How to save ourselves from our creation

 

A Path to Peace: How Art & AI Can Work Together

Artificial intelligence has been used for centuries to create realistic and accurate images for artists. Some of the first examples of AI-created art were generated by the British artist Harold Cohen, who used a computer program to generate abstract images. Cohen's images were created by a process of random generation, and they were often criticized for being "too random" or "too abstract". In the early days of AI-created art, most of the images were generated by computers that were programmed to create random patterns. However, as AI technology has progressed, so has the ability of computers to generate realistic and accurate images. One of the latest examples of AI-created art is the work of the Japanese artist Tak

ashi Murakami. Murakami used AI to create an image of a flower that is nearly identical to a real flower. Murakami's image was created by a computer program that was designed to mimic the way humans paint. The use of AI to create realistic and accurate images is not limited to art. AI can also be used to create realistic images for movies and video games. In the movie industry, AI is often used to generate backgrounds and landscapes. In the video game industry, AI is used to create realistic character models. The use of AI to create realistic images is a valuable tool for artists, movie directors, and video game developers. AI can help create images that are realistic and accurate, and that can be used in a variety of settings.

The arts have long been used as a tool for political commentary, social change, and personal expression. In recent years, the rise of artificial intelligence has led to a new era of creative potential. As AI continues to evolve, it is becoming increasingly capable of understanding and responding to the complexities of the human condition. In many ways, AI is the perfect tool for exploring the concept of peace. Peace is often seen as a nebulous and elusive concept, but AI has the ability to cut through the noise and help us to see the world in a new light. Through the use of data visualization, machine learning, and natural language processing, AI can help us to understand the causes and effects of conflict, and to develop new ways of addressing them. In addition to its analytical capabilities, AI also has the potential to be a force for good in the world. There are a growing number of initiatives that are using AI to promote peace, such as the PeaceGeeks platform, which uses machine learning to map conflict hotspots and identify potential areas for intervention. As AI continues to evolve, it is clear that it has the potential to become a powerful tool for promoting peace. In a world that is increasingly divided, the ability of AI to help us to understand and communicate with each other is more important than ever.

Art can be used to help people achieve peace. Art can have a profound impact on our emotions and mental state. It can be used to heal, to connect, and to bring beauty into our lives. In times of turmoil, art can be a way to achieve peace.

When we look at a piece of art, we are accessing a different part of our brain than when we are engaged in logical reasoning. Art can help us to access our emotions and feelings, which can be helpful in managing stress and anxiety. Art can also be a form of self-care, providing a creative outlet for our emotions. In addition to its impact on our individual mental state, art can also be used to bring people together. It can be used as a form of communication, to share our experiences and emotions with others. Art can also be used to build community, by bringing people together to create something beautiful. When we are feeling disconnected or alone, art can be a way to connect with others. When we engage with art, we are engaging with something that is larger than ourselves. We can use art to see the world from a different perspective and to find commonality with others. Art can be a powerful tool for achieving peace. It can be used to heal our individual mental state and to connect us with others. By engaging with art, we can find a sense of peace and calm in our lives.

It is clear that art and AI can work together to create a path to peace. By using art to create awareness and understanding, AI can help to create a more peaceful world.

CP&AiSpark

The Art Kit

The ROCK

The Rock at the heart of University of Michigan, painted by Results, Student Globial AIDS Campaign and others from the Ann Arbor area. The rock was painted in preperation of the Campaign to END AIDS arrival on Monday night,

Honor the fallen

Neighbors and travelers (and we are all travelers in one form or another, neighbors too.)

Today marks the beginning of a journey that has taken many months to ripen and whose fruit has taken many hands to nurture to sweetness. We have been told by many that we labor in vain and that our harvest will be barren. Rich voices from the dark corners tell us that The Big Brothers will take care of all and too many of 1.1 million voices
believe, and stay silent. How will you answer the darkness, the world is waiting.

The dieing tears of gentle souls wet the Ryan White Care Act. The sweat and labor by thousands of PWA's and loved ones have guided the Act through the years, as many others have tried to unknot this important safety net. How can any stay silent after a generation sacrificed themselves on a bureaucratic alter of apathy?

