oh yeah, since we're in the topic of parties. we got a big one coming up. i still have to invite folks which pretty much means they ain't coming. but i'll try. i haven't thought of my costume yet... maybe i'll be competency I (the only thing in my head right now, besides the red sox, sorry a's).
so here's some info on a few parties happening on the east bay.
who: CENTER FOR THIRD WORLD ORGANIZING
where: ibid
when: oct 26
blurb:What¹s better then a haunted mansion, themed drinks and food, the beats of DJ Soul Selecta, a great entertainment lineup and great company?
This is a party not to be missed.
who: THE LIBERATION INK Celebration and 2ND ANNUAL Tee Party!
where: Acorn Studios and Workshop 636 9th St. between Jefferson and MLK Oakland, CA
when: Friday, Oct. 26th , 2007,8 pm - 12 am midnight
blurb: Celebration Program & Fashion Show (don't miss it!!)
DJ's: DJ TJ, La Rumorosa & Lucha Grande, spinning all night...guaranteed to
get your groove on!
who: PROJECT SOUTH
where: Cafe Van Kleefe
when: Monday, October 29th, 5 pm - 7 pm
blurb: Come, hang out, have a drink with us, swap sweaty stories about the Social Forum, get in some good old fashioned heated political discussions about movements, southern strategies, and how to move forward after all the amazing work that everybody threw into the US Social Forum.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Garden update
this is a picture from the garden action committee last week. hopefully we'll get a few words from the head of that committee in future updates of the garden.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Congressional Briefing on Women and HIV
The National Women and AIDS Collective, (NWAC), a coalition born out of the Women and AIDS Fund at the Ms. Foundation, in collaboration with the National Association of People Living with AIDS (NAPWA) recently convened a congressional briefing sponsored by Senator Hilary Clinton that brought attention to the flawed HIV-surveillance system as it is currently designed and how that impacts women who are accessing HIV testing and counseling.
The current system is based on an outmoded understanding of the epidemic from the early 1980s. Therefore, it does not accurately report or reflect why women are increasingly becoming infected with HIV. The result: policies, programs and funding levels that are tragically inadequate to address the true magnitude of the HIV/AIDS epidemic among American women. This has profound implications for women at risk of, or living with, HIV/AIDS in the United States.
“For years, it has been widely understood among health practitioners and advocates nationwide that women— particularly women of color and low-income women—are at high risk of HIV infection. But as long as the data doesn’t reflect this reality, women will continue to be denied life-saving prevention and testing services now reserved for other high-risk populations such as men who have sex with men and injection drug users, “says Vanessa Johnson, a member of NWAC and Deputy Director for NAPWA.
In reality, many women are contracting HIV because they believe they are in a monogamous relationship with their male partner and/or they are unaware of their male partner’s sexual history, risk behavior or HIV status. Unable to identify their partner’s HIV status or risk behavior, they do not fit into any of the exposure/risk categories specified by the Center for Disease Control. This focus primarily on risk behaviors does not take into consideration contributing environmental and socioeconomic factors that go beyond basic gender, race and ethnicity classifications.
Consequently, the CDC surveillance system automatically places them in the category labeled "no identified risk”, which is eight out of eight in the hierarchy of risk. Once placed in this category, information about their case has no real chance of informing funding prescriptions for prevention and testing efforts nationwide or influencing public perceptions of the epidemic. This percentage ranges anywhere from 47-60% of women currently being tested.
In order to address this disparity, the National Women and AIDS Collective (NWAC) has written a position paper that is proposing the following policy recommendations.
1. Revise the CDC HIV/AIDS surveillance system's transmission categories in order to accurately capture HIV incidence and prevalence data on women.
2. Create an acquisition category that would capture information on comprehensive socioeconomic and environmental factors known to elevate women’s—particularly women of color and low-income women—risk of HIV infection irrespective of presumed or identified behavioral risks.
3. Increase surveillance funding.
4. Convene a workgroup to discuss items number 1 through 3 with representation from the National Women and AIDS Collective.
