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Self-help equals self-harm? Are self-help books harmful rather than helpful? This article argues that dissatisfaction with one's abilities and achievements will not not be helped by affirmations of self-worth. Nor will we succeed in coping with the bitter feelings for those who have wronged us by practing the "anger therapy" of slamming a punching bag. [More Inside]
posted by gregb1007 at 11:52 PM PST - 24 comments

Too Tough To Die. As of Sunday afternoon, the corner of Second Street and Bowery in New York City is now known as Joey Ramone Place. I lived about 200 steps from there a while ago - now I've got a good excuse to go back for a visit.
posted by majcher at 8:18 PM PST - 14 comments

Ever wonder who still speaks latin? So it seems like the vanishingly small number of native latin speakers seem to work all for one outfit. They all also seem to be British.
posted by MrLint at 7:50 PM PST - 22 comments

Ann Sheridan is enthusiastic about Ayds!!!
"Ayds Brand Diet Candy", that is, chronicled by the entertaining marketing/design newsletter from Rigney Graphics, as well as the personal story of a newspaper columnist, and RetroCrush's archive of offensive snack products. Okay, how about a popular soft drink in Taiwan called Sars?
posted by wendell at 6:47 PM PST - 5 comments

Frowning brow to brow, ourselves will hear the accuser and accused freely speak. In the west, before it was HIV/AIDS, it was GRID, for Gay-Related Immunodeficiency Disease, or Kaposi Sarcoma-Opportunistic Infection, or simply "gay cancer." But there are other names for it now, where it hits hardest, but no less euphemistic or obscuring. More inside...
posted by Mo Nickels at 5:37 PM PST - 4 comments

No bodies found after Iraq gunfight "THE US military has said it believes 54 insurgents were killed in intense exchanges in the northern Iraqi town of Samarra on Sunday but commanders admitted they had no bodies. The only corpses at the city's hospital were those of ordinary civilians, including two elderly Iranian pilgrims and a child. US Brigadier General Mark Kimmit told a Baghdad press conference 54 militants were killed, 22 wounded and one arrested." Ok. I am a bit slow. Help me out on this one. How can you count the bodies you are not able to find? Did the G.I.s take them as souvenirs?
posted by Postroad at 5:28 PM PST - 44 comments

Donald Rumsfeld has won the 2003 Foot in Mouth award. The award is given by the Plain English Campaign for the most baffling quote by a public figure, but they don't seem to realize that Rumsfeld was actually creating poetry. I wonder who will present the award.
posted by homunculus at 2:34 PM PST - 23 comments

Haunted by a truly global epidemic, perhaps it is time to consider the effects of globalization on the spread of diseases like AIDS. In addition to making it easier for disease to achieve global prevalence, global economics reduce funding for public health by placing treatment emphasis on those who can pay for their drugs, and, in the case of AIDS, may also encourage pharmaceutical companies to pursue expensive life-long 'treatments' rather than cures. Furthermore, younger, economically depressed members of the global economy are wholly dependent on the whim of richer nations for their well-being in the face of devastating epidemics. In this case, it seems that the global marketplace has failed to be the holy grail it is so often presented as.
posted by kaibutsu at 1:43 PM PST - 17 comments

What happened to the Modem Guy? A great story on two partners and personal computer pioneers, Hayes (who got the fame) and Heatherington (who got the money).
posted by falameufilho at 12:52 PM PST - 18 comments

All your sperm are belong to us : play the condom game.
posted by taz at 12:15 PM PST - 8 comments

Another Worlds AIDS Day, another statement from the Vatican saying you should never use a condom. [via rc3]
posted by mathowie at 11:54 AM PST - 83 comments

BFI presents screenonline | The British Film Institute announces the launch of screenonline: "This new site features an unrivalled collection of archive film and television footage from the bfi National Film and Television Archive.... [It] is the first time the bfi has given the public access online to its comprehensive collection of film and television material, giving teachers, students and film enthusiasts an exceptional opportunity to investigate British history, culture and society through cinema. "
posted by jacknose at 9:41 AM PST - 6 comments

"They do not use Western means to tell time. They use the sun. These drugs have to be administered in certain sequences, at certain times during the day. You say, take it at 10 o'clock, they say, what do you mean, 10 o'clock?" They, of course, refers to "Africans" and the above logic from the head of USAID was used an explanation for why it's tough to extend AIDS treatment to Africa. The only problem with this argument is that it's wrong. People with HIV in developing countries are in better compliance with drug regimes than in the US as new research is showing [RealAudio]. As we've seen throughout the epidemic, it's a lot easier to get funding for researchers in lab coats than for actual treatment . . .
posted by donovan at 8:57 AM PST - 1 comments