What will your response be in a time where your people (your community,) need you so badly? As I experienced The Quilt in
Washington D.C. (actually the only time I could bear to see it,) from the Lincoln Memorial someone read from Dillon Thomas, Chaka Khan sang Amazing grace and the candles of our dead lined the way to the White House. When our history is written will you be absent?

The Campaign to End AIDS needs you.

Christopher E. Posler
Co-Chair- Diva Express
C2EA.com

Link to personal page:
http://www.campaigntoendaids.org/siteapps/personalpage/ShowPage.aspx?c=fnJMKLNmFmG&b=929341&sid=quI4JaNLJjL0K7PWH



Dylan Thomas - Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on that sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

1 Million

MSNBC.com
More than a million Americans living with HIV
Government estimate reflects failure of prevention, critics say

The Associated Press
Updated: 3:05 p.m. ET June 13, 2005


ATLANTA - For the first time since the height of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, more than a million Americans are believed to be living with the virus that causes AIDS, the government said Monday.

The latest estimate is both good and bad news — reflecting the success of drugs that keep more people alive and the failure of the government to “break the back” of the AIDS epidemic by its stated goal of 2005.

Critics say the new estimate reflects a failure of prevention, and it comes in the year that the government had set as its deadline to “break the back” of the AIDS epidemic.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that between 1,039,000 and 1,185,000 people in the United States were living with HIV in December 2003. The previous estimate — released in 2002 — showed that between 850,000 and 950,000 people had the AIDS virus.


The jump reflects the role of medicines that have allowed people infected with the virus to live longer, said Dr. Ronald Valdiserri, deputy director of the CDC’s National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention.

“While treatment advances have been an obvious godsend to those living with the disease, it presents new challenges for prevention,” Valdiserri said.

60,000 new cases a year?
The challenges include overcoming a failure by the government to meet its 2005 goal of cutting in half the estimated 40,000 new HIV infections that have occurred every year since the 1990s. Then, Dr. Robert Janssen of the CDC pledged the government campaign would “break the back” of the epidemic.

CDC officials previously have said the country’s HIV infection rate has been “relatively stable” and without change. As the National HIV Prevention Conference was set to begin this week, Valdiserri said no new infection data will be available until next year.

However, recent outbreaks of HIV and sexually transmitted diseases in major cities around the country offer a hint that new infections may be as high as 60,000 cases a year, rather than the government estimate of 40,000, said Dr. Carlos del Rio, an Emory University professor of medicine.

“The U.S. has had a clear failure in HIV prevention — I think the increase in prevalence is a reflection of that, of the poor job we do in HIV prevention,” del Rio said.

He added that the higher number is not as surprising as why the country has not been able to curb new infections. He said the CDC hasn’t been given adequate resources to tackle HIV prevention and that experts have focused too much on whether it’s better to promote abstinence or condom use to stop the spread of the virus.

“We’re debating too much what to do and are not doing enough,” he said.

At the same time, reaching the 1 million mark is “a sign of both victory and failure,” said Terje Anderson, executive director of the National Association of People Living With AIDS.

“Part of the reason the number is so big is we’re not dying as before,” he said. “But the other problem is we have not made a significant dent in new infections.”

47 percent are black
Estimating the number of Americans with HIV has always been a difficult task for health officials, but this year’s figures are believed to be the most accurate ever thanks to wider case reporting.

Estimating the number of Americans with HIV has always been a difficult task for health officials. In the 1990s, the CDC and other agencies generally agreed that between 600,000 and 900,000 people had the virus, according to the University of California-San Francisco’s Center for HIV Information.

Previous estimates — as high as 1.5 million people — from the 1980s were later determined to be too high. For example, the CDC estimated in 1986 that between 1 million and 1.5 million people had HIV. In 1987, that was revised to 945,000 to 1.4 million and was refined in 1990 to 800,000 to 1.2 million.

Since the CDC’s previous HIV estimates didn’t include demographic information — age, gender, race, sexual orientation — for all 50 states, it’s impossible to determine what groups of people account for the increase in the latest estimate of people living with HIV.

