Albert’s home in Princeton, New Jersey,” said Jason Price, founder of Tarisio, which specializes in stringed instruments.

Seidel, who immigrated to the United States in the 1930s, and Einstein, who fled the Nazi regime in Europe, participated in a New York concert in 1933 in support of fleeing German Jewish scientists.

Of the thousands of instruments made by Stradivari, there are still around 600 known today.

“Of those, many are in museums, many are in foundations and are in situations where they won’t be sold,” Price said.

“There’s a select few which are known as the Golden Period examples, which is approximately between 1710 and 1720,” he said.

“And these, for the most part, are those which are most desired and most highly valued.”

The violin had previously belonged to the Munetsugu collection in Japan. Tarisio did not reveal who the buyer was.

The record for a Stradivarius at auction was set in 2011, when a violin baptized “Lady Blunt,” said to have belonged to Lady Anne Blunt, granddaughter of the poet Lord Byron, was sold for $15.9 in London.

In 2014, another Stradivarius whose auction price was set at a minimum of $45 million did not sell.

 

SEE https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2022/06/commodity-fetish-rare-inlaid-stradivari.html

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

Reforms Are Imposed on U.N. Agency That Made Questionable Investments

After a New York Times report revealed unusual investments putting tens of millions of dollars at risk, the board of the U.N.’s Office for Project Services demanded major changes.

Grete Faremo, left, and Vitaly Vanshelboim, center, at a 2016 event with Dominica’s ambassador to the United Nations. Ms. Faremo resigned in May as the top official at the U.N.’s Office for Project Services; Mr. Vanshelboim, who was her deputy, is on administrative leave.

Credit...Eugene Gologursky/Getty Images


By Farnaz Fassihi and David Fahrenthold
June 10, 2022

After a series of puzzling financial decisions that put tens of millions of dollars at risk, the executive board of a little-heralded United Nations agency took the rare step on Friday of voting to swiftly enforce a series of reforms.

The actions by the board of the Office for Project Services, or UNOPS, followed a report by The New York Times that revealed a series of questionable investments at the agency, totaling about $61 million, of which more than one-third may have been lost.

Friday’s moves by the board of the agency, which supplies logistical services to other U.N. agencies, imposed strict limitations on all financial reserves at UNOPS and suspended work at its investment unit. Its auditing and ethics watchdog functions will also be overhauled and its current business model re-evaluated, among other actions.

Additionally, a 10-member team will investigate the institutional failures at UNOPS that led to the questionable investments and will recommend further reforms.

U.N. officials said the speed and scope of the actions taken by the board were rare for the United Nations, where bureaucracy often hampers fast action.

“For months, the U.S. has pushed for greater transparency and accountability regarding financial mismanagement at UNOPS,” said Chris Lu, the U.S. representative for U.N. management and reform. “We are pleased that the UNOPS executive board has taken swift and decisive action.”

The incident has damaged the credibility of the United Nations and weakened the trust of donor countries at a time when the organization is seeking major funding infusions for an array of global crises.

The United States, which sits on the agency’s executive board, has paused its funding to UNOPS, said Mr. Lu, adding that the United States would press for “appropriate law enforcement action against any and all wrongdoers.”

Finland has also suspended all its funding to UNOPS and is reviewing its donations to other U.N. agencies.

The agency’s leader at the time, Grete Faremo of Norway, resigned hours after The Times published its investigation into UNOPS’s fraught investments. She stepped down at the request of António Guterres, the secretary general of the U.N., according to a U.N. official.

U.N. agencies hire UNOPS to build roads, deliver supplies and perform other logistical tasks.

Its financial troubles began when it accumulated millions of dollars of surplus funds, and officials at the agency lent $58 million to a single group of companies, all connected to a British businessman whom members of the agency’s investment unit had met at a party in 2015.

An additional $3 million was given as a grant to the same British businessman’s college-aged daughter for advocacy on protecting oceans.

Dragan Micic, who represented UNOPS at the board meeting, said the agency hoped to “move toward more transparency and rebuild the trust of our board members and partners.”

Ms. Faremo’s deputy, Vitaly Vanshelboim, was placed on leave while an investigation was completed by the U.N.’s internal oversight office. The report is now finished and is with Mr. Guterres’s office, which could take further disciplinary action.

