Fauci In New Book: Trump Screamed At Me, Told Me He Loved Me

BIPOLAR SOCIOPATHIC NARCCISITIC LIAR

Lydia O'Connor
Fri, June 14, 2024 

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the infectious disease expert who advised the federal government on its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, detailed his whiplash-inducing relationship with Donald Trump in his new memoir.

Excerpts from the book, “On Call: A Doctor’s Journey in Public Service,” were shared Thursday by several media outlets the week before its scheduled release.

The book’s chapter about Trump, titled, “He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not,” recounts the doctor’s time working as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases ― a position he held for nearly 40 years before retiring in 2022. About 70 of the book’s 450 pages are focused on Trump, the New York Times reported.

Much of their relationship, Fauci wrote, involved Trump alternately praising him then excoriating him for things he’d said about the COVID-19 pandemic. In one June 2020 phone call from Trump, the former president unleashed his fury on him for saying the virus’ vaccine was unlikely to provide lifetime protection and would probably require boosters, according to book excerpts obtained by the Daily Beast.

Dr. Anthony Fauci appears beside Donald Trump at a 2020 press briefing on COVID-19. BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI via Getty Images

“The president was irate, saying that I could not keep doing this to him. He said he loved me, but the country was in trouble, and I was making it worse,” Fauci reportedly wrote, noting that the then-president’s comments to him were often laden with expletives.

“I have a pretty thick skin, but getting yelled at by the president of the United States, no matter how much he tells you that he loves you, is not fun,” he recalled, according to excerpts quoted by the Times.

In his last conversation with Trump shortly before the 2020 election, Fauci reportedly wrote, Trump insisted he’d beat now-President Joe Biden and used some some colorful language to describe the Democrat.

“I am going to win this election by a fucking landslide,” Trump said, according to Fauci’s book. “Just wait and see. I always did things my way. And I always win, no matter what all these other fucking people think. And that fucker Biden. He is so fucking stupid. I am going to kick his fucking ass in this election.”

The longtime scientist went on to serve as Biden’s chief medical adviser until his retirement.

Fauci also said Trump’s vice president, Mike Pence, was abnormally deferential to Trump.

“Vice presidents are almost always publicly loyal to the president. That is part of the job. But in my opinion, Vice President Pence sometimes overdid it,” he wrote, per the Times. “During task force meetings, he often said some version of, ‘There are a lot of smart people around here, but we all know that the smartest person is upstairs.’”

Fauci recently appeared before the House COVID-19 committee, whose Republican members have repeatedly suggested he masterminded a cover-up of the virus’s origins. Those claims, Fauci told the lawmakers, are “absolutely false and simply preposterous.”

His book is out on June 18.
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Fauci recounts expletive-laden lecture he got from Trump when stock market didn’t increase enough on vaccine news

Katie Hawkinson
Fri, June 14, 2024 


Anthony Fauci (left) and Donald Trump (right) speak. Fauci writes in a new book that Trump went on an expletive-filled rant directed at him during the pandemic (AFP)


President Donald Trump unleashed an expletive-filled rant about the stock market not increasing enough when the first Covid-19 vaccine trials were successful, Dr Anthony Fauci has recounted.

Fauci, one of the nation’s top infectious disease experts who helped lead the US response to the COVID-19 pandemic until through 2022, is publishing On Call: A Doctor’s Journey in Public Service next week. His chapter on working with Trump during the pandemic is aptly titled, “He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not,” according to The New York Times’ review of the book.

Fauci wrote the former president directed expletive-filled rants towards him when the stock market didn’t well enough to the Covid-19 vaccine: “The president was irate, saying that I could not keep doing this to him.”

“He said he loved me, but the country was in trouble, and I was making it worse,” he continued. “He added that the stock market went up only 600 points in response to the positive Phase 1 vaccine news, and it should have gone up 1,000 points, and so I cost the country ‘one trillion dollars.’”

Fauci noted Trump added an expletive to his rant.

Anthony Fauci (left) and Donald Trump (right) speak. Fauci writes in a new book that Trump went on an expletive-filled rant directed at him during the pandemic (AFP)

“I have a pretty thick skin but getting yelled at by the president of the United States, no matter how much he tells you that he loves you, is not fun,” Fauci wrote, per the Times.

The physician also criticized Mike Pence’s support of Trump during the pandemic, according to the Times.

“Vice presidents are almost always publicly loyal to the president,” Fauci wrote. “That is part of the job. But in my opinion, Vice President Pence sometimes overdid it. During task force meetings, he often said some version of, ‘There are a lot of smart people around here, but we all know that the smartest person is upstairs.’”

Fauci notes other odd details about the former president, the Times reports, including that Trump once said he had never received a flu shot.

“When I asked [Trump] why, he answered, ‘Well, I’ve never gotten the flu. Why did I need a flu shot?’ I did not respond,” Fauci wrote.

Recently, Fauci was in the national spotlight again as he testified before a Republican-led Congressional committee about the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic.

During the public portion of the hearing, right-wing Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene inexplicably accused the top infectious disease expert of practicing “evil science,” calling for Fauci’s license to be revoked.


Fauci wrote in upcoming memoir that Trump yelled expletives at him in a phone call in 2020

Sudiksha Kochi, USA TODAY
Sat, June 15, 2024 

Scroll back up to restore default view.


WASHINGTON —Dr. Anthony Fauci wrote in his upcoming memoir that former President Donald Trump went into an expletive-filled rant with him during a phone call in 2020 but at the same time said he loved him, the New York Times reported.

The phone call came during the COVID-19 pandemic. Trump, then the president, would downplay the effects of COVID-19 and repeatedly attacked Fauci for the guidelines he set forth to the public in navigating the virus.

In his memoir, “On Call: A Doctor’s Journey in Public Service,” Fauci wrote that during the call Trump “was irate, saying that I could not keep doing this to him” and dropped F-bombs, according to the New York Times and the Daily Beast.

“He said he loved me, but the country was in trouble, and I was making it worse,” Fauci wrote. “He added that the stock market went up only 600 points in response to the positive Phase 1 vaccine news, and it should have gone up 1,000 points, and so I cost the country ‘one trillion dollars.’”

He added that, “I have a pretty thick skin, but getting yelled at by the president of the United States, no matter how much he tells you that he loves you, is not fun.”

Republicans in Congress have floated a number of conspiracy theories involving Fauci related to the COVID-19 pandemic. During a House hearing earlier this month, Fauci defended himself against those allegations.

“Whenever somebody gets up, whether it's a news media – you know Fox News does it a lot – or it's somebody in the Congress who gets up and makes a public statement that I'm responsible for the deaths of X number of people because of policies or some crazy idea that I created the virus, immediately it's like clockwork – the death threats go way up," he said.