However, the CDC estimates that blacks account for 47 percent of HIV cases; gay and bisexual men make up 45 percent of those living with the virus that causes AIDS, the health agency believes.

The CDC also warned those demographics may soon change because heterosexual blacks, women and others infected after having high-risk sex (such as with someone with HIV, an injection-drug user or a man who has sex with other men) now account for a larger proportion of those living with HIV than those who are living with full-blown AIDS.

© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
© 2005 MSNBC.com

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8203052/

C2EA- Seattle

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C2EA

If you haven’t heard of C2EA:

WE HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO BEAT AIDS. SO HOW CAN WE LET IT BEAT US?

You may have heard: AIDS isn't over. Not only that-it's poised for a major comeback. While the epidemic's devastation in the developing world has embroiled activists in a desperate fight for the funds and political will to turn around the global crisis, the epidemic has quietly made inroads into vulnerable communities right here at home. A carefree new generation of young gay men, women who never thought that their boyfriends or husbands could be infected, and African Americans, many of who have so many other challenges they're not even diagnosed until they're sick. Yet while the epidemic has been establishing deadly new roots, our leaders have repeatedly failed to fully fund the programs we need to keep people with HIV/AIDS alive and well and the science-based prevention methods to keep those most at risk from contracting the virus.


THAT'S WHERE WE COME IN: THE CAMPAIGN TO END AIDS

We're a diverse, new coalition of people living with HIVAIDS (PLWHAs) and the advocates, organizations and loved ones who stand behind them. After years of watching our friends and family die, we're ecstatic that we finally have the tools to stop the epidemic-treatments that works, however imperfect, and prevention methods like abstinence and condoms, as well as needle-exchange programs, which keep injection-drug users HIV-free. But we're infuriated that some of our most powerful leaders, including our president, have withheld these tools from those who need them most. That's why we're organizing on the local, state and national level to demand that those in power:

Fully fund high-quality treatment and support services for all people living with HIV everywhere in the world.
Ramp up HIV prevention at home and abroad guided by the best science.
Increase research to find a cure, more effective treatments and better prevention tools.
Fight AIDS stigma and protect the civil rights of all people with HIV and AIDS everywhere.
HOW WILL WE MAKE THIS HAPPEN?

In lots of fun, exciting ways. We're building strong local, state and regional networks of people with HIVAIDS and the groups that serve them. We're mobilizing the veterans of legendary activist groups like ACT UP, which played a major role in securing PLWHAs their first wave of treatment and legislation, to train a feisty new generation of fighters. And from October 8-12, 2005, we're bringing it all home-to the nation's capital, that is, where caravans from around the nation will converge for five lively days of meetings, prayer groups and lawmaker visits. It all culminates with a massive march that will show the world we're united, strong and ready to make a mighty ruckus until our leaders do the right thing to halt the epidemic.

HOW CAN YOU BE A PART OF IT ALL?


In so many ways! You can do everything from getting involved in your area to joining a national C2EA workgroup to joining a caravan traveling to D.C.! Roam around the site for more information and to see what's going down in your state. But real participation starts with signing up for our weekly update and, if you choose, telling us a bit about yourself.

C2Ea.org

Hate Crimes Bill

From: PFLAG Dayton [mailto:daytonpflag@yahoo.com]
Sent: Thursday, May 26, 2005
Subject: Hate Crimes Legislation in Congress Today!


Urge Your Representative to Co-Sponsor the Transgender Inclusive Hate Crimes Bill!

Write, Call, Email Your Senators Today - Urgent Action Required

This morning Representatives Barney Frank (D-MA), IIeana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), John Conyers (D-MI); Christopher Shays (R-CT), and Tammy Baldwin (D- WI) will introduce a hate crimes bill in the House of Representatives that explicitly includes transgender protections. The Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2005 extends existing hate crimes laws that already cover crimes motivated by race, color, national origin and religion to include crimes based on actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, disability and gender identity (including gender-related characteristics). PFLAG has consistently advocated for hate crimes legislation that includes gay, lesbian, and bisexuality persons as well as the transgender community and is pleased to support legislation that includes ALL of our loved ones. Documented hate crimes based on sexual orientation are on the rise according to FBI statistics. Unfortunately, the FBI data does not report separately on crimes against those who are targeted for non-traditional gender expression. We know that 75% of anti-GLBT hate crimes are unreported and that only twenty-seven states and the District of Columbia have hate crimes laws inclusive of sexual orientation while only five of those and the District of Columbia are expressly transgender inclusive. Contact your Representative today and urge him/her to become a cosponsor of this important piece of legislation that will ensure that the entire GLBT community is protected.

