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20th Democracy & Diversity Graduate Summer Institute

The Transregional Center for Democratic Studies of The New School for Social Research

is pleased to announce the

20th Democracy & Diversity Graduate Summer Institute

Wrocław [Vrot-swaf], Poland

July 8-24, 2011

TCDS is looking forward to welcoming another cohort of up to forty junior scholars from the US, Europe, and other parts of the world to this anniversary session of the Democracy & Diversity Institute to be held in the inspiring city of Wroclaw, Poland, from July 8-24, 2011. Located in a landmark modernist structure in the largest park of the Lower Silesia region, the institute offers an intensive program of study, equivalent of a full semester of graduate study in the US.    This year’s program will unfold around the theme The World in Crisis: A Critical Reading, and will consider issues of political violence, the salient role of new media, the contestation of gender, and the ethnicization of politics. Courses offered at this year’s Institute:

Courses offered at this year’s Institute:

  • Gender – Stable and Unstable: How Urgent Are Gender Questions? Professor Ann Snitow, Eugene Lang College
  • Media and News in a Time of Crisis, Professor Jeffrey Goldfarb, New School for Social Research & Professor Daniel Dayan, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris & New School for Social Research
  • Romancing Violence: Theories and Practices of Political Violence, Professor Elzbieta Matynia, New School for Social Research
  • “We the People”: Nationalism, Ethnicity and Belonging, Professor Sharika Thiranagama, New School for Social Research

Located between Berlin, Prague and Warsaw, and saturated with the history and memory of these three distinct cultures, Wroclaw (formerly Breslau) is a beautiful and booming city that uniquely conveys both the challenges and the promise of a united Europe. Drawing on Wroclaw’s culture of the borderland, TCDS’s network of distinguished and dedicated collaborators and alumni, and the New School’s reputation stemming from our long-term engagement in the region, this anniversary session of the Democracy & Diversity Institute offers a rigorous program of critical inquiry on some of the most pressing problems of our time.

The Wroclaw Institute is organized in collaboration with the International Institute for the Study of Culture and Education at the University of Lower Silesia.

For full program information, course descriptions and details on how to apply, please see the attached announcement or visit our website: http://newschool.edu/tcds/subpage.aspx?id=28468.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS IS MARCH 14, 2011.

For further information email TCDS@newschool.edu or call 212-229-5580 x3136.

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African Union Declines Action Against Libya

The African Union Peace and Security Council has met to discuss events in Libya, but declined to follow other international bodies in imposing sanctions against the Gaddafi government. The Council also extended the mandate of an Ivory Coast mediation team.

The United Nations and the European Union have slapped sanctions on Libya. The Arab League has suspended Libya’s membership. But when Africa’s highest secruity body discussed the Libya question Monday, it took no action.

Libya is a major funder of the African Union, and has a seat on the 15-member Peace and Security Council, but its ambassador Ali Abdalla Awidan did not take part in the debate. He stood outside the Council chamber, where he declined to comment.

However, in a written statement sent to reporters Saturday, the ambassador condemned the use of excessive force and affirmed the right of the Libyan people to protest peacefully to express their demands.

AU Peace and Security Commissioner Ramtane Lamamra says the Council felt no need to act other than to express support for United Nations Security Council sanctions, which have the force of law under Chapter 7 of the U.N. charter.

“They have exchanged views and thoroughly discussed the evolution of the situation, including new developments represented by the decision made by the UNSC under Chapter 7, and they have decided to continue their consultations,” Lamamra said.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in a speech earlier in the day to the U.N. Human Rights Council, urged the African Union to follow the Arab League’s lead in suspending Libya’s membership. Lamamra said he had not heard about Secretary Clinton’s remarks.

“I’m not aware of that speech. I certainly will take, I will read it with big interest, but for now I have not seen that text and in which context this request has been put,” Lamamra said.

Libya’s ambassador later joined the Council meeting as it voted to extend by one month the mandate of a high-level panel tasked with finding a solution to Ivory Coast’s post-election power struggle.