These recommendations will help to ensure a more accurate picture of the epidemic in women and enable this country to adequately address it.
The current system is based on an outmoded understanding of the epidemic from the early 1980s. Therefore, it does not accurately report or reflect why women are increasingly becoming infected with HIV. The result: policies, programs and funding levels that are tragically inadequate to address the true magnitude of the HIV/AIDS epidemic among American women. This has profound implications for women at risk of, or living with, HIV/AIDS in the United States.
“For years, it has been widely understood among health practitioners and advocates nationwide that women— particularly women of color and low-income women—are at high risk of HIV infection. But as long as the data doesn’t reflect this reality, women will continue to be denied life-saving prevention and testing services now reserved for other high-risk populations such as men who have sex with men and injection drug users, “says Vanessa Johnson, a member of NWAC and Deputy Director for NAPWA.
In reality, many women are contracting HIV because they believe they are in a monogamous relationship with their male partner and/or they are unaware of their male partner’s sexual history, risk behavior or HIV status. Unable to identify their partner’s HIV status or risk behavior, they do not fit into any of the exposure/risk categories specified by the Center for Disease Control. This focus primarily on risk behaviors does not take into consideration contributing environmental and socioeconomic factors that go beyond basic gender, race and ethnicity classifications.
Consequently, the CDC surveillance system automatically places them in the category labeled "no identified risk”, which is eight out of eight in the hierarchy of risk. Once placed in this category, information about their case has no real chance of informing funding prescriptions for prevention and testing efforts nationwide or influencing public perceptions of the epidemic. This percentage ranges anywhere from 47-60% of women currently being tested.
In order to address this disparity, the National Women and AIDS Collective (NWAC) has written a position paper that is proposing the following policy recommendations.
1. Revise the CDC HIV/AIDS surveillance system's transmission categories in order to accurately capture HIV incidence and prevalence data on women.
2. Create an acquisition category that would capture information on comprehensive socioeconomic and environmental factors known to elevate women’s—particularly women of color and low-income women—risk of HIV infection irrespective of presumed or identified behavioral risks.
3. Increase surveillance funding.
4. Convene a workgroup to discuss items number 1 through 3 with representation from the National Women and AIDS Collective.
These recommendations will help to ensure a more accurate picture of the epidemic in women and enable this country to adequately address it.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
New garden bed
as promised here's the update and picture of the action on the new garden beds.
this planting season we're expanding the cultivated areas around the house. navina and austin did an awesome job building the new beds and from the picture you can see everyone else pitching in, some with bigger shovels than others.
more updates on what actually goes in to each of the new spaces in the near future.
this planting season we're expanding the cultivated areas around the house. navina and austin did an awesome job building the new beds and from the picture you can see everyone else pitching in, some with bigger shovels than others.
more updates on what actually goes in to each of the new spaces in the near future.
Friday, October 19, 2007
week in review
i've been slacking. and i got to find someone else to write on this thing. i guess it can work as picture blog but i want narrative descriptions about what happens with tentacles. we got pretty good writers in the house. for instance , someone coould explain what this picture is:
they were trying to distract me. that's all i got to say about it.
so what's happened in a week?
lots of stuff.
we all went to the city and warmed up Anny HA HA HA house.
then we hosted our neighbors for dinner on tuesday and that was really fun. i dont have pictures because i was still trying to solve the camera issue. but it's resolved and here i am posting some pictures .
we finished with the garden work. pictures from all these events are coming up.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Unofficial International Cephalopod Awareness Day
yesterday was a day to celebrate the octopus in all of us cephalopodcast reports. i think we're celebrating with a new garden bed. pictures are coming soon. meanwhile, think about the celebration will have next year on 8/8/8.
peace
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Bienvenue
Well, here it is. The space where we are going to document all the cool stuff we do, we're into, and create an archive of the lives of eight tentacles.
Without further ado, let's get it started...
Without further ado, let's get it started...
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