“The next steps include possible administrative sanctions or referral to the relevant judicial authorities in the case of potential criminal wrongdoing,” said Stéphane Dujarric, a spokesman for Mr. Guterres.

The loans were intended to finance renewable-energy and housing projects in the developing world. But U.N. auditors later said that the companies defaulted on more than $22 million. Auditors said one of the companies admitted it had used most of its U.N. loan — intended to finance energy projects — to pay off pre-existing debts.

Attorneys for the businessman, David Kendrick, released statements last month saying that neither Mr. Kendrick not his daughter had done anything wrong and that the projects UNOPS had invested in had been slowed by government decisions and the Covid-19 pandemic. Mr. Kendrick, according to the statement, still expected them to succeed.

UNOPS

A Pot of U.N. Money. Risk-Taking Officials. A Sea of Questions.
May 7, 2022

Farnaz Fassihi is a reporter for The New York Times based in New York. Previously she was a senior writer and war correspondent for the Wall Street Journal for 17 years based in the Middle East. @farnazfassihi

Bolivian ex-president Jeanine Áñez jailed as leader of ‘coup’

Court finds rightwinger defied constitution during chaotic exit of Evo Morales, from whom she took over presidency

Jeanine Áñez waves as she is taken to prison in March during her trial in La Paz. A Bolivian court has sentenced the former president to 10 years’ jail, concluding she orchestrated a coup against her predecessor. Photograph: Aizar Raldes/AFP/Getty Images


Reuters in La Paz

Sat 11 Jun 2022 

A Bolivian court has found former president Jeanine Áñez guilty of orchestrating a coup that brought her to power during a 2019 political crisis.

She was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Áñez, 54, was convicted on Friday of making “decisions contrary to the constitution” and of “dereliction of duty”.

The prosecution said Áñez, then a rightwing senator, violated norms that guarantee the constitutional and democratic order after Bolivia’s 2019 presidential elections.

Bolivia has been split over whether a coup occurred when then-president Evo Morales resigned in 2019, with Áñez ascending to the presidency amid a leadership vacuum. Morales’ departure followed mass protests over a disputed election in which he claimed to win a controversial fourth consecutive term in office.


Accidental president or coup-plotter? Trial lays bare Bolivia’s polarisation

Áñez maintains she is innocent. The contentious case has further exposed the fault lines in a deeply divided country while also fuelling concerns about its judicial process.

“We are concerned about how this case has been pursued and we call on superior courts to examine how the proceedings were conducted,” said Cesar Munoz, a senior researcher for the Americas at Human Rights Watch.

Áñez was not allowed to attend the trial in person, instead following the hearing and participating from prison. She has been detained since her arrest in March 2021 on initial charges of terrorism, sedition and conspiracy.

Members and supporters of Morales’ Movement to Socialism (MAS) party, which returned to power in 2020, say Áñez played a key role in what it says was a coup against Morales, Bolivia’s first indigenous president, who oversaw a dramatic reduction in poverty as president from 2005 to 2019.

As president, Áñez drew criticisms of political score-settling when her administration prosecuted former MAS officials.

Áñez’s supporters say her trial was illegitimate and political. In the trial, Áñez said she was the product of circumstance and that her ascension to the top office helped calm a tense nation and lay the groundwork for elections in October 2020.

“I didn’t lift a finger to become president, but I did what I had to do,” Áñez said in her final statement to the judge. “I assumed the presidency out of obligation, according to what is established in the constitution.”

The California District Attorney who prosecuted women after stillbirths has been ousted from office

Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert

Abortion-rights supporters chant their objections at the Kentucky Capitol on Wednesday, April 13, 2022, in Frankfort, Ky., Kentucky is one of at least four states with abortion-related ballot measures in 2022. AP Photo/Bruce Schreiner, File

Keith Fagundes, District Attorney in California's Kings County, lost his June 9 primary election.

Fagundes charged Adora Perez and Chelsea Becker with murder, claiming they caused their stillbirths.

Fagundes' challenger campaigned against the charges, which were also criticized by California's AG.