Take Action NOW on Hate Crimes Legislation

Your representatives need to hear from you! Call, Email, Fax or Write and Urge him/her to cosponsor the Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2005! To locate your representative's contact information please go to http://www.vote-smart.org/. For talking points on Hate Crimes legislation please see PFLAG's 2005

CAFTA

Boston Globe
CAFTA will hurt people with HIV

By Rahul Rajkumar May 26, 2005

IF CONGRESS wants to get serious about promoting a culture of life, its members might start by saving 275,000 lives in Central America. That's the number of people infected with HIV in the countries party to the Central American Free Trade Agreement, or CAFTA. The agreement,
which may be ratified by the end of the month, will force its signatories to strengthen rotections on patents owned by multinational pharmaceutical companies, thus preventing the manufacture and importation of many cheap generic drugs. In the countries bound by the agreement -- Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador -- generic
competition has allowed for widespread access to life-saving medicines. In Guatemala, some AIDS drugs are as much as 98 percent cheaper than their name-brand alternatives. The antiretroviral cocktail that costs $4,818 per year when marketed by GlaxoSmithKline as Combivir can be purchased by Guatemalans for $216 in generic form. Given the financial strain many Americans experience when purchasing drugs like Combivir, it's not difficult to imagine how devastating similarly elevated prices would be for the farmers and impoverished
city dwellers who make up the bulk of AIDS cases in Central America. In addition to increases in patent protection, CAFTA mandates that these governments protect regulatory data on medicines -- an unprecedented step that could effectively extend patents by a decade without any form of reprieve, even in a public health emergency. Data protection for medicines means that if a drug is not patented, or if a country can somehow maneuver around the patent, generic manufacturers would still be prohibited from selling the medicine unless they repeat costly
clinical trials. Since few generic manufacturers in Central America have the resources to conduct clinical trials, data protection will function as another obstacle to generic competition.
The theory behind patents is straightforward. By allowing pharmaceutical companies to recoup development costs along with a sizeable profit, they provide an incentive for future innovation. The problem is that innovation, as an end in itself, can be a hollow accomplishment. Drugs
must also be within reach of the people who need them most. Without cheap access to the fruits of innovation, many poor patients will die unnecessarily.

The nations of the World Trade Organization recognized this dilemma, when, as part of the 2001 Doha Declaration, they unanimously resolved that public health emergencies like HIV/AIDS may require circumventing patent rules. CAFTA flouts this global consensus and is widely
understood to be part of the Bush administration's larger systematic effort to undermine the WTO process -- that is, to use bilateral trade agreements to bully small developing countries into waiving their rights under the WTO's intellectual property rules. The WTO's rules allow
developing countries to implement patent laws that meet their individual needs.

The office of the US trade representative maintains that nothing in the agreement prevents governments from producing generic drugs and that it will result in increased access to life-saving drugs as stringent patent protection encourages innovation in drug development.

The first of these claims is, unfortunately, false. CAFTA's protection for drug test data ensures that while countries may be able to produce generic drugs, they won't be able to use them. The second statement is partially true but so disingenuous that it verges on outright deception.

Increased protection for patent rights will certainly give drug companies larger profits, and this could theoretically lead to more innovation. However, the pharmaceutical market in Central America is so small that any increase in earnings will be negligible relative to the overall profits of the pharmaceutical giants. Patients in Central America will most likely end up getting nothing in return for the higher prices.

Congress will decide whether CAFTA goes into effect when it votes to ratify the agreement. Many lives ride on the outcome of this vote. Most of the 275,000 HIV-positive people in Central America will die needlessly without access to cheap antiretroviral drugs. Congress can
save these lives by voting down CAFTA and telling the Bush administration to renegotiate the agreement's intellectual-property provisions. Could there be any better way to demonstrate our
dedication to the culture of life?

