With an attentive audience, Oneida County DA Scott McNamara absolutely got it right.
"People will say she got away with murder because of who she is, but this law was passed so people don't watch somebody die because they're afraid of jail."
Sunday, November 18, 2012
This week's sign of the (un)apocalypse.
Not one to hide my prejudices, as a general rule, I expect from District Attorneys something between the very least and the very worst. While perhaps no less convinced most DAs would sell their soul to the cause of the day...
With an attentive audience, Oneida County DA Scott McNamara absolutely got it right.
"People will say she got away with murder because of who she is, but this law was passed so people don't watch somebody die because they're afraid of jail."
With an attentive audience, Oneida County DA Scott McNamara absolutely got it right.
"People will say she got away with murder because of who she is, but this law was passed so people don't watch somebody die because they're afraid of jail."
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Dear straight white men in America,
Like your third-party straw men, your specious claims of fiscal conservatism celebrate and protect your privilege, nothing more. For the rest of us, presidential elections speak to our personhood, whether we are full citizens or your subjects.
Please, keep that shit to yourself.
Thank you.
Yours in exhaustion,
Alli
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Ignorance and malice win in NJ. Jerry gets it right.
NJ: Governor Chris Christie vetoed New Jersey's Good Samaritan Law.
No one should be afraid that calling 911 to save a life will land her in jail.
No one should die simply because witnesses would not call 911.
They do.
They will.
They will continue to.
Thank you Governor Christie.
Christie's veto ensures that many more people in his state will die absolutely preventable deaths.
It also sanctions apathy as the appropriate response to life and death situations. Another point in the war against human dignity, sir.
Meanwhile, Jerry got it right again. After sitting on his desk for what felt like ages, Jerry Brown signed AB 472 on September 17, 2012.
No one should be afraid that calling 911 to save a life will land her in jail.
No one should die simply because witnesses would not call 911.
They do.
They will.
They will continue to.
Thank you Governor Christie.
Christie's veto ensures that many more people in his state will die absolutely preventable deaths.
It also sanctions apathy as the appropriate response to life and death situations. Another point in the war against human dignity, sir.
Meanwhile, Jerry got it right again. After sitting on his desk for what felt like ages, Jerry Brown signed AB 472 on September 17, 2012.
This bill would provide that
it shall not be a crime for any person who experiences a drug-related overdose, as defined, who, in good faith, seeks medical assistance, or any other person who, in good faith, seeks medical assistance for the person experiencing a drug-related overdose, to be under the influence of, or to possess for personal use, a controlled substance, controlled substance analog, or drug paraphernalia, under certain circumstances related to a drug-related overdose that prompted seeking medical assistance if that person does not obstruct medical or law enforcement personnel.
The bill would provide that its provisions shall not affect laws prohibiting the selling, providing, giving, or exchanging of drugs, or laws prohibiting the forcible administration of drugs against a person’s will. The bill would provide that it shall not affect liability for any offense that involves activities made dangerous by the consumption of controlled substances, including, but not limited to, driving under the influence.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Overdose Awareness Day is August 31, 2012
• Every day an estimated 100 lives are lost to an accidental drug overdose in the US.
• Drug overdose is the leading cause of preventable death for people under the age of 65 in the US.
• Prescription painkillers were involved in over 15,000 overdose deaths in the US in 2008.
• Drug overdose death rates in the US have more than tripled since 1990 and have never been higher.
• In 2009, more than 37,000 people died from drug overdoses, the majority from prescription drugs, heroin and cocaine.
• There are approximately 50 overdose prevention programs in the US that distribute narcan at 200 different locations in 16 states.
• Overdose Prevention programs in the US have trained over 50,000 drug users and their friends or family to use narcan since 1996, resulting in 10,000 reported uses of narcan to reverse an overdose.
• The DOPE Project has trained over 4000 people in San Francisco to use narcan, resulting in around 800 lives saved!
(adapted from E Wheeler, The Dope Project)
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
plausibly acceptable lies and other news....
whatever, I am celebrating just the same.
Obama Backs Same-Sex Marriage
“I had hesitated on gay marriage in part because I thought that civil unions would be sufficient,” Mr. Obama told Ms. Roberts. “I was sensitive to the fact that for a lot of people, the word marriage was something that invokes very powerful traditions and religious beliefs.”
No, you performed an excruciating political maneuver in a country where the fair minded stay home while the bigots and homophobes show up to vote.
hint: "This is my last election."
Obama Backs Same-Sex Marriage
“I had hesitated on gay marriage in part because I thought that civil unions would be sufficient,” Mr. Obama told Ms. Roberts. “I was sensitive to the fact that for a lot of people, the word marriage was something that invokes very powerful traditions and religious beliefs.”
No, you performed an excruciating political maneuver in a country where the fair minded stay home while the bigots and homophobes show up to vote.
hint: "This is my last election."
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Please sign the Syringe Exchange Program Ban Position Statement
Syringe Exchange Program Ban Position Statement
Position Statement on U.S. Congressional ban on the use of federal funds to support syringe exchange programs
We, the undersigned, condemn the December 2011 reinstatement of the U.S. Congressional ban on the use of federal funds to support syringe exchange programs (SEPs). The ban on U.S. federal funds for SEPs was enacted in 1988, but had been repealed by Congress in 2009, after 8 U.S. federally funded reports and a plethora of international research consistently showed that SEPs can reduce syringe-sharing, HIV prevalence and incidence and are cost-effective.
Furthermore, there is overwhelming consensus on a core package of comprehensive HIV prevention services for people who inject drugs, which includes SEPs in addition to drug treatment (including medication-assisted treatment for opioid dependence), HIV testing and counseling, antiretroviral therapy for HIV-positive people who inject drugs, prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted infections, condom programs for people who inject drugs and their sexual partners, targeted information, education, and communication for people who inject drugs and their sexual partners, vaccination, diagnosis, and treatment of viral hepatitis, and diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis. Denying SEPs access to U.S. federal funds, severely limits the provision of these other critical services that usually are offered at SEPs and will prevent the US from reaching its national and international targets on HIV prevention.
After nearly three decades of extensive research, there is no convincing scientific evidence that SEPs are accompanied by serious negative consequences, including increased illicit drug use, crime, injection frequency, multi-person use of contaminated syringes, initiating of drug use, recruiting of new drug injectors, or discarding of syringes in public places. Instead, there is convincing scientific evidence that SEPs have been associated with cost-effective reductions in and cessation of injection drug use and increased enrollment in drug treatment programs.
The reinstated ban on U.S. federal support for SEPs directly conflicts with current policies of the U.S government, including PEPFAR, the President’s National HIV/AIDS Strategy, the U.S. Surgeon General’s Office and the Office of National Drug Control Policy. This policy change will undermine the recent call from the Obama Administration for an AIDS-free generation, and is a major setback for HIV prevention both domestically and globally. The ban will also prevent HIV prevention researchers from meeting their ethical obligation to provide trial participants with best standard of care. Given that people who inject drugs account for 30% of global HIV infections outside of sub-Saharan Africa, we urge the U.S Congress to immediately repeal the U.S. ban on the use of federal funds to support SEPs, which we consider a deadly public policy.
sign here
AFTER you sign,
Please remind yourself that it is time to stop focusing on HIV prevention as the primary purpose of syringe access. HIV prevention is one of numerous, critical reasons to support syringe access. Even an HIV cure would not reduce the need for or importance of syringe access.
(See 11-15-2011, for one example)
Position Statement on U.S. Congressional ban on the use of federal funds to support syringe exchange programs
We, the undersigned, condemn the December 2011 reinstatement of the U.S. Congressional ban on the use of federal funds to support syringe exchange programs (SEPs). The ban on U.S. federal funds for SEPs was enacted in 1988, but had been repealed by Congress in 2009, after 8 U.S. federally funded reports and a plethora of international research consistently showed that SEPs can reduce syringe-sharing, HIV prevalence and incidence and are cost-effective.
Furthermore, there is overwhelming consensus on a core package of comprehensive HIV prevention services for people who inject drugs, which includes SEPs in addition to drug treatment (including medication-assisted treatment for opioid dependence), HIV testing and counseling, antiretroviral therapy for HIV-positive people who inject drugs, prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted infections, condom programs for people who inject drugs and their sexual partners, targeted information, education, and communication for people who inject drugs and their sexual partners, vaccination, diagnosis, and treatment of viral hepatitis, and diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis. Denying SEPs access to U.S. federal funds, severely limits the provision of these other critical services that usually are offered at SEPs and will prevent the US from reaching its national and international targets on HIV prevention.
After nearly three decades of extensive research, there is no convincing scientific evidence that SEPs are accompanied by serious negative consequences, including increased illicit drug use, crime, injection frequency, multi-person use of contaminated syringes, initiating of drug use, recruiting of new drug injectors, or discarding of syringes in public places. Instead, there is convincing scientific evidence that SEPs have been associated with cost-effective reductions in and cessation of injection drug use and increased enrollment in drug treatment programs.
The reinstated ban on U.S. federal support for SEPs directly conflicts with current policies of the U.S government, including PEPFAR, the President’s National HIV/AIDS Strategy, the U.S. Surgeon General’s Office and the Office of National Drug Control Policy. This policy change will undermine the recent call from the Obama Administration for an AIDS-free generation, and is a major setback for HIV prevention both domestically and globally. The ban will also prevent HIV prevention researchers from meeting their ethical obligation to provide trial participants with best standard of care. Given that people who inject drugs account for 30% of global HIV infections outside of sub-Saharan Africa, we urge the U.S Congress to immediately repeal the U.S. ban on the use of federal funds to support SEPs, which we consider a deadly public policy.
sign here
AFTER you sign,
Please remind yourself that it is time to stop focusing on HIV prevention as the primary purpose of syringe access. HIV prevention is one of numerous, critical reasons to support syringe access. Even an HIV cure would not reduce the need for or importance of syringe access.
(See 11-15-2011, for one example)
Friday, February 3, 2012
question...
Why are gay men who have no anal sex
a massively higher funding priority than
women who have unprotected anal sex with strangers?
I am genuinely curious.
If there is a practical explanation, I want to know what it is.
If there is not, go ahead and add this to my list.
a massively higher funding priority than
women who have unprotected anal sex with strangers?
I am genuinely curious.
If there is a practical explanation, I want to know what it is.
If there is not, go ahead and add this to my list.
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