Keith Fagundes, the California District Attorney who pursued murder charges against two women he claimed caused their stillbirths by using drugs while pregnant, was ousted from his position during the state's primary election on June 9.

Fagundes lost his seat as Kings County DA to challenger Sarah Hacker by at least 15% of the vote, ABC30 reported.

The cases of Chelsea Becker and Adora Perez, who both experienced stillbirths after struggling with drug addiction during their pregnancies, were central issues to the election. Despite California law specifically excluding pregnant people from being charged with the murder of their own fetus, Fagundes claimed the women's drug use caused their stillbirths and charged them both.

Perez, who pled guilty to manslaughter to avoid a longer sentence, had her 11-year sentence overturned after serving four years in jail. Becker, who could not afford bail while awaiting trial, spent 16 months in jail before her charges were dismissed.

"Those two cases, they're a symptom of the disease," Hacker, the Hanford lawyer who beat Fagundes in the primary election, told The San Francisco Chronicle. "And the disease that has infected our criminal justice system here in Kings County is preferential treatment."

Hacker wasn't the only legal mind with concerns about Fagundes' choice to charge the women. California's Attorney General, Rob Bonta, issued a statement in January clarifying the state law and condemning the charges against them.

"The loss of a pregnancy at any stage is a physically and emotionally traumatic experience that should not be exacerbated by the threat of being charged with murder," Bonta said in the statement. "The charges against Ms. Becker and Ms. Perez were not consistent with the law, and this misuse of section 187 should not be repeated. With reproductive rights under attack in this country, it is important that we make it clear: Here in California, we do not criminalize the loss of a pregnancy."

Fagundes agreed to an interview with Insider prior to the primary election. He stopped responding to requests for comment after election results became available.

US Military Spending Is Undebatable Because It’s Indefensible

by David Swanson Posted onJune 11, 2022

Spain, Thailand, Germany, Japan, Netherlands – The word has gone out that every government can buy a lot more weapons with either no debate at all or with all debate shut down by a single word: Russia. Do a web search for “weapons buying” and you’ll find story after story about U.S. residents solving their personal problems the way their government does. But search for the secret code words “defense spending” and the headlines look like a united global community of nations each doing its important bit to enrich the merchants of death.

Weapons companies don’t mind. Their stocks are soaring. US weapons exports exceed those of the next five leading weapons-dealing countries. The top seven countries account for 84% of weapons exports. Second place in international weapons dealing, held by Russia for the previous seven years, was taken over in 2021 by France. The only overlap between significant weapons dealing and where wars are present is in Ukraine and Russia – two countries impacted by a war widely recognized as outside the norm and meriting serious media coverage of the victims. In most years no nations with wars present are weapons dealers. Some nations get wars, others profit from wars.

In many cases, when nations increase their military spending, it’s understood as fulfilling a commitment to the US government. The Prime Minister of Japan, for example, has promised Joe Biden that Japan will spend a lot more. Other times, its a commitment to NATO that’s discussed by weapons-buying governments. In US minds, President Trump was anti-NATO and President Biden pro-NATO. But both advanced the identical demand of NATO members: buy more weapons. And both had success, although neither has come anywhere close to boosting NATO in the way that Russia has.

But getting other countries even to double their military spending is pocket change. The big bucks always come from the US government itself, which spends more than the next 10 countries combined, 8 of those 10 being US weapons customers pressured by the US to spend more. According to most US media outlets . . . nothing is happening. Other countries are boosting their so-called “defense spending,” but nothing whatsoever is happening in the United States, although there was that little $40 billion gift of “aid” to Ukraine recently.

But in weapons-company-advertisement-space outlet Politico, another big boost in US military spending is coming soon, and the question of whether to increase or decrease the military budget has already been pre-decided: “Democrats will be forced to either back Biden’s blueprint or – as they did last year – ladle on billions more in military spending.” Biden’s blueprint is for yet another big increase, at least in dollar figures. The favorite topic of the “news” generated by weapons-funded stink tanks and former Pentagon employees and military media is inflation.