Rahul Rajkumar is a member of Universities Allied for Essential
Medicines.
>
(c) Copyright
2005 The New York Times Company

------ End of Forwarded Message

APATHY

"AIDS Fighters Face a Resistant Form of Apathy"

New York Times (04.03.05)::Andrew Jacobs
The disappearance of condoms and HIV prevention literature from gay
bars is a telling sign of how much momentum has been lost in the US fight
against AIDS. Public health officials and AIDS advocates say many gay men
have adopted a laissez-faire attitude about safe sex, and they cite as
examples the continued popularity of crystal methamphetamine, a rise in
barebacking, and widespread apathy in which HIV is seen more as a nuisance
than a life-threatening disease. The reality that gay men continue to have
unprotected sex has vexed health experts for 20 years, though the struggle
became more pronounced with the introduction of HAART in the mid-1990s,
which sharply reduced AIDS death rates but fed the misconception that HIV is
an easily managed disease.
"Just because folks are well informed doesn't mean they'll necessarily
make the wisest choices in terms of their health," said Dr. Ronald
Valdiserri, director of AIDS prevention at CDC. "This is true of all
humanity, not just gay men."
The only hope for changing behavior, say public health experts and
psychologists, is to recognize and address the underlying factors that cause
men to take risks, such as loneliness, self-hatred, and alienation.
Perry Halkitis, a New York University psychologist who studies the
relationship between drugs and sex, said many gay men who take risks are
grappling with profound mental health issues. "They do it because the sexual
risk fulfills a need, or somehow makes them feel better about themselves,"
said Halkitis.
Other advocates say that approach is naïve and call for more personal
responsibility. Crystal meth needs to be demonized, unprotected sex must be
stigmatized, and people need to be reminded that living with HIV can be
grueling, they argue. A key first step, they say, would be for
pharmaceutical firms to stop running ads that portray life with AIDS as
carefree.

Congrats MI-POZ

MI-POZ receives $10,000 grant from Ben & Jerry's Foundation

FERNDALE - The Ben & Jerry's Foundation, the charitable organization established by the ice cream manufacturer, has made a $10,000 grant to the Michigan Positive Action Coalition to support its efforts to build effective grassroots leadership among people living with HIV and AIDS. The one-year grant will fund legislative education training sessions for people affected by HIV and AIDS in addition to legislative education activities in Washington, D.C. and a bi-monthly newsletter to inform the community about public policy issues that impact HIV care and prevention. "We're really excited about this grant," said Mark Peterson, director of MI-POZ. "The Ben & Jerry's Foundation has a long history of supporting projects that are working for systemic social change across the United States. We felt this was a perfect match." Currently operating under the umbrella of the Midwest AIDS Prevention Project, MI-POZ is the only project of its kind in Michigan that teaches people living with HIV/AIDS how to advocate for themselves and educate their elected representatives. MI-POZ received its first financial support in March 2004, a grant from the Michigan AIDS Fund. With the MAF grant, MI-POZ trained 15 people and organized meetings with state senators in Lansing to discuss pending legislation on HIV issues. MI-POZ expects to hold its next training seminar in June, and is making a special effort to recruit participants from HIV-affected African-American communities in the Detroit metro area. The training seminars are led by MI-POZ Legislative Director Rick Otterbein, who has been actively involved in legislative education activities for nearly a decade. The training workshop provides participants with basic information about state and federally-funded HIV care and prevention programs and the advocate's role in that process, including information about how government works, methods for individuals to affect change within their communities, specific strategies to impact policy decisions, and communication techniques. The training has proven successful in preparing its participants to discuss HIV issues with their elected officials, said Otterbein. "HIV-affected persons are more likely to participate in public policy development when they feel they have some degree of power over the outcome, and advocacy training workshops are effective in instilling these feelings of empowerment," said Otterbein. Anyone interested in attending a free MI-POZ training is encouraged to call Mark Peterson at 248-545-1435.