The panel was supposed to have completed its mission by the end of February. But the job is proving more difficult than expected, as incumbent Laurent Gbagbo refuses to hand over power to Alassane Ouattara, the internationally recognized winner of the November presidential election.

The panel, which includes the presidents of Mauritania, South Africa, Tanzania, Burkina Faso and Chad, is to meet Friday in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott.

Commissioner Lamamra said the Peace and Security Council is issuing a fresh appeal for calm during the extended mediation period.

“The council condemns all action from wherever they come from against the civilian population and expresses its serious concern with the deterioration of the security and humanitarian situation in Cote d’Ivoire,” Lamamra said.

The United Nations says post-election violence in Ivory Coast has claimed more than 300 lives.

(Voice of America)

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UN Secretary General Calls for Compliance With Arms Embargo in Côte d’Ivoire

28 February 2011 –Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for full compliance with the arms embargo placed on Côte d’Ivoire, in the wake of reports that attack helicopters have been provided to forces loyal to former president Laurent Gbagbo.

“The Secretary-General demands full compliance with the arms embargo and warns both the supplier of this military equipment and Mr. Gbagbo that appropriate action will be taken in response to the violation,” Mr. Ban’s spokesperson said in a statement issued overnight, which noted that the reported delivery of the helicopters and other material could be “a serious violation” of the arms embargo, mandated by the Security Council, which has been in place since 2004.

Côte d’Ivoire has been caught in a political deadlock with growing reports of tension and violence – between rival groups as well as on UN peacekeepers – since Mr. Gbagbo refused to leave office after he was defeated by opposition leader Alassane Ouattara in a presidential election held last November.

The spokesperson’s statement added that the violation of the embargo has been brought to the attention of the Security Council committee charged with the responsibility for sanctions against Côte d’Ivoire.

Speaking to the press today, Mr. Ban’s spokesperson said that the UN peacekeeping mission in the West African country – the UN Operation in Cote d’Ivoire (UNOCI) – reported that a flight carrying some of the helicopter parts landed at the capital, Yamoussoukro. A team made up of members of the group of experts and an UNOCI officer travelled to the city’s airport but was unable to verify the information and was forced to withdraw when they were fired upon by armed elements.

On Monday, some media reports identified Belarus as the source of the helicopters and equipment. In a statement posted on the website of the country’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations, in New York, the spokesperson from Belarus’ foreign ministry denied the reports, noting that “the Republic of Belarus has always regarded UN Security Council’s decisions very responsibly.”

In the statement issued overnight, Mr. Ban’s spokesperson said the Secretary-General has asked UNOCI to monitor the situation closely and to take all necessary action, within its mandate, to ensure that the delivered equipment is not prepared for use.

Last week, the Secretary-General reiterated his deep concern over the deteriorating situation in Côte d’Ivoire. Last year’s election was meant to be the culmination of efforts to reunify the country, which was split by civil war in 2002 into a government-controlled south and a rebel-held north.

UN News Service
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Learning Reduces Blood Pressure, Scientific Study

Learning reduces blood pressure

Forget about the stress you go through during exams time in school. A study that has been published in the journal BMC Public Health, shows education reduces blood pressure and the reduction is even bigger in women than in men.

The British Heart Foundation said the findings supported the link between deprivation and heart disease risk.

The researchers suggest that blood pressure could be the reason why higher levels of education are generally linked to lower levels of heart diseases.

Now the technical:

  • Length of study 30 years
  • Number of people followed in the study 3,890
  • Study Groups: 3 [low education (12 years or less), middle education (13 to 16 years) and high education (17 years or more].
  • What was measured: The average systolic blood pressure for the 30 year period was then calculated.
  • Results: Women with low education had a blood pressure 3.26 mmHg higher than those with a high level of education. In men the difference was 2.26 mmHg.