His memoir is expected to be released this month.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fauci said Trump dropped F-bombs at him in phone call during pandemic


Fauci Speaks His Mind on Trump’s Rages and Their ‘Complicated’ Relationship

Sheryl Gay Stolberg
Sat, June 15, 2024 at 8:03 a.m. MDT·5 min read

Dr. Anthony Fauci, at his home in Washington, Sept. 9, 2021. (Jason Andrew/The New York Times)


WASHINGTON — Three months into the coronavirus pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci was at home in northwest Washington when he answered his cellphone to President Donald Trump screaming at him in an expletive-laden rant. He had incurred the president’s wrath by remarking that the vaccines under development might not provide long-lasting immunity.

That was the day, June 3, 2020, “that I first experienced the brunt of the president’s rage,” Fauci writes in his forthcoming autobiography.

Fauci has long been circumspect in describing his feelings toward Trump. But in the book, “On Call: A Doctor’s Journey in Public Service,” he writes with candor about their relationship, which he describes as “complicated.”

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In a chapter titled “He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not,” Fauci described how Trump repeatedly told him he “loved” him while at the same time excoriating him with tirades flecked with four-letter words.

“The president was irate, saying that I could not keep doing this to him,” Fauci wrote. “He said he loved me, but the country was in trouble, and I was making it worse. He added that the stock market went up only 600 points in response to the positive Phase 1 vaccine news, and it should have gone up 1,000 points, and so I cost the country ‘one trillion dollars.’” (The president added an expletive.)

“I have a pretty thick skin,” Fauci added, “but getting yelled at by the president of the United States, no matter how much he tells you that he loves you, is not fun.”

The book, which will be released Tuesday, traces the arc of Fauci’s life, from his boyhood in Brooklyn as a son of first-generation Italian Americans (his father was a pharmacist, and the family lived above the “Fauci Pharmacy”) through his 54-year career at the National Institutes of Health, 38 of them as the director of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

It is 450 pages long, and Fauci devotes about 70 of them to the first year of the coronavirus pandemic, when Trump was in office. His criticisms of Trump and his White House are at times blunt and at other times oblique, leaving readers to draw their own conclusions.

Fauci served under seven presidents, shepherding the nation through infectious disease threats including AIDS, swine flu, anthrax and Ebola. But the coronavirus pandemic turned him into a polarizing public figure and a target of Republicans, particularly Trump’s most ardent supporters.

During a tense hearing this month before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, Fauci forcefully denied Republican allegations that he had helped fund research that started the pandemic or had covered up the possibility that it originated in a laboratory. He called the accusations “absolutely false and simply preposterous.”

In Fauci’s telling, the Trump White House was different from any other he had experienced, not least because of its passing relationship with the truth. Trump, he wrote, “shocked me on Day 1 of his presidency, with his disregard of facts such as the size of the crowd at his inauguration” and his “aggressive disrespect for the press.”

Those differences extended to the relationship between Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, the chair of the White House coronavirus response task force.

“Vice presidents,” Fauci wrote, “are almost always publicly loyal to the president. That is part of the job. But in my opinion, Vice President Pence sometimes overdid it. During task force meetings, he often said some version of, ‘There are a lot of smart people around here, but we all know that the smartest person is upstairs.’”

Then, without explicitly saying Pence was referring to Trump, Fauci wrote, “He was of course talking about the man sitting behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office.”

Fauci also makes clear he had little use for some of Trump’s advisers: his chief of staff, Mark Meadows; his chief economic adviser, Peter Navarro; and his medical adviser, Scott Atlas. He said Trump’s aides were feeding negative stories about him to journalists in 2020.

“The growing White House hostility toward me over the spring and summer seemed to trigger at least in part the overt attacks on me by right-wing media and trolls using social media platforms,” Fauci wrote. That August, he opened a letter containing a “fine white powder” and “instantly feared anthrax or worse.” Hazmat teams were called into his office at the National Institutes of Health; a few days later, the FBI confirmed the powder was harmless.

Fauci’s first encounter with Trump was before the coronavirus pandemic, at a White House ceremony where the president signed an executive order that called for improvements in the manufacturing and distribution of flu vaccines. After the event, Trump remarked to Fauci that he had never had a flu shot.

“When I asked him why, he answered, ‘Well, I’ve never gotten the flu. Why did I need a flu shot?’ I did not respond,” Fauci wrote. The implication was clear: The doctor was flabbergasted to discover that Trump knew so little about the purpose of vaccines.

On the morning of Jan. 29, 2020, Fauci wrote, conservative political commentator Lou Dobbs, whom the doctor had known for years, called to say Trump wanted to meet him. Several hours later, Fauci found himself in the White House Situation Room, briefing the president and his top advisers on a new virus that was circulating in China. It was instantly clear to Fauci, the scientist from Brooklyn, that he and Trump, the president from Queens, could relate to each other in the way that only New Yorkers can.

“He had a New York swagger that I instantly recognized — a self-confident, backslapping charisma that reminded me of my days in New York,” Fauci wrote.

But that is where the kinship ended. Fauci wrote that when Trump embraced hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial drug, as a COVID-19 treatment on the basis of anecdotal evidence, he realized that “sooner or later I would have to refute him publicly.”

He painted the president as consumed with television ratings and the economy; after one coronavirus briefing in March 2020, Trump summoned Fauci into the Oval Office and called Fox News personality Sean Hannity. Fauci recalled the moment: “‘Hey, Sean,’ he said on speakerphone. ‘You should see the ratings we have!’”

c.2024 The New York Times Company

Greene alleges Fauci committed ‘crimes against humanity’ with COVID response

(PROJECTION)

Yash Roy
Sat, June 15, 2024 







Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), speaking at a Turning Point Action conference on Saturday, vowed to have former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci sent to prison over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Dr. Anthony Fauci should be tried for crimes against humanity,” Greene said at the conference, in comments highlighted by Mediaite, leading to the crowd chanting, “lock him up.”

She responded, “Well I can assure that if I have anything to do with it, I will lock him up. He belongs in prison.”

Green also attacked President Biden and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) during her speech.

“I’ll never forget when the Biden administration and Nancy Pelosi, as speaker of the House, brought in nearly 30,000 National Guardsmen and turned our Capitol complex into a military base,” she told the audience. “They masked schoolchildren. They shut down schools. They closed beaches. They silenced your speech.”

Biden was not president at the time. The Trump administration, at the request of Congressional leaders, including Republican leaders Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), deployed the National Guard to secure the Capitol after supporters of Trump led an insurrection in the Capitol in an attempt to stop the certification of Biden as president.

Greene has been accused of helping some of those insurrectionists by providing them with tours before January 6, 2021.