So, let’s take a look at US military spending over the years (available data goes back to 1949), adjusted for inflation and using 2020 dollars for every year. In those terms, the high point was reached when Barack Obama was in the White House. But the budgets of recent years far exceed any other point in the past, including the Reagan years, including the Vietnam years, and including the Korea years. Returning to the pre-Endless War on Terror spending level would mean about a $300 billion cut rather than the usual $30 billion increase. Returning to the level of that golden day of conservative righteousness, 1950, would mean a reduction of about $600 billion.

The reasons to reduce military spending include: the higher than ever risk of nuclear apocalypse, the immense environmental damage done by weaponry, the horrific human damage done by weaponry, the economic drain, the desperate need for global cooperation and spending on environment and health and welfare, and the promises of the 2020 Democratic Party platform.

The reasons to increase military spending include: lots of election campaigns are funded by weapons dealers.

So, of course, there’s no debate. A debate that cannot be had must simply be declared over before it begins. Media outlets universally agree. The White House agrees. The whole of Congress agrees. Not a single caucus or Congress Member is organizing to vote No on military spending unless it’s reduced. Even peace groups agree. They almost universally call military spending “defense,” despite not being paid a dime to do so, and they’re putting out joint statements opposing increases but refusing to even mention the possibility of decreases. After all, that’s been placed outside the acceptable range of opinion.

David Swanson is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. He is executive director of WorldBeyondWar.org and campaign coordinator for RootsAction.org. Swanson’s books include War Is A Lie and When the World Outlawed War. He blogs at DavidSwanson.org and WarIsACrime.org. He hosts Talk Nation Radio. This originally appeared at WorldBeyondWar.org.

SEE LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for PERMANENT ARMS ECONOMY 

BEING DOWN, UNDER

Nearly 70% of veterinarians have lost a colleague or peer to suicide, study finds

Australian research shows six in 10 have sought professional help for their mental health

Expert puts Australian vets’ worsening mental health down to increasing client demands, changes in attitudes towards veterinary care, increasing costs and dealing with people who can’t afford them. Photograph: zoranm/Getty Images

Australian Associated Press
Sat 11 Jun 2022 

New research shows nearly 70% of veterinarians have lost a colleague or peer to suicide and about six in 10 have sought professional help for their mental health.

For those with decades of experience, including former Australian Veterinary Association national president Dr Warwick Vale, the figures come as no surprise.


Like many, he’s struggled with mental illness and had close colleagues take their own lives.

“[A lot] don’t have [my] same sort of optimism and haven’t probably had the same luck or good fortune to have the benefits realised for themselves in their career,” Vale told AAP.
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“That’s not right - it’s a tragedy. It’s an issue we’ve got to solve and I think the problem is probably getting worse.”

The research, led by Dr Nadine Hamilton with the backing of petfood maker Royal Canin, reflects long-running issues in the sector.


ER for animals: inside Australia's Currumbin Wildlife hospital – a photo essay

Another larger study by the veterinary association showed about 67% of vets have experienced a mental health condition at some point.

Vale puts vets’ worsening mental health down to increasing client demands, changes in attitudes towards veterinary care, increasing costs and dealing with people who can’t afford them.

“It’s quite demotivating for vets to have to cut corners on treatment or euthanise animals because of a lack of resources to treat the animal,” he said.

Vale said the profession has a lot of “housekeeping” to do when it comes to better supporting workers and ensuring the industry’s viability.

He said some work 12-hour days without lunch breaks, earn $50,000 a year and deal with abuse from clients.

“We’re trying to fix people after they’re broken, when really we should be concentrating on preventing them from breaking,” he said.

Melbourne vet Dr Morgan Baum was lucky enough to find a supportive workplace that mitigates the hardships faced by other new graduates.

However, she and Vale agreed there’s a big disconnect between vets and the community.


Mental health issues more common among young Australians, national survey suggests

Hamilton’s research found nearly eight in 10 Australian pet owners do not know the incidence of suicide among vets is four times the national average.

About four in 10 believe vets’ salaries are more than $100,000, when entry-level vets with up to three years’ experience earn an average of $87,810.

“People are truly treating their pets as their children and if they want the best care … it’s important vets are of sound mind and happy, and enjoying what they’re doing to provide that care,” Baum said.

She said vets were constantly in a flux of highs and lows; moving from one euthanasia appointment to an appointment with a family’s new puppy or kitten.