Factors such as smoking, drinking and medication were taken into consideration

So what? ((Added commentary mine)

Does this mean you should pack and head for Harvard? Not necessarily. Some of us surely cannot or will not go back to school, but we can surely spend a day at the library over the weekend, read a challenging article in the local newspaper, or watch that intellectual discussion on the TV. Feeding your brain with diverse material will help reduce stress and worries which play role in blood pressure. And depriving your brain with such material will surely warrant the opposite effect.

And as for your children, give them the best start in life.

(Added commentary mine)

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Hillary Clinton: U.S. Stands Ready To Aid Libya Protesters

Hillary Clinton

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration stands ready to offer “any type of assistance” to Libyans seeking to oust Muammar Gaddafi, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Sunday, adding a warning to other African nations not to let mercenaries go to the aid of the longtime dictator.

Clinton made no mention of any U.S. military assistance in her remarks to reporters before flying to Geneva for talks with diplomats from Russia, the European Union and other powers eager to present a united anti-Gaddafi front.

Shortly before she left, two senators urged the administration to help arm a provisional government in Libya, where Gaddafi is in the midst of the desperate and increasingly violent bid to retain power.

Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Joseph Lieberman, a Connecticut independent, also called for the United States and its allies to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya to prevent the military from again firing on civilian protesters from the air.

The White House had no immediate comment on their recommendations.

Clinton spoke to reporters one day after President Barack Obama branded Gaddafi an illegitimate ruler who must leave power immediately. “We want him to leave and we want him to end his regime and call off the mercenaries and those troops that remain loyal to him,” she said. “How he manages that is obviously up to him and to his family.”

The U.N. Security Council voted last Saturday to impose new penalties against the Gaddafi government, in power since 1969 in the oil-rich nation along Africa’s Mediterranean Coast.

“We are just at the beginning of what will follow Gaddafi. … But we’ve been reaching out to many different Libyans who are attempting to organize in the east and as the revolution moves westward there as well,” Clinton said. “I think it’s way too soon to tell how this is going to play out, but we’re going to be ready and prepared to offer any kind of assistance that anyone wishes to have from the United States.”

Efforts are under way to form a provisional government in the eastern part of the country where the rebellion began at midmonth.

The U.S., Clinton said, is threatening more measures against Gaddafi’s government, but did not say what they were or when they might be announced.

Addressing the rulers of unnamed neighboring countries, she said: “You must stop mercenaries, you must stop those who may be going to Libya either at the behest or opportunistically to engage in violence or other criminal acts. And we will be working closely with those neighboring countries to ensure that they do so.

The African fighters that Gaddafi is allegedly using against protesters come from several nations.

Clinton’s remarks did not go as far as those of McCain or Lieberman.

“Libyan pilots aren’t going to fly if there is a no-fly zone and we could get air assets there to ensure it,” McCain said. But he added, “I’m not ready to use ground forces or further intervention than that.”

He said the U.S. should “recognize some provisional government that they are trying to set already up in the eastern part of Libya, help them with material assistance, make sure that every one of the mercenaries know that any acts they commit they will find themselves in front a war crimes tribunal. Get tough.”

Lieberman spoke in similar terms, urging “tangible support, (a) no-fly zone, recognition of the revolutionary government, the citizens government and support for them with both humanitarian assistance and I would provide them with arms.”

He likened the situation in Libya to the events in the Balkans in the 1990s when he said the U.S. “intervened to stop a genocide against Bosnians. And the first we did was to provide them the arms to defend themselves. That’s what I think we ought to do in Libya.”

McCain and Lieberman spoke on CNN’s “State of the Union” from Egypt, where a largely peaceful popular uprising recently toppled President Hosni Mubarak from power after a reign of nearly three decades.

It was one of numerous rebellions across Northern Africa and the Middle East in recent months, all of them far less violent than the events in Libya, where Gaddafi has used his military and foreign mercenaries to try and crush a revolt and has threatened to begin arming Libyans who support his rule.