After taking over on January 20, 2021, Biden’s administration instituted a mask mandate on public transportation but did not impose a federal mask mandate.

Fauci has been a frequent target for conservatives who claim his advocacy for masking and social distance restricted freedoms and was ineffective, and have accused him of covering up the origins of the COVID-19 virus.

The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic called Fauci to testify at a heated hearing earlier this month, where Republicans accused Fauci of attempting to skirt federal Freedom of Information Act requests by using a private email server. Fauci denied the accusation.

At the hearing, Greene marked the most contentious moment of the hearing, with Democrats quickly calling for points of order after she refused to recognize Fauci as a doctor.

“Mr. Fauci, because you’re not doctor, you’re Mr. Fauci in my few minutes,” Greene said. “That man does not deserve to have a license. As a matter of fact, it should be revoked, and he belongs in jail,” Greene responded.

Fauci is set to release a book on June 18, and according to excerpts obtained by the New York Times, Fauci detailed his experience with Trump and his career. According to the Times, Fauci has a book entitled “He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not,” in which he describes how Trump would alternate between telling him that he “loved” Fauci and then later screaming expletives at him.

The Hill.

The Narwhal, Toronto Star win Michener Award for work on Ontario Greenbelt scandal

ALTERNATIVE AND MAINSTREAM MEDIA 

The Canadian Press
Fri, June 14, 2024 

OTTAWA — The Narwhal and the Toronto Star have been named the winners of the 2023 Michener Award for their reporting about Ontario's Greenbelt scandal.

The Michener Awards Foundation says that throughout 2023, the magazine and newspaper revealed how "politically connected developers benefited from buying devalued farmland just before Premier Doug Ford lifted Greenbelt protection of those lands."

It says their investigation led to Ford "scrapping the plan to allow development on formerly protected Greenbelt lands and cost the government two ministers and two senior staffers."

The Canadian Press was nominated for a months-long investigation by reporter Darryl Greer that revealed a toxic workplace and allegations of sexual assault at Canada's spy agency.

CSIS director David Vigneault said it was an "extraordinary moment" for the agency while Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the allegations "devastating."

The Michener Award was founded in 1970 by the late Roland Michener, then governor general, to honour excellence in public service journalism.

The other finalists this year included work by CBC/Radio-Canada on sex crime allegations against billionaire Robert Miller; by the Globe and Mail on Montreal fire safety; the Montreal Gazette on the suicide of a retired police officer in a hospital emergency room; and Radio-Canada on the dark side of Neptune.

Gov. Gen. Mary Simon recognized the finalists during a ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa.

"This year’s finalists have used their investigative talents to influence change within our communities," she said Friday.

"Each story being recognized tonight has made a difference. Each of your stories demonstrated the importance of journalism."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 14, 2024.

The Canadian Press

Building Nuclear Power Is a Bridge Too Far for World’s Private Investors

IT HAS NO FUTURE WITHOUT THEM 

CAUSE US TAXPAYERS AIN'T FOOTING THE BILL

Jonathan Tirone
Fri, 14 June 2024 





3 / 3

Building Nuclear Power Is a Bridge Too Far for World’s Private Investors



(Bloomberg) -- The next generation of nuclear reactors will need to be financed by taxpayers because private investors aren’t willing to bear the risks associated with building new plants.

Beaches on Singapore’s Sentosa Island Hit By Oil Spill

That was the warning from bankers at a meeting of industry and government officials in Prague this week. The Nuclear Energy Agency event underscored the hard decisions Western economies soon need to make to keep one of their biggest clean energy sources going. While the public have warmed to nuclear in recent years, spiraling project costs have made private equity cautious.


Officials have estimated that the world needs to spend $5 trillion to triple nuclear-power generation over the next 25 years. The problem is that years of delays and billion-dollar budget overruns at European and the US projects are spooking investors, and scores of reactors already running on borrowed time will need to be replaced. No private investors want to take on construction risks, said Simon Taylor, a financier at the Cambridge Nuclear Energy Centre.

“We’re at a critical juncture of in the history of nuclear energy,” said William Magwood, director general of the Nuclear Energy Agency. “We have to move quickly. Financing is critical.”

Earlier this year, Electricite de France SA said its nuclear project at Hinkley Point in the UK would cost as much as £10 billion ($13 billion) extra to build and take several years longer than planned. In the US, Southern Co.’s Vogtle nuclear facility came in more than $16 billion over budget and seven years behind schedule.

“Unfortunately, the nuclear industry has been its own worst enemy,” said Anurag Gupta, chief risk officer at Sequoia Investment Management Co.

While some private capital has gone toward designing small modular reactors — factory-built units theoretically cheaper to build than traditional plants — those projects have also been plagued by delays pushing full commercialization years later than expected. That leaves nuclear advocates struggling for investor support with the technology at hand.

Rothschild & Co.’s Steven Vaughan, an adviser for UK’s proposed Sizewell C nuclear plant, echoed the view that investors are wary of taking on exposure to construction risk.

Equity investment interest in Sizewell, currently owned by the UK government and minority stakeholder EDF, has been muted, with Centrica Plc suggesting it could become a stakeholder.

Compounding nuclear power project risks are the long life span of the assets and the uncertain development of electricity markets. Historically, nations alleviated that risk by building reactors themselves. That’s still the case in China and Russia — the two countries building the most plants.

“It’s hard for any investor to think about market design 50 years into the future,” said Iain Smedley, chairman of global banking at Barclays Plc. “It’s therefore very important they’re comfortable with the social contract.”

Some delegates in Prague suggested economies need to think about nuclear power beyond simply profit and loss. It’s an emissions-free energy source that can help meet climate targets, as well as supporting a skilled workforce.

“There is a vast need for state involvement,” said Marcin Kaminski, risk manager building Poland’s first reactors at Polskie Elektrownie Jadrowe.

 Bloomberg Businessweek


U.S. Pushes to Triple Nuclear Energy Production by 2050

Editor OilPrice.com
Sat, 15 June 2024 at 11:00 am GMT-6·3-min read


This Monday Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced that she intends to reopen a nuclear power plant to meet the state’s decarbonization goals. If she is successful in her campaign, it would mark the first time in United States history that a nuclear power plant has been brought back online after being decommissioned – but it more than likely won’t be the last.

The owner of the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station, which currently sits dormant on the shores of Lake Michigan, received a conditional loan guarantee for a whopping $1.52 billion from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office to help fund the plant’s revival. If Holtec, the company that owns the plant, meets all of the closing conditions, the Palisades plant would be just the second or third plant in the entire world to be re-commissioned. And they plan to do it by just 2025.

Reopening the plant would not only be a trailblazing boon for low-carbon energy production in the United States, it also stands to offer a huge economic boost to Michiganders, who lost more than 600 high-paying jobs, many unionized, when the plant shuttered in May 2022. Whitmer says that if the plant is restarted, it could bring in $363 million in much-needed regional economic impact.