“When you go home with your family and friends, you’re just too drained to talk to anyone.”

Vale said unlike medical services for humans, animal services received little government support, with no tax incentives for pet care and few resources for training.

He pointed to one vet practice in Western Australia that has had to suspend its weekend emergency service.

“Without a community contribution and the community recognising that we’ll be poorer and worse off without a veterinary service … then we’re going to see closure, especially in country and regional areas,” Vale said.

In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 800-273-8255 or chat for support. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counselor. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

UK

Middle men profited from government buying PPE, says Labour MP

Jackie LongSocial Affairs Editor and Presenter10 Jun 2022

We spoke to Labour MP Meg Hillier, chair of the Public Accounts Committee, and began by asking whether the Department of Health’s response that no apology was necessary for procuring too much PPE rather than too little was something that most people would agree with.

RCN: Nurses’ lives might have been saved without PPE wastage


Louise McEvoy
10 Jun 2022

The lives of nursing staff might have been saved if ‘money had been used more wisely’ and ‘decent-quality PPE bought,’ the chair of the RCN has said, on learning the government plans to burn up to £4bn worth of unused PPE.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) spent more than £12bn on PPE in 2020-21, a report published by the Public Accounts Committee today (June 10) says, but ‘due to the speed of which the procurement took place and the volumes of PPE ordered, equipment was purchased that did not always meet requirements and much higher prices than normal were paid’.

The spending watchdog says £4bn was lost because equipment, such as masks and gowns, did not meet NHS standards, was defective or not needed.

‘The Department has no clear disposal strategy for this excess PPE, but told us that it plans to burn significant volumes and will aim to generate power from this,’ the report says.

The RCN has criticised ‘the shameful waste of public money spent and the environmental impact of disposing of the unusable PPE.’

Pat Cullen, RCN general secretary and chief executive, said members will find this ‘galling,’ adding that ‘it’s a painful reminder of the worst of the pandemic – inadequate or wasteful PPE’.

‘Sending billions of pounds up in smoke when NHS and care services are struggling will be hard for them to comprehend,’ she said.

‘If this money had been used more wisely and decent-quality PPE bought in the first place, then the lives of nursing staff might have been saved.’

The RCN said nursing staff led the UK’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic and were faced with ‘incredibly challenging working conditions on the frontline.’

Ms Cullen said the ‘waste and lack of planning’ is ‘an insult to those who made the ultimate sacrifice.’

The DHSC has told the BBC the committee’s claims are ‘misleading.’ A spokesman said: ‘We make no apology for procuring too much PPE rather than too little, and only 3% of the PPE we procured was unusable in any context.’

The DHSC has also argued that it was better to purchase PPE despite the ‘globally inflated market,’ rather than risk running out of equipment.

The report also refers to a ‘haphazard purchasing strategy’ having resulted in ‘problems with a large number of the PPE contracts it entered into.’

It says: ‘It is currently engaged in commercial negotiations, legal review or mediation in respect of 24% of the PPE contracts awarded.

‘This includes issues with contracts for products that were not fit for purpose, and one contract for 3.5bn gloves where there are allegations of modern slavery against the manufacturer.’

According to the Public Accounts Committee, the accounts show the DHSC spent £1.3bn without HM Treasury approval, and also needed to seek the Treasury’s retrospective approval in many other cases during its response to the pandemic.

The DHSC had a ‘track record for failing to comply with the requirements of managing public money’ before the pandemic, the committee said, which has ‘now been exacerbated further as a result of the Covid-19 response.’

It concluded: ‘The Department must learn from its experience of responding to the Covid-19 pandemic and quickly develop clear post-pandemic plans to transition back to business as usual.

‘This should include implementing a robust procurement and inventory management processes and controls to ensure proper financial management and having a clear coordinated strategy for dealing with the significant volumes of excess PPE in the most cost effective and environmentally-friendly way.’

Ms Cullen added: ‘It will be critical, if we are to truly learn the lessons, for the forthcoming C-19 public inquiry to pin down causes and to say clearly where mistakes were made so they are never repeated.’

During the pandemic, nurses felt under pressure to work without adequate PPE and the RCN hit back at ‘unacceptable’ guidance to reuse PPE due to shortages.