The rebellion began Feb. 15 in Benghazi, where a member of the city council said on Sunday that an ex-justice minister was appointed to lead a provisional government for cities under rebel control.

McCain and Lieberman also said Obama was slow to react to Gaddafi’s brutal response to the protests. The administration has said the president did not want to risk any attack on Americans who had been trying to leave the country, and waited until a ferry loaded with evacuees reached Malta after spending two days in the harbor at Tripoli, the capital, because of bad weather.

“The British prime minister and the French president and others were not hesitant and they have citizens in that country,” said McCain, who also appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Lieberman said he understood why the administration hesitated, but added, “I wish we had spoken out much more clearly and early against the Gaddafi regime.”

AP/The Huffington Post BRADLEY KLAPPER

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I Thought of AIDS as a Gay Man’s Disease and I was Neither a Man nor Was I Gay

Michelle Anderson is a mother, an activist, and a recent beauty pageant winner

Ray Jordan,

Michelle Anderson is a mother, an activist, and a recent beauty pageant winner. However, she is more than that. She’s also one of the thousands of African American women living with HIV/AIDS. While HIV and AIDS was once considered to be a White gay male disease, the face of HIV has shifted dramatically and now overwhelmingly affects African Americans with a sharp increase in African American women. In fact, according to the National Women’s Health Information Center, an office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Black women are 15 times more likely to be infected with HIV than are White women and are four times more likely than that of Latinas.

Anderson’s story, while tragic, is not that different than thousands of other women. Sexually abused as a child and unable to handle the emotional trauma she experienced as a result of it, she sought refuge in drugs and alcohol.

“I made some bad decisions,” Anderson admitted. “And, some (decisions) stemmed from being molested as a child.” She explains how she turned to drugs and alcohol and to having sex for money when she could no longer afford the drugs.

“I knew my behavior was risky,” she says, “but, I thought of AIDS as a gay man’s disease and I was neither a man nor was I gay.”

However, during drug treatment Anderson was given an HIV test and describes being stunned when the test came back positive. “I was in disbelief. I was shocked. I was angry. I thought I was going to die and that there was no reason to continue drug treatment.” But before she gave up and left the treatment center, she had a dream. “I’m a spiritual person,” Anderson said. “I had an overwhelming feeling that everything was going to be ok. While in treatment, I had a dream that I would die of old age not HIV. It’s the only reason I stayed.”

Anderson’s story, unfortunately, is not that uncommon. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 1 in 32 Black women will be diagnosed with HIV in their lifetime. This means that Black women, although only 12 percent of the female population, account for 61 percent of all new HIV cases among women. In fact, HIV/AIDS is the third leading cause of death among Black women aged 25 to 34 and 35 to 44, the majority of whom, like Anderson, contracted the virus through heterosexual sex.

Research points to several complex factors that have led to the prevalence of HIV/AIDS within the Black community and the dramatic increase among Black women, two of which are socioeconomic factors and stigma. Social and economic realities of some African Americans have shown to increase HIV risk. These realities include higher levels of poverty, racial discrimination, lack of healthcare access and higher rates of incarceration, which disrupt social and sexual networks. CDC research has shown that poverty is associated with a higher risk of HIV infection among African Americans, even among those who do not have high-risk behaviors.

Studies have also shown that the stigma associated with both an HIV diagnosis and sexual orientation can be greater within the African American community and therefore invoke fear of disclosing one’s HIV status. Subsequently, this causes an obstacle to education, treatment, and further disease prevention. This fear, according to the CDC, can also prevent African Americans from receiving the much-needed support of friends and family that a newly diagnosed person needs.

As with many other HIV positive African American women, Anderson describes the experiences with her friends and family as bittersweet. “It was really hard at first with my family. They weren’t educated. I had to really deal and go through a process of reeducating them. It took a little while, but they were able to accept it,” she says. Anderson has persevered and in spite of sensitive experiences within her family and romantic relationships, she has become an activist and advocate for other women living with HIV.