Although the United States has the top-producing nuclear energy fleet in the world, the country’s nuclear power sector has been in decline for years. The average age of a nuclear reactor in the United States is about 42 years old. Around one dozen nuclear power reactors have closed in the United States since 2013, and according to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 22 commercial nuclear power reactors (out of 93 total reactors) at 18 sites are in various stages of decommissioning. Meanwhile just one new power plant – Georgia’s plant Vogtle – has been added to the national fleet in the last several decades. And at present, zero new reactors are under construction in the United States.

The United States will have to see a radical repositioning and revitalization of the nuclear power sector if it is to meet its own global pledges, which includes a commitment to triple nuclear power production by 2050. At last year’s COP28 global climate conference, the United States was one of more than 20 countries that cooperated to launch the Declaration to Triple Nuclear Energy.

Building new power plants is extremely cost-prohibitive, however. And Plant Vogtle has shown just how expensive and exhausting building up a new nuclear fleet could be. First approved in 2009, it has only just reached completion, with its fourth reactor finally coming online on April 29, 2024, when it officially became the most expensive infrastructure project of any kind in U.S. history, at a whopping $35 billion. “The project has been such a bloated disaster that many pundits think it could be make-or-break for the wholesale future of the United States nuclear sector,” Oilprice reported in April.

So instead of investing hundreds of billions of dollars into building out a new nuclear fleet from the ground up, why not bring a fully formed industry back from the grave? Or better yet, if the country is to have any hope of meeting that lofty triple nuclear energy pledge, why not both? Many of the defunct nuclear power plants in the United States are too far gone to restart, but even rebuilding a new reactor on the same site would be a huge advantage for efficiency and cost-effectiveness. “So you don’t have to go through the whole rigamarole again, you can just use the existing footprint to be able to increase generation capacity,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm was recently quoted by Fast Company.

Building new reactors as an expansion of existing plants can be another cost-effective alternative, which many companies are already taking advantage of. Granholm says that about 30 such power plant sites across the country have already been licensed or permitted for the construction of more reactors.

By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com

UK

Labour commit to HIV Action Plan and ‘trans-inclusive’ conversion therapy ban in election manifesto

Jamie Tabberer
Thu, 13 June 2024

Keir Starmer's at today's Labour manifesto launch (Image: Labour)

Today, in their General Election manifesto, Labour announced it would commission a new HIV Action Plan in England and implement a ‘trans-inclusion ban’ on so-called conversion therapy.

The manifesto also states that Labour will ‘protect LGBT+ and disabled people by making all existing strands of hate crime an aggravated offence.’

Elsewhere, it says Labour will ‘modernise, simplify, and reform the intrusive and outdated gender recognition law to a new process,’ adding: ‘Labour is proud of our Equality Act and the rights and protections it affords women; we will continue to support the implementation of its single-sex exceptions.’

It adds: ‘We are currently on the cusp of eradicating new cases of HIV. Labour will commission a new HIV action plan in England, in pursuit of ending HIV cases by 2030.’

Party leader Keir Starmer unveiled the manifesto, heavily focused on economic growth and wealth creation, at a launch event in Greater Manchester today (Thursday 13 June 2024).

Labour’s election manifesto: what it says about LGBTQ issues

‘Delivering opportunities for all means that everyone should be treated with respect and dignity. Labour will protect LGBT+ and disabled people by making all existing strands of hate crime an aggravated offence.

‘So-called conversion therapy is abuse – there is no other word for it – so Labour will finally deliver a full trans-inclusive ban on conversion practices, while protecting the freedom for people to explore their sexual orientation and gender identity.

‘We will also modernise, simplify, and reform the intrusive and outdated gender recognition law to a new process. We will remove indignities for trans people who deserve recognition and acceptance; whilst retaining the need for a diagnosis of gender dysphoria from a specialist doctor, enabling access to the healthcare pathway.

‘Labour is proud of our Equality Act and the rights and protections it affords women; we will continue to support the implementation of its single-sex exceptions.’

Conversion therapy refers to the scientifically-debunked practise of trying to change someone’s sexuality and/or gender identity.

The UK’s leading HIV charity, Terrence Higgins Trust, say a new HIV Action Plan for England is “essential” in achieving the Government’s ambition to end new HIV cases by 2030.

The current HIV Action Plan is due to expire in 2025. As it stands, the UK are not on track to meet the necessary target of reducing new transmissions by 80% within 12 months. The charity affirms that a new HIV Action Plan is “exactly what is needed.”

Labour will face the Tories at the polls in the General Election on 4 July 2024.
“Ending new cases of HIV in the UK by 2030 is possible but not probable”

Richard Angell, Chief Executive at Terrence Higgins Trust, said: “With just one parliament left to deliver the UK’s commitment to end new HIV cases by 2030, this important commitment in the Labour Party’s manifesto of a new HIV action plan in England to ensure we do not miss this historic opportunity is excellent news.

“The government’s current HIV action plan expires next year, which is why today’s announcement from Labour is exactly what is needed. Ending new cases of HIV in the UK by 2030 is possible but not probable – a renewed HIV Action Plan which is bold and ambitious is essential to us achieving this historic goal.

“We are clear on what this new plan needs to include – increasing HIV testing, expanding PrEP access and ensuring everyone living with HIV gets the care they need. In two years, the opt-out HIV testing in A&Es programme has found more than 5,000 people with HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis in just four cities, and soon 47 more hospitals across England will be testing thanks to an expansion this year.

“This pioneering programme is essential to halting HIV transmission in the UK. Waiting times for PrEP average more than 12 weeks and 14,000 diagnosed people are not taking their medication. To be the generation of MPs to end the HIV epidemic and a government that makes it happen in office, we have to turn this around. Get it right and we could be the first country in the world to end new HIV cases. What a legacy that would be.”

According to a party statement, Labour “plans to deliver economic stability, cut NHS waiting times, launch a new Border Security Command, set up Great British Energy, crackdown on antisocial behaviour and recruit 6,500 new teachers” should it win the election.

The post Labour commit to HIV Action Plan and ‘trans-inclusive’ conversion therapy ban in election manifesto appeared first on Attitude.

Green Party removes HIV image from online manifesto after backlash

Joe Middleton
Fri, 14 June 2024 

The Green Party manifesto includes pledges “no more HIV transmissions by 2030” (Isabel Infantes/PA) (PA Wire)


The Green Party has removed an image of a coughing man from its online manifesto after a backlash over its depiction of people with HIV.

The image appeared in an easy read version of the environmentalist party’s manifesto in the section describing its pledge to end HIV transmission by 2030.

However, the left-wing party were accused of being “misleading” for using the image by social media users.

One person said: “Not @TheGreenParty using this diagram in their easy read manifesto on their HIV commitment. Maybe a slight implication that people living with HIV are sick (and… dare I say, airborne contagious). Which would be incorrect.”

Luke Robert Black, the chairman of LGBT+ Conservatives, posted on X, formerly Twitter: “Any implication that HIV+ people are “contagious” (esp. airborne) is wrong and misleading. So long as you are on effective treatment, you cannot pass HIV on.”

Easy read documents are produced to help make text easier to understand and can be helpful for people with learning difficulties.

In its manifesto launched on Wednesday, the Green Party pledged “no more HIV transmissions by 2030”.

It said this will involve giving people access to the “HIV prevention pill online, in pharmacies and from GP services, and renewing successful opt-out HIV testing programmes in A&Es in all areas with a high prevalence of HIV”.

On the easy-read version the image of the unwell man has now been replaced by a hand holding a pill.

A spokesperson for the Green Party of England and Wales said: “Soon after publication we were alerted to how an image we used in our easy-read manifesto could be misinterpreted.

“For clarity we temporarily took the manifesto down to replace this image with a more suitable image that better communicates our policy to work towards no more HIV transmissions by 2030.”

According to HIV and sexual health charity Terrence Higgins Trust, the most recent UK-wide figures indicated around 106,890 people were living with HIV in the UK in 2019.

In 2021, a further 2,692 people were diagnosed with HIV in England, 218 in Scotland, and 60 in Wales.

‘Union,’ Award-Winning Doc About Extraordinary Bid To Organize Amazon Workers, Announces October Theatrical Release

Matthew Carey
Fri, 14 June 2024 at 12:28 pm GMT-6·4-min read


EXCLUSIVE: The award-winning documentary Union, about the first successful unionization drive at an Amazon warehouse, has been making the rounds of film festivals – it just held its U.K. premiere at Sheffield DocFest, and on Saturday it plays at DC/DOX in the nation’s capital. In a matter of months, the film will reach its widest audience yet, through a self-distribution plan announced today.

Level Ground Productions has set an October 18 release date in theaters for the film directed by Brett Story and Stephen Maing. “Recognizing the difficulties faced by political documentaries in distribution of late,” a release notes, “but also the enthusiastic and engaged potential audiences that are inspired by the Amazon Labor Union movement, producers Story, Maing, Samantha Curley, Mars Verrone, and Martin DiCicco have worked with distribution expert Michael Tuckman to self distribute the film theatrically.”

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Amazon Labor Union President Chris Smalls.

The documentary centers on a long-shot bid by Chris Smalls and other employees at an Amazon facility on Staten Island, New York to form a union. The Jeff Bezos-founded company fiercely opposed the effort.

“On April 1, 2022 a group of ordinary workers (the ALU) in Staten Island made history when they did what everyone thought was impossible: they successfully won their election to become the very first unionized Amazon workplace in America, with no prior organizing experience, no institutional backing, and a total budget of $120,000 raised on GoFundMe,” states a description of the film. “Union focuses on the journey of the worker-turned-organizers, described by ALU President Christian Smalls as the ‘N.W.A. of the organizing world,’ whose highly unconventional journey goes from wearing Money Heist costumes at press conferences to distributing free marijuana to workers.”

The synopsis continues, “The film shows the group through political battles, pivotal strategic events, and interpersonal tensions that test their commitments and their solidarity. Up against a corporate superpower and with legal protections at a drastic low for workers, all odds are against the ALU – who yet remain unswayed in their beliefs in collective action and the dignity and power of the working-class.”

Union premiered in January at the Sundance Film Festival, where it won a Special Jury Award for Art of Change. If one thing could have been predicted at that point, it was that Union wouldn’t be acquired by Amazon (unless for a possible “catch and kill” scenario). But one has to wonder whether the labor-empowerment theme might have scared off other potential high profile distributors.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joins Amazon labor organizer Chris Smalls at a rally on the eve of the union election for the LDJ5 Amazon Sort Center on April 24, 2022 in Staten Island, New York.

“As automation, surveillance, quotas and anti-unionization efforts become the norm, we set out to make a film that would intimately capture a rare view of the extraordinary efforts of worker-turned-organizers taking action at this crucial moment,” Maing said in a statement. “And while corporate consolidations within the distribution landscape narrow opportunities for bold, independent new work, we are thrilled to self-distribute Union theatrically with the expertise of Michael Tuckman and brilliant impact strategists Red Owl Partners and bring this film directly to film loving audiences as well as the workers and organizers directly impacted by the story of this film.”

Story commented, “The past few years have seen a resurgence of labor struggle and political organizing across generations and across sectors. We were so honored to be on the ground from day one of this exceptional unionization effort, and to be given such intimate access to the Amazon labor organizers, whose unlikely campaign is critically important to the future of the labor. At this moment in American history, this is a film that audiences will be excited to see.”

Union is a Level Ground Productions release, presented by Impact Partners, in association with Ford Foundation. The film is directed and produced by Stephen Maing and Brett Story; produced by Samantha Curley, Mars Verrone, Martin Dicicco. Executive producers include Jenny Raskin, Lauren Haber, Geralyn White Dreyfous, The Villa Family, David Levine, Jessica Grimshaw, Nick Shumaker, and Dawn Olmstead. Co-executive producers are Kesley Koenig, Barbara & Eric Dobkin, Paula Froehle & Steve Cohen, Natasha & David Dolby, Meryl Metni, Pierre Hauser, Peter Palandijian, Chelsea Halligan, Ryan Parker, Alexander Carpenter, and Andrew Neel.

Blair McClendon, Malika Zouhali-Worrall and Stephen Maing edited the film; cinematography is by Martin Dicicco and Stephen Maing. Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe composed the score.

Together Films Launches Distribution Campaign Fund For Films Addressing Climate Crisis

Diana Lodderhose
Thu, 13 June 2024 


EXCLUSIVE: In advance of next week’s Sheffield DocFest, London and New York-based banner Together Films is launching a new Impact Distribution Campaign Fund & Accelerator dubbed Climate Action Together. The fund is designed to amplify powerful films addressing the climate crisis.

In its inaugural year, Climate Action Together will support two film teams whose works are set to launch across various platforms such as festivals, theatrical, non-theatrical, digital or broadcast between January 1, 2025 and June 30, 2025 with a £20,000 ($32,000) cash grant each alongside an in-depth four-month strategy phase and mentorship support.

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The fund is looking for applications from filmmakers committed to raising awareness about the climate crisis and advocating for actionable solutions and will target completed features (both scripted and documentary) aimed at inspiring public action and driving policy change in the UK and/or U.S. Current projects in post-production will be eligible if they are completed for public viewing by January 1, 2025.

“Solving the climate crisis requires a collaborative effort across industries and stakeholders,” said Sarah Mosses, Founder and CEO of Together Films. “We are looking for projects that not only highlight the severity of the situation, but also shine a light on innovative solutions and stories of hope. We want to see characters delivering fresh, actionable ideas and solutions that haven’t been seen on screen before. Our goal is to engage audiences in new and impactful ways.”

The fund launch, says Together Films, is partly in reaction to the growing need for filmmakers to access additional capital to support distribution costs, especially where it relates to impactful audiences. Selected film teams can use the grants to cover hard costs such as DCPs, advertising, organizing impact screenings or contribute towards staff working on the release. Applications are welcome from producers without sales or distribution representation.

The deadline for submissions is 5pm ET Wednesday, July 31, 2024 applications can be made here.

Veteran Rep. Spells Out Why She's 'Sick And Tired' Of GOP Colleagues' Abortion Stance

Ben Blanchet
Updated Fri, 14 June 2024

Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.), an Air Force veteran, slammed a majority of House Republicans on Thursday over their opposition to a Pentagon policy that reimburses service members for costs associated with travel to get an abortion.

Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-Texas) introduced an amendment, which was later adopted via a 214-207 vote, to the annual defense bill as she looked to the measure as a way to “return” to “protections” of the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits the use of federal funds on abortions.

“While my colleagues on the other side are taking the anti-woman stance of incentivizing abortions, I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense amendment to not only follow the law, enforce the law, but to do so while protecting the most vulnerable, the unborn,” Van Duyne said.

A pair of Republicans — Reps. John Duarte (R-Calif.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) — voted against the amendment, while one Democrat — Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) — backed it.

Houlahan said it “truly saddens” her to have returned to the House floor “yet again” to have the same conversation with lawmakers as she had last year.

“Standing before this chamber as a woman, yet again. A woman who has actually served and actually worn a uniform and actually was a mother in uniform,” Houlahan said.

She added that she’s defending service members’ right to seek medical care when they’re serving the country before taking aim at GOP lawmakers.

“I’m sick and tired of members who have never served telling service members, the same service members they are proud to publicly express their purported support for, that they don’t deserve the financial or otherwise freedom to seek the medical care that they and their family members deserve and need when they need it,” Houlahan said.

The Pennsylvania Democrat later knocked lawmakers who served but “still don’t wish” to afford the ability for current service members to seek reproductive services.

“We should be supporting our family service members, not hindering them,” said Houlahan, who cited the MARCH for Military Servicemembers Act, which would expand abortion access.

GLOBALIZATION AND POST-FORDISM

Europe’s electric car tariffs sting China but won’t halt BYD’s advance

Analysis by Laura He, CNN
Thu, 13 June 2024 

China Daily/Reuters

After months of investigation, the European Union has announced additional tariffs on electric vehicles (EV) imported from China, because of what it sees as Beijing’s unfair support for companies that undercut European carmakers.

The decision deals a blow to the Chinese government, which had been lobbying hard against the taxes, and EV producers in the country. Most companies are facing hefty extra tariffs of between 17.4% and 38.1%, on top of the 10% duty already levied by the bloc.

The impact on China’s EV makers will vary depending on the level of tariff and each company’s cost structure. Those hardest hit may be forced to raise prices or set up factories in Europe.

And while Beijing is clearly unhappy, analysts say it’s unlikely to want to rush into a full-blown trade war with its second biggest trading partner, not least because of economic pressures at home.

For market leader BYD, which vies with Tesla as the world’s top producer of battery electric vehicles, there’s still space for it to grow in Europe, even with the additional duty, according to Gregor Sebastian, a senior analyst with the Rhodium Group.

Facing the lowest additional levy of 17.4%, BYD could emerge as a relative “winner,” he said. Duties at this level could even allow BYD to cut its already competitive prices to gain market share in Europe.

“BYD is already building a factory in Europe, is likely to still profitably export to the EU even with 17% duties, and can export plug-in hybrids without additional duties,” Sebastian said. The new tariffs only target battery EVs.

Rhodium said in April that BYD’s European profits are 45% higher than in China, meaning that market will still remain highly attractive even after the new tariffs are imposed.

China’s top market

Europe is key to Beijing’s EV ambitions. It overtook Asia as China’s largest EV export market in 2021. That helped propel China into pole position as the world’s No 1 car exporter.

“One critical issue for China is that the EU accounted for 38% of China’s EV exports in 2023,” Sebastian said. “China will not be able to reroute exports to other countries as potential alternatives like Brazil, Turkey and the US have also pulled up drawbridges.”

Last month, the United States quadrupled tariffs on EVs from China, from 25% to 100%, aiming to boost American jobs and manufacturing.

“The EU is the only market left that is both wealthy and large enough to absorb a meaningful amount of China’s excess production of EVs,” said Etienne Soula, a research analyst with Alliance for Securing Democracy at the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

The Chinese government has big dreams for the country’s EV industry, part of a broader strategy to surpass America in the global tech race.

It’s also trying to counter a property-induced economic slowdown and promote a low-carbon economy. EVs, along with photovoltaics and lithium-ion batteries, are seen by the government as the “new three” growth drivers that will play a pivotal role in shaping the country’s economic landscape.

In February, nine government agencies, including the Commerce Ministry and the central bank, vowed to provide support to accelerate Chinese EV makers’ global push.

Tesla prices to rise

In contrast to BYD, state-owned carmaker SAIC is in a “disastrous” situation facing 38.1% in additional tariffs, according to Sebastian.

EV sales in the EU accounted for 15% of the company’s total sales in 2023 and early 2024. The Shanghai-based automaker, which was China’s second largest seller of battery EVs, pug-in hybrids and fuel cell cars (NEVs) last year, will likely need to build a factory in Europe to bypass these duties.

Geely, China’s fourth largest NEV retailer and the owner of Volvo, faces 20% in additional duties, a penalty which is likely to be a “mixed bag,” Sebastian said. His analysis suggests Geely could still profitably export to the EU, but margins will narrow severely.

For Tesla (TSLA), which uses China as its base for global exports including to Europe, the situation is also tricky.

The European Commission said Wednesday that the EV giant may receive an individually calculated duty rate at a future stage following a request by the carmaker.

In a message posted to its website in several European countries Thursday, Tesla said it expected to have to raise prices for its Model 3 from July 1 because of the new tariffs.

Sebastian said additional duties above 21% would likely render Tesla’s exports from China to the EU uncompetitive.

Localization coming

The EU’s move is likely to hasten efforts by Chinese carmakers to set up factories in the region.

The “announcement is more likely to accelerate the extent to which Chinese [EV companies] and suppliers manufacture their products within Europe, something that we have already started to see,” said Andrew Bergbaum, global co-head of AlixPartners’ automotive & industrial practice.

BYD announced in December that it would build an EV factory in Hungary, becoming the first major Chinese automaker to build passenger cars in Europe.

While the tariffs would not be good news for consumers and cities with zero emission needs, “the establishment of new European-manufactured electric vehicles by Chinese companies would certainly be welcomed,” said Bergbaum.

However, it also means there will be more competition in a sector that already has too much capacity, leading to large scale disruptions of existing manufacturing sites as they “rebalance their resources”, he added.

UBS analysts, meanwhile, predicted on Wednesday that the number of Chinese manufacturers making inroads in the EU would become “more concentrated.”

Smaller players may become discouraged and give up, even as Chinese industry leaders press ahead. But they also expected Chinese companies to accelerate the location of assembly plants in the EU, a move which would be welcomed by EU member states like Hungry, Italy, and Spain.

Too much to lose

Ahead of the announcement, Beijing had dropped hints that it could retaliate.

Its ministries of commerce and foreign ministries each reiterated Wednesday that China would take “all necessary measures” to defend its interests.

Analysts, though, don’t believe there is a high chance of serious escalation.

“The situation is unlikely to develop into a full-blown trade war, both sides have too much to lose,” Sebastian said.

Soula said China could retaliate by imposing tariffs on some European goods such as luxury cars, premium brandies or airplane parts.

But given the economic pressures that China is already under, it has “limited room” for maneuver when responding to the EU.

Also, “there is still the possibility of (EU) countries who are skeptical of this investigation coming together to diminish the final level of the tariffs,” he said. “In this context, China may want to wait before going all out to avoid hardening attitudes in those member states.”

Currently provisional, the tariffs are due to be introduced on July 4 if discussions with Chinese authorities don’t lead to a mutual agreement.

CNN’s Hanna Ziady and Fred He contributed to reporting.

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Why did the pope cross the road? To host more than 100 comedians

Christopher Lamb, CNN
Thu, 13 June 2024



A global gathering of comedians is due to take place Friday in an unlikely venue: the Vatican.

Pope Francis is hosting the equivalent of a “conclave of comedians” by inviting Whoopi Goldberg, Jimmy Fallon, Chris Rock, Stephen Colbert, Conan O’Brien and others to Rome. Over 200 people are expected at the audience, with more than 100 comedians from 15 countries.

The 87-year-old pontiff is known for his sense of humor. He likes to crack jokes with people he meets, often telling them with a smile: “please pray for me… not against me!” He has repeatedly emphasized the importance of having a sense of humor, saying it is something that he prays for each day.

“A sense of humor lifts you up, it shows your life is short and to take things in the spirit of a redeemer,” Francis once said in an interview. “It is a human attribute, but it is the closest to God’s grace.”

Francis’ meeting on Friday with “artists from the world of humor” is part of his latest attempt to engage with contemporary culture, with the Vatican explaining in a statement that the meeting underlines how the “art of comedy can contribute to a more empathetic and supportive world.”

It follows on from his landmark visit to the Venice Biennale and his meeting last year with artists and directors in the Vatican. The meeting also comes with the pope facing question marks over his outreach to LGBTQ+ Catholics after reportedly using a homophobic slur at private meetings.

Others from the US contingent include Tig Notaro, Jim Gaffigan with several Catholics among them: both Gaffigan and Colbert identify as Catholics while Fallon and O’Brien were both raised in the Catholic Church. Also due to attend is Julia Louis-Dreyfus who told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour that she had “no idea” what to expect.

Fr. James Martin, a Jesuit priest sometimes dubbed “The Colbert Report’s Chaplain,” will also attend the meeting and Colbert talked about the upcoming papal audience on his show.

“Pope Francis is going to meet me at the Vatican!” he joked. “Am I excited? Is the pope Catholic?”

Colbert then gave a jokey warning to Chris Rock, referring to the incident when Rock was hit by actor Will Smith during the Oscars.

“Chris, please for safety’s sake I would just keep Mary Magdalene’s name out of your mouth. Because the pope wears a big ring!”

He also made reference to the controversy over the pope’s reported use of an anti-gay slur asking: “Why Pope Frankie, why?”

Meanwhile, Whoopi Goldberg, the star of “Sister Act,” has already met the pope during an audience in the Vatican last year.

At that meeting, Goldberg said she offered Francis a cameo in “Sister Act 3,” the film series about a singer who joins a convent.

Playful pope jokes with world's comedians ahead of G7

AFP
Fri, 14 June 2024 at 4:01 am GMT-6·2-min read

The pope stuck his thumb in his ear and wiggled his fingers (Simone Risoluti)


Pope Francis on Friday clowned around with over 100 top global comedians including Whoopi Goldberg, Chris Rock and Jimmy Fallon before leaving to address a summit of G7 leaders in Italy.

"Instead of reading my speech, I'll just do this", the grinning 87-year-old said, as he stuck his thumb in his ear and wiggled his fingers at a room full of humourists.

Francis met with cheers and applause as he began the day with an audience for comedians from 15 countries, from Argentina to Germany and East Timor.

"Sister Act" star Whoopi Goldberg and Julia Louis-Dreyfus of "Seinfeld" fame waved from the front row as the pope entered the gilded and frescoed room at the Vatican.

The 107 comedians included Britain's Stephen Merchant, from TV show "The Office", US stand-up comedian Chris Rock, and Italy's Silvio Orlando, who played a scheming cardinal in "The Young Pope".

Seconds before Francis arrived, Jimmy Fallon, host of the "Tonight Show" in the US, had the room in fits of laughter as he pranced around at the front.

Goldberg has previously joked about offering the pope a cameo in "Sister Act 3".

Asked if she pressed Francis on it Friday, she quipped that "it wasn't the right moment, I'll probably send him an email", according to ANSA news agency.

Francis then headed to Puglia, to join the heads of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US at a summit also attended by leaders from Brazil, India, Kenya, Turkey and Ukraine.

"Immersed as we are in many social and personal emergencies, you have the power to spread serenity and smiles", the pope told the comedians.

"You are among the few to have the ability to speak to very different people, from different generations, backgrounds and cultures," Francis said.

The Argentine will be the first head of the Catholic Church to attend a G7 summit.

Francis has been asked by host Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to talk about the moral and ethical quandaries surrounding artificial intelligence.

He is also expected to conduct a series of bilateral meetings to discuss pressing global issues, including the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine.

ide/ams/ach


Did you hear the one about the pope? Francis tells audience of comedians it’s OK to laugh at God

Angela Giuffrida in Rome

THE GUARDIAN
Fri, 14 June 2024 

Pope Francis said that laughing at God “is not blasphemy” as he met more than 100 comedians from around the world at the Vatican, encouraging them to use their powerful gift of humour to spread laughter “in the midst of so much gloomy news”.

The pontiff, himself prone to the odd quip, invited comedians including Jimmy Fallon, Chris Rock, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Stephen Merchant to the audience at the Apostolic Palace on Friday as part of his attempt to engage with contemporary culture.

“In the midst of so much gloomy news, immersed as we are in so many social and even personal emergencies, you have the power to spread peace and smiles,” Francis, 87, said in a speech issued to the press by the Holy See.

“You are among the few to have the ability to speak to very different people, from different generations and cultural backgrounds. You unite people, because laughter is contagious.”

Francis said he has prayed to God for 40 years and asked him for “a good sense of humour”, before adding that it was not blasphemous to “laugh at God”, in the same way we “play and joke with the people we love”. However, he warned the comics that humour can be used “without offending the religious feelings of believers, especially the poor”.

The pope shook hands with the comedians afterwards, while Father Antonio Spadaro, the Vatican’s undersecretary for culture and education, shared a selfie with Whoopi Goldberg on social media.

The vast majority of the comedians present were Italian, followed by 12 from the US. Three came from Ireland – Ardal O’Hanlon, Tommy Tiernan and Patrick Kielty.

Related: Pope Francis tells priests to keep homilies short as ‘people fall asleep’

Francis told the comics that they managed to make people smile while also “dealing with problems, large and small”. He added: “You denounce abuses of power; you give voice to forgotten situations; you highlight abuses; you point out inappropriate behaviour.”

The Irish comedians were criticised for their attendance in an opinion piece on the Irish news website The Journal. “It seems grossly offensive, at best, that an organisation which presided over and aided in the cover-up of systemic child abuse could have the audacity to suggest it is now time for some laughs,” wrote Simon Tierney, who said that after hearing about the event he recalled another Irish entertainer “who took a rather more defiant approach to a different Pope”.

Tierney was referring to the late Sinead O’Connor, who in 1992 caused a severe backlash after tearing up a photo of Pope John Paul II on live TV in protest against child sexual abuse in the Catholic church.

Francis, who in recent years has been blighted by ill-health, had a busy schedule on Friday, including meeting the president of Cape Verde and bishops from Equatorial Guinea before travelling by helicopter to Puglia, where he will be the first pontiff to address a G7 summit. The pope will lead a discussion about AI and has 10 bilateral meetings on the agenda.

Laughter lessons: a comedy watchlist for Pope Francis

Catherine Shoard
Fri, 14 June 2024 

Giving the audience a grin … Eric Idle and Graham Chapman in Life of Brian.Photograph: Landmark Media/Alamy

A hundred top comedians are generally considered a tough crowd, but Pope Francis had them rolling in the aisles at the Vatican on Friday, with jovial praise for their profession.

To “laugh at God” was fine, he explained, in the same way “we play and joke with the people we love”.

“While communication today often generates conflict,” the pontiff continued, “you know how to bring together diverse and sometimes contrary realities. How much we need to learn from you!”

The church has been the source of a great deal of humour over the ages – not all of it welcomed at the time by believers. Here we look at some of the most successful comedies for Pope Francis – and his disciples – to contemplate.

Life of Brian

All study of religious irreverence must begin with Monty Python’s satire about Brian (Graham Chapman), born to Mandy (Terry Jones), in the stable next door to Jesus – prompting considerable confusion. Now considered one of the finest films ever made, it was banned for blasphemy in 1979 across much of the world, including Ireland and Italy. This proved commercially invaluable. In Sweden, its posters read: “So funny it was banned in Norway.”

Father Ted

Among the pope’s congregation was Ardal O’Hanlon, best known as endlessly bewildered Father Dougal in Channel 4’s surreal sitcom about three priests exiled to remotest Craggy Island. Despite their almost total lack of faith, both Dougal and Ted (Dermot Morgan) share a benign decency (money resting in bank accounts notwithstanding) which made them that rare thing in the mid-90s: much-loved high-profile priests.

Now a key comfort watch for many (Maurice Gibb was buried with the boxset), Ted has long since overcome its early controversy. Plus, as its creators once reassured a real priest, it was never intended to be representative. “Lads,” he told them, “you don’t know the half of it.”

Derry Girls

Also in attendance on Friday was Tommy Tiernan, who features in Lisa McGee’s show set in a girls’ Catholic school during the Troubles. The headmistress is the withering Sister George Michael (Siobhán McSweeney), who drips contempt for pupils and priests alike, and only became a nun for the free accommodation.

Sister Angela’s Girls

If that all proves too pointed for the pontiff, he might prefer this soapy Italian series in which an ex-con nun doles out frank advice to young hotties lodging in her convent. Angela’s faith is sincere, though her methods – think slapping local playboys – less conventional.

Sister Act

Whoopi Goldberg is a regular visitor to the Vatican: last year she petitioned Pope Francis to cameo in the third Sister Act film, continuing the adventures of a nightclub singer who seeks refuge from the mob sequestered in Maggie Smith’s nunnery. Goldberg reported that despite being “a bit of a fan”, Francis said he’d have to check his schedule.

The Pope Must Die

Released in the US as the marginally less sacrilegious The Pope Must Diet, this surprisingly tame comedy sees maverick priest Robbie Coltrane accidentally installed in the Vatican. It was released a year after Nuns on the Run, with Coltrane and Eric Idle struggling to suppress their criminal tendencies and heterosexual stirrings beneath enormous habits.

Bruce Almighty

Nothing to trouble the devout in this jolly Jim Carrey romp about an avaricious anchorman offered the chance to play God for a week. Amusing moments conclude with a respectful moral about converting sin into an appreciation of life’s small joys.

The Invention of Lying

This smart and subtle Ricky Gervais comedy is set in an alternative reality in which fibs don’t exist. But when one man works out how to lie, he cooks up the concept of religion to comfort his dying mother: “It’s not an eternity of nothingness. You go to your favourite place in the whole world and everyone you’ve ever loved will be there. And there’s no pain.”

Good Omens

The series based on Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s novel about a bickering angel (David Tennant) and demon (Michael Sheen) teaming up to avert Armageddon portrays heaven and hell as petty bureaucracies and flawed humanity as the universe’s only hope. A mixed message for Christianity, but uplifting seen through the right lens.

The Vicar of Dibley

“You were expecting a bloke: beard, Bible, bad breath. Instead, you got a babe with a bobcut and a magnificent bosom,” declares Dawn French at the start of Richard Curtis’s sitcom. Forged in the heat of the Anglican church agreeing to ordain women, it has since become one of their most effective weapons. Geraldine Granger’s language may be irreverent but you could never doubt her commitment – three consecutive Christmas dinners included.