Peekskill, 1949. "The mob was rolling toward us for the second attack. This was, in a way, the worst of that night. For one thing, it was still daylight; later, when night fell, our own sense of organization helped us much more, but this was daylight and they poured down the road and into us, swinging broken fenceposts, billies, bottles, and wielding knives..." Howard Fast's account of a terrifying evening that was supposed to be an outdoor concert near Peekskill, NY. You can think about the political implications ("...it illustrates how easily, when terror is unleashed in a nation, it can take hold, and how thin the line is that separates constitutional government from tyranny and dictatorship...") or just enjoy the riveting tale. (Related song and picture here.)
posted by languagehat at 8:34 AM PST - 22 comments

Self-referential or self-promoting sites created by authors (as opposed to their fans or publishers) can provide fascinating insights into the person behind the writing or provide ways to interact with the writer or the works that go beyond the initial reading. Some take advantage of the web to connect with readers, while others use it as a mere marketing tool. With the recent trend in writers who blog (a separate category) abandoning their blogs to regain time for their writing, are these types of personal pages also an endangered species?
posted by rushmc at 8:28 AM PST - 11 comments

Heres an intresting entry from the Wikipedia The link points to a short article on the AIDS "patient Zero" Gaëtan Dugas. hopefully this should serve as a good starting point for research or discussion. Although in the new millennium I wonder what sort of civil liberty issues this type of of research might have.
posted by hoopyfrood at 7:33 AM PST - 4 comments

Fight AIDS @home is a valuable resource for your "wasted" computer cycles. Instead of search the universe for extraterrestrial life, shouldn't we be searching our world for cures to our own diseases?
posted by swerdloff at 7:26 AM PST - 20 comments

Public Lives: Freddie Mercury, Arthur Ashe, Rock Hudson, Brad Davis, Perry Ellis, Eazy E, Michel Foucault, Amanada 'Miss Kitty' Blake, Roy Cohn, Halston, Keith Haring, Robert Mapplethorpe, Rudolf Nureyev, Anthony Perkins, Willi Smith, Liberace, Ricky Wilson. Private lives: Gail Farrow, T Billy, Bob BJ Johnson, Nkoosi Johnson, Terry McCormick, Catherine Margaret Cory. Public or private, we've all had losses. Is there anyone you are remembering today?
posted by madamjujujive at 6:46 AM PST - 43 comments

Here's a pragmatic look at why companies like De Beers and British Petroleum seek to combat the spread of HIV. Can this be an example of how an act of self-interest can also be an act of humanitarianism?
posted by phyrewerx at 4:35 AM PST - 3 comments

The 12 Sexually Transmitted Infections of Christmas (Flash Required)
posted by PenDevil at 4:22 AM PST - 22 comments

In Uganda, 1.7 million children have been orphaned by Aids - a tenth of the world's total. Here is one woman's story. If you do not have the time to read through the article, please consider a visit to www.sendacow.org.uk, the charity mentioned in the article.
posted by davehat at 4:04 AM PST - 4 comments

The State of Britain today. Mass surveillance of it's citizenry. ID cards. Making criminals of teenagers who snog (!) And a bill to rival the USA Patriot Act removing property & human rights at a minister's whim. With men being imprisoned in UK jails for over almost 2 years, without charge or trial (ala Guantanamo) it looks like the partnership between Bush and Blair is a little more than simple expediency.
posted by Blue Stone at 2:14 AM PST - 26 comments

Euro 2004: Now We Know Who Is Going To Play Who are we any wiser? Bets are on and early predictions from the bravest punters are welcome. Who's going to disappoint? Who's going to surprise? Who will win, dammit?!
posted by MiguelCardoso at 2:07 AM PST - 22 comments

Starting with this year's State of the Union address, President Bush began a plan to increase aid to Africa, and at the center of that plan is funding to prevent the spread of AIDS and HIV that has reached epidemic proportions on the continent. Critics however, have noted that aid to clinics comes with strings attached. Abstinence is preached first and foremost and condoms are mentioned only as a last resort. This reporter flat out says the policy to curtail the funding and use of condoms in Africa is killing millions.
posted by mathowie at 12:08 AM PST - 32 comments