Extradition and a Fear of HIV...

There are many people out there in this big bad world of ours who fear being exposed to HIV and developing AIDS. This fear seems to be further intensified where a person is under threat of a prison term in a nation where HIV / AIDS is prevalent, or rampant, in the prison system where they would serve a sentence if convicted.

Adrian Kiki Ariawan, a convicted Indonesian felon, currently detained in Australia is fighting his pending extradition to Indonesia based on an argument that sending him back to a prison system where he may contract HIV is a breach of his human rights and a breach of prevailing international humanitarian law.

At this point, you might be shaking your head and saying, "what?" But, this is not as far-fetched as it sounds. And, more importantly the approach has been successfully argued in the Australian Federal Court in 2004. In de Bruyn vs. The Minister for Justice and Customs (FCAFC 2004), the Federal Court allowed the appeal of the lower court decision that granted the extradition.

The Federal Court also quashed the arrest warrant with the reasoning that the Minister had not given sufficient consideration to the humanitarian grounds associated with extraditing someone to a penal system where there is a risk of contracting HIV.

de Bruyn was fighting extradition to South Africa. The support for the petition included a number of articles that noted increased risks of HIV infection, particularly post-incarceration.

With respect to the risk, it would be interesting to see whether the Australian courts would consider a response from Indonesian authorities in the form of a guarantee that Ariawan would be jailed in isolation or only with other inmates of negative HIV status. This would presumably reduce and perhaps eliminate any risk of Ariawan contracting HIV while serving his sentence.

I am sure that serving the rest of your life in solitary confinement is most probably a breach of one's human rights, but if the fear is of contracting some disease whilst in prison then being separated from all other prisoners would seemingly resolve that fear, and it would be the choice of the convict themselves.

It must be noted that Australian prisons are not HIV-free nor are they violence-free, sexual or otherwise, although medical treatment is considerably better than what is available in the Indonesian penal system. It also needs to be noted that all prisoners in New South Wales are tested on entry into the system, usually three months after entry into the system and on release back into the community. As I remember it, tests can also be conducted at other times if thought warranted or if requested by the relevant authorities or the prisoners themselves.

I am going to have to do a little more reading on this subject, as I find it really interesting. It has not much to do with my life now that I have moved from lawyering work into teaching, but the legal stuff still remains a fascination (some might say an obsession) for me.

Ariawan has been sentenced to a life term for his role in the embezzling of Bank Liquidity funds offered to Bank Surya.

AIDS and Shariah -- Hizbut Tahrir Style...

Today is World AIDS Day. Today, at least for me, is a day to remember dear friends and to continue to agitate for a brighter future; one that is free of this scourge. It is time that there was not only a vaccine, but a cure, for this virus. It is important to remember that as a community that great strides have been made, but it is more important to remember that the fight is not over. There are still those who advocate ignorance and take the bury your head in the sand approach.

This is why I find news like Hizbut Tahrir in Indonesia advocating the development of an Islamic Caliphate and the immediate implementation of Shariah Law as their main weapon in the fight against HIV / AIDS both amusing and and frighteningly dangerous at the same time. The naivety of an approach that says Shariah law will solve all ills beggars belief, particularly when the insinuation is that HIV / AIDS is a disease of prostitutes, drug users, and homosexuals. Not only is this naive, it is stupid as well. To all intents and purposes, prostitution, illicit drug use, and homosexuality are already illegal in Indonesia. So, the imposition of Shariah law is not going to change the legal framework all that much with respect to these issues. Unless, there is a belief that the punishment would be a sufficient deterrent to all of these situations.

Part of the Hizbut Tahrir push is to close down brothels and ban the use of condoms. Now, if I am not mistaken brothels are generally illegal. And, the authorities tend to periodically close them down. However, the banning of condoms as a means of preventing casual sex is silly at best and negligent at worst.

The Islamic hardliners are also advocating the cancellation of all condom and sex education programs on the belief that if people have no knowledge of sex, and safe sex in particular, then they are less likely to indulge in sex as a past time. Finally, it appears that the protesters believe that Indonesians are rather large consumers of pornography and that this is a trigger for the huge increase in casual sex. The answer, according to Hizbit Tahrir and others is to ban pornography and shut down the porn industry. Ah, if I am not mistaken pornography is already illegal in Indonesia.

Ideas such as this highlight a real lack of understanding of the human condition and the nature of the world that we live in. The reality is that sex and drugs preceded Islam and they will more than likely survive it as well.

Nevertheless, it is a daunting task facing those seeking to educate Indonesians about HIV / AIDS, particularly when a component of the community would have you believe that HIV / AIDS is nothing more than a disease that afflicts those in the sex industry or homosexuals. Indonesia is on the cusp of a pandemic where large-scale transmission from high risk communities begins to pervade the general community.

UNAIDS estimates that there are some 270,000 Indonesians infected with HIV, and that this is the tip of the iceberg in the sense that there is also a belief that there is significant under-reporting of infections. Under-reporting generally stems from the stigma attached to being HIV+ and the idea of singling HIV+ people out is abhorrent.

There is a real danger that HIV / AIDS could become a really big problem for Indonesia. However, the reality is not one that allows us to stick out collective heads in the sand and pretend that there is not really a problem. It requires vision from Indonesia's leaders to face this dilemma head on and make the hard decisions. One of those decisions is that education saves lives.

Perhaps now is a good time to take the excellent work being done by civil society and NGOs in Indonesia, such as Spiritia Foundation and others, mainstream in confronting this scourge. The fight is all about Respect and Protect. Respecting and protecting ourselves and others.

(Photo from here)

The Campaign Posters -- Offensive?

Saddam Hussein

Joseph Stalin

Adolf Hitler

These are the campaign posters (to-date) for the AIDS Is A Mass Murderer campaign being run in Germany. However, thanks to the Internet this campaign is probably going to take on a life of its own. Hopefully, bloggers and others can contribute to this campaign going a little bit viral (pun intended) to ensure that it reaches the maximum number of people.

The controversy aside, as to whether it increases the stigma on those living with HIV / AIDS, the fact that the campaign holds the potential to get people talking about the virus and our increasing complacency with respect to risