stopping the plague

yesterday, the 1st of december was world aids day , the 20th anniversary and to mark the day the w channel aired the special "rampant". which was a special about sydney and australia fought the spread of aids when it was first diagnoised and discovered in the early 80's to be a real disease

i was really interested as aids was one of the few new items and world events i can remember from my childhood. i can vividly remember the aids awareness campaign aid with the grim reaper. i also had a family friend who had aids when i was young and can remember being scared when i first found out about it and 9 years old and had a room mate with HIV when i was in my late teens 

the opening sent chills down my spine!

"25 years ago a man came in to St Vincents hospital sydney sick. he was from new york, a gardner young and fit with a crowded sexual history and he was gay. the doctors made their diagnosis the first in australia. this man had aids. no one knew what caused it or how it might be spread, later when he seamed well he was simply discharged and that was the last the doctors saw of him."

pretty soon more and more gay man were being infected with hiv/aids. no one knew thought it was a virus. they didnt know its history, what caused it, how it was spread, and how to treat it. before it was recgonised to be tarnsmitted by blood. doctors assumed that it was and that there was identified high risk groups, gay man, iv drug uses, sex workers. leapers of the community.

it took some time but the government funded aids eductation programs. needle exchanges were set up across the country so that if you used drugs you could ensure you had a clean needle, condoms were given to brothels with legislation put into place. and target education to gay men on the importance of using condoms. there was also a national program to encourage the general public to use condoms as well at very sexual encounter. a national add was put on australian tvs to shock everyone to tell everyone you were at risk of getting aids if you were not using safe sex practices. 

these were the grim reaper adds that of 1987/88 that everyone of that eara can remember. i was simple terrified of them when they came on. and they still look scary today.

these programs are the "australian model" and is funded permanently. there has never been 1 case of suspected case of a sexual worker been transmitted to a client. 25 000 people have been prevented  from contacting aids/hiv from needle exchange 

by 1987 the spread of aids was down. 6 1/2 thousand people have died in australia from aids. against the trends around the world aids/hiv rates continue to decline 

the australia model is not how hiv is fought in most of the world. elsewhere strategies to stop the virus are based on beliefs about how the world should behave.

the bigger funder of international hiv programs is the usa. most of its funds go to promoting abstinence until marriage and zero tolerance for drugs. it opposes needle exchange and limits support for condoms

around the world 25 million people have died from hiv/aids. 40 million are now infected unless policies change within 10 years 80 million will carry this deadly preventable virus 

Gosselin 8

so many of you know im a huge fan of the show Jon and Kate plus 8 which airs here on fpxtel's discovery home and health and is on the tlc network in the states which is where the family is from (Pennsylvania) if u havnt heard of it ill catch u up. 

jon and kate met in 97 and were married in 99 almost right away they started trying to start a family. kate, having always worried about infertility when to get checked out and was diagnosed with polycystic ovaries and was referred to fertility doctor. they were treated using IUI they were lucky and thrilled to fall pregnant the first cycle and then discover they were carrying twins. Cara and Madelyn (Mady) were born in october 08.  when the twins were todlers they decided to have another child and with in two months they were pregnant again. they doctor told them on the day of the insemination there was 3 or 4 follicles. at the first scan it showed 7 sacs and 6 heart beats!! right away they were recommended to do a selected deduction. which jon and kate refused to do all though stating that day of scan was the worst days of their life's and they were so scared and what was going to happen. 

of course the babies were premiture and in may 04 the 6 relative healthy gosselins were born. Alexis, Hannah, Aaden, Colin, Leah and Joel.

so of course they made headlines not on having sextuplets is a 1 in 3000000000 chance but kate and jon now had two sets of multiples with 8 kids under 5!

TLC did a special "surviving sextuplets and twins" which aired when the little kids were under one and showed us what is was like raising 4 year old twins and sextuplet babies. 

the following year TLC did a followup show "surviving sextuplets and twins one year on" and this time featured kate preparation for the week she would be away getting a tummy tuck ( which was donated from a fan of the first special and was badly needed after having a pregnancy of 6 babies!) and it showed how much the children had grown up. they were now almost 2 and the twins were 5. 

then TLC decided to do a regular show and started airing before the twins were 6 and the sextuplets were 2. it first aired in australia in November 2007 and aired season 1 and 2 back to back and is currently airing season 3. with season 4 being now aired in the US 

so last november when the discovery channel had a special on multiplies it aired the initial 2, hour long specials then the first season back to back.  and yes i fell in love with it, because i coveted it, as many as you know i have long being trying to fall pregnant and have children. and i identified with kate, like her i fared that i would have fertility problems long before i was diagnosed. like her i had tried to fall pregnant early after adrian and i had married. like her i had been diagnosed with polycystic ovaries and like her i had undergo iui treatments. 

i quickly discovered that kate was highly obsessive and compulsive and very organised in some ways over organised. she is a dominant personality and often has a short temper with her children and her husband. 

but she is human and dosnt censor herself for cameras and just becuase she is seen yelling and belittling her husband dose not mean she dosnt love him. they both evidently love each other and both know that they dont mean what they say at the time, but they are just under stress or angry. everyone close to me knows that i can loose my temper at adrian and can yell at him and what i have to say in the mist of my frustration is not always to every ones taste but adrian does understand that i dont mean it 

a lot of kate's parenting i dont agree with but i can understand the reasoning, a lot i dont agree with and cant understand the logic behind it either. and a lot i agree with and i have also got a lot of tips from her for when i have children. 

but parenting is not easy and parenting has to, needs to be unique for every family with similar styles shared through cultures, families, friends etc 

so anyways because im a net junkie and obsessive with the thing i like i joined facebook groups dedicated to the show. 

then i googled them and after the first three hits which are the tlc and the gosselin home page and  the wiki site. there is then many blogs and msg boards dedicated to hating the show, in particular kate. 

i stumbled on and read a few and most when on to say that the children were being exploited and that jon and kate were being paid millions of dollars and getting lost of free products off the show. and that she choose to have eight kids so why should she recive any handouts and help. that comments annoyed me. they didnt choose to have eight children. they fell prganant with twins using iui becuase they had fertility problems and then want another child not uncommon for families to want 3 children and used again iui because the same problems existed and in america the standards and less controlled then ivf so the cances of larger multiples are greater, however it is cheaper by thousands of dollars (here it is $1000 and is medicare covered after the safty net, where as ivf is $5000 + , but not only the finacials are different but thr procedure is different if you dont need to use ivf you wouldn't. iui is evasive emotional and hormonally challenging on your body and emotions but ivf is even more so,  it is very evasive and emotional and hard on your body. then people say well they could of selected to deduced some. i find that highly offensive, imagine ordealing infertility , then finding out joyful against the odds you have falling pregnant but there is a large multiple, being asked to abort some after praying, trying and going through all those procedures to get one? 

its obvious that they arent getting rehearsed or retakes, the children have known the crew since they were babies. 

if they are getting money can you blame them yes they are raising eight children they didnt plan for 

i then found a blog written by an extended family member who says she is telling the truth about jon and kate but her 20 + post are not really about the truth or any info,it is basically a vent and on line argument aimed at j&k because she knows them.  and most of the information we really dont even need to know? who cares we just want to watch the gosselins not everyone related to them. 

this blogger was very naive she says she didnt want to fight but you cant hide on the net , ( I KNOW) and it is very easy for people to take things the wrong way when it is written on line, especially for everyone to see. 

im not even going to post her link. she says you can find it unless you go looking for it or for boards against the show. however i found it by searching jon and kate plus 8 and it was linked to the fourth hit! and her latest post shows a clip from cnn which mentions her blog and the url is seen! 

anyway i guess i have learned through my own blog and am now passing on to others, blog it and be exoected to answer to it and post it on facebook and everyone will see and you cant claim ohh its just my little bolog to ven, and oh i didnt think everyone would know on fb ......

a new blue harvest of hope

ok so most everyone knows that family guy did a star wars special last year. initially i wasnt sure i wanted to watch it cos as much as star wars freaks adrian and i am, i dont watch family guy. anyways we missed tapping it when it aired so we hired it today.
man it is hilarious especially to star wars freaks. the whole episdoe takes of star wars almost shot for shot. it starts when there is a black out and peter tells them all a story "we will start at the beginning at episode 4"
here are some of the best quotes
Title card/crawl: A long time ago, but somehow in the future... It is a period of civil war and renegade paragraphs floating through space. There's cool space battles, and the bad guy is the good guy's dad. But you don't find that out 'til the next episode. And the hot chick is really the sister of the good guy, but they don't know it and they kiss. Which is kind of messed up. I mean, what if they had done it instead of just kissed? Angelina Jolie kissed her brother. Yeah, she did. You know it, I know it, and her dad knows it. That's why they hardly ever talk anymore. You can run away to Africa, but you can't run away from the truth. Oh, by the way, here's a tip for you: when this is over, go out and rent the movie "Gia." She's way naked in it, and makes out with another chick and everything. It's awesome. I stumbled across it late night on HBO after I had just got back from hockey, and I almost fainted. But I digest... Princess Leia was coming back from buying space groceries when this happened...

Peter (Han Solo): This is a story of love and loss, fathers and sons, and the foresight to retain international merchandising rights. This is the story of Star Wars. Let's begin with Part Four.

Imperial Officer 1: Hold your fire. There's no life forms aboard.
Imperial Officer 2: Hold your fire? What, are we paying by the laser now?
Imperial Officer 2: You don't do the budget, Terry. I do.

this is one funnier if you see it though

General Tagge: Any attack made by the Rebels against this station would be a useless gesture, no matter what technical data they've obtained. This station is now the ultimate power in the universe.
Stewie (Darth Vader): That is fantastic. Terrific work. So no weaknesses at all?
General Tagge: N... no.
Stewie (Darth Vader): You, uh, you hesitated there. Is there something I should know?
General Tagge: No, it's virtually indestructible, like 99.99%.
Stewie (Darth Vader): Uh, okay, wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't ask what's the 0.01?
General Tagge: Well, I mean, there's this little hole. It was kind of an aesthetic choice by the architect. And if you shoot a laser into this hole, the station blows up.
Stewie (Darth Vader): Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! That sounds like a pretty big design flaw, then.
General Tagge: No, no, the hole's only two meters across.
Mayor Adam West (Grand Moff Tarkin): Well, that's no bigger than a womp rat.
General Tagge: Exactly. And even to get within range of it, you have to skim along this whole trench. It's not a big deal.
Stewie (Darth Vader): Can't we board it up or, you know, put some plywood over it or something?
General Tagge: Well, that would look terrible. I mean, we gotta think about resale.
Stewie (Darth Vader): Resale? What are you talking about? This property is right above Sunset. The value is only going to go up.
General Tagge: Lord Vader, your inside references to the Los Angeles real estate market haven't given you the clairvoyance to turn a profit on that condo in Glendale. Nor has it...
Stewie (Darth Vader): [Vader begins to choke him] I find your lack of faith disturbing. That property is in a prime location! Twenty minutes to the beach, twenty minutes to downtown!
General Tagge: [choking] There's nothing to do downtown!
Mayor Adam West (Grand Moff Tarkin): Enough of this! Vader, release him!
Stewie (Darth Vader): As you wish.
[releases Tagge]
Stewie (Darth Vader): All right, so were' going to plug up that hole?
Imperial Officer: Yeah, we can get it done tomorrow if price is no object.
Stewie (Darth Vader): Ehhhh...
Imperial Officer: We'll get estimates.
Stewie (Darth Vader): Get estimates, yeah, yeah.

Barbara Pewterschmidt (Aunt Beru): Tell Uncle Owen not to tell you that your father is Darth Vader.

Rush Limbaugh: My good friends, the liberal galactic media is at it again. They never stop. Now they're trying to convince us that Hoth is melting. Well, that's crazy, Just trying to scare us. And if that weren't enough to get you mad, we now have news that Lando Calrissian has been made the chief administrator of the Bespin mining facility. Gee, I wonder how he got that job. Well, let me tell you how he got that job. Affirmitive action strikes again

Peter (Han Solo): I'm Han Solo, captain of the Millenium Falcon, and the only actor whose career isn't destroyed by this movie.

Peter (Han Solo): We'll be safe enough once we make the jump to hyperspace. Besides, I know a few maneuvers. We'll lose'em.
[the Falcon starts listing lazily to the left]
Chris (Luke Skywalker): Uh, that was your maneuver? Moving slightly to the left?
Peter (Han Solo): Well, I mean we're not in the same place we were, huh? That ought to confuse'em.
Chris (Luke Skywalker): Yeah, but you hardly did anything. You just started listing lazily to the left. I'm pretty sure they can keep up.
Imperial Officer 1: Where did they go?
Imperial Officer 2: There they are! They're listing lazily to the left. Go left, left!
Imperial Officer 1: Boy, this guy knows some maneuvers.

ok i basically just copied the screen play put here is some clips ;)

Do these people have a heart?

over the last few days i have been going crazy watching documentaries on foxtel. the large proportion of shows i actually watch on foxtel are documentaries. i mainly watch the history channel, crime investigation and discovery home and health. subjects tend to watch are serial killer investigations, rebellious history, empire history, royal history, and Egyptian history and shows about ivf, multiples births and super large families. i also watch stuff about world wars particularly stuff about nazi occupation.
yesterday i watched 4 documentaries about Auschwitz-Birkenau. i know i cant believe i watched 4 of them in one day either. i have seen quiet a few of them now and but still constantly shocked that it happened that people actually planned to build a concentration camp for the sole purpose of mass murder. not only did they do that but they schemed a way to deport millions of Jewish people form all over Europe to the camps to murder them. and sometimes they even traded Jewish people from the French and British. the Slovakia government actually paid the nazis $500 for each Jewish person they deported to Auschwitz. the documentary spoke to one of the Slovakian guards who has participating in the deportation of Jewish Slovakians to Auschwitz. his job was to sort to the possessions left behind by the Jewish people. he laughed about how he and the other guards had done well by being able to take home cloths and shoes and other things left behind. he thought it was funny that he and others had benefited from the deportation of his fellow Slovakians. i couldn't believe he could just sit there and laugh. if i was him i would of been so ashamed that i had participated in the holocaust, and would not be laughing about it, even 60 years later. the interviewer asked him, how he could of participated in the deportation knowing that the people were being sent to their deaths. he said he was in two minds about it, saying it was "easier" with out Jewish Slovakians in Slovakia because they were "lazy" (he laughed as he said this) but at the same time he knew that "some people were innocent among them". i couldn't believe my ears "some?" none of the jewish people were guilty of anything ekes apart from being Jewish. how could he still maintain this fact after all these years?
they then spoke to a former nazi who states he did not want to participate in the deportation and that he was stationed at Auschwitz. ( i know that not all nazis were willing participants in the holocaust and some had no choice, but if i was one of these people the stuff that went on at Auschwitz would haunt me forever if i had bore witness to it) the guard spoke about how the people were divided up once they arrived off the trains and his job was to sort through the rubbish left behind (this was mostly suitcases and other possessions brought by Jews with them) he described how the "rubbish" even included people to sick or unable to move. he said he saw a guard drag a child "by its legs and threw it in the lorry when it cried they bashed it against the lorry and it become silent" again i couldn't believe he could refer to the child as "it" like it had no meaning like he still believed what Hitler was saying that the Jewsih people were "sub-human"
the guards all said that they generally believed that the Jewish people and the allies had a world plot against the Germans and were guilty. they were asked "but children? surly children were not guilty they could not have done anything to you?" the guard said "especially children, they would grow up to be Jews in was in their blood"
looking up at my title i realise that it is ill fitting because really of course they couldnt have a heart if they still feel this way.