Almost 12 years since her diagnosis, Anderson, at 40 years old, is healthy, happy, and the newly crowned Ms. Duncanville Plus. She describes herself as fully disclosed, even with new dating partners, as she raises a teenager. Knowing that it may mean the end of a promising relationship or even cause difficulty for her youngest daughter who isn’t quite 17 years old, she’s not deterred. Yes, she’s had some men not want to continue dating because of her status and although her daughter has experienced taunting at school, Anderson and her three children are fine with that. She knows that living her truth is better than living in shame. She has a message to share.

“The most important thing that people need to realize is that we all share the same vulnerabilities. Everyone wants to think about the behavior, but the behavior is just a symptom of the vulnerability. We all share the same vulnerabilities, the only difference is I’m infected and they’re not.”

You can listen to Michelles’ radio  here http://www.blogtalkradio.com/poziam/2010/11/08/michelle-anderson–hiv-beauty-queen

Black Voices

Ray Jordan, Special to the NNPA from the Dallas Examiner[ad#Adsense-468×60]

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Ghana: Eastern Region takes steps to reduce HIV/AIDS prevalence rate

Koforidua, Feb. 27, GNA – The Eastern Regional AIDs Committee is to organize HIV Counseling and Testing on May Day at the Jacksons Park to enable workers to know their statuses.

This is to help to reduce the HIV prevalence rate in the region of about 4.2 per cent, the highest in the country.

This came to light at a review and planning meeting by the Committee at Koforidua on Friday to strategize on the measures to take to help to further reduce the rate.

The region used to have a prevalence of over six per cent.

The Committee also planned to reorganize the quarterly review meeting with the district focal persons.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency, the Regional HIV/AIDs Focal Person, Mr Kwame Oppong-Ntim, said during the year, the Committee would also hold meetings with organizations running various HIV/AIDs programmes in the region to monitor what they were doing.

He said, the members of the Committee would also visit institutions such as the prisons and orphanages in the region to find out what measures were being taken to help to reduce the HIV infections.

GNA

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Genetically Modified Fungi Prevent Parasite Development in Malaria Mosquitoes

spores of Metarhizium anisopliae in an oil formulation germinating on locust cuticle

K. Amponsah-Manager

A team of scientists in the UK and US have genetically modified a fungus that prevents the development of malaria-causing parasites in the mosquitoes.  The study which has been published in the journal Science showed that the fungus can eliminate up to 90% of the parasite in the vector that carry it, the female anopheles mosquito.

The scientists inserted the genes of human antibodies or scorpion toxins into a fungus called Metarhizium anisopliae and infected mosquitoes with the fungus. This conferred onto mosquitoes infected with the fungus the ability to block the development of malaria-causing parasites in mosquitoes.

The female Anopheles mosquitoes are the vectors for the malaria parasite, Plasmodium, which develop inside the body of mosquitoes. The mosquito simply helps to shuttle the parasite between infected person and healthy people and therefore the ability to deprive the parasite of its taxi service is key to fighting the illness.

Due to the environmental hazards of using pesticides to fight the malaria mosquitoes and the development of resistance to many anti-malarial products, recent years scientists have focused their attention on finding natural and environmental friendly methods to fight the disease. The fungus Metarhizium anisopliae naturally kills mosquitoes but unlike parasites, it takes day to accomplish that. The advantage of the Fungi’s patience is that because the mosquitoes can mate and do their usual chores, they have less reason to develop resistance.

Results of the study showed that malaria parasite survived in the salivary glands of 25 percent of the mosquitoes sprayed with the genetically modified organism, compared to 87 percent of those sprayed with an unmodified strain of the fungus, and to 94 percent of those that were not sprayed at all.

The good news from the study is the possibility that spraying malaria-transmitting mosquitoes with the genetically-modified fungus, also known as transgenic fungus, could one day become a feasible method to significantly reduce the transmission of the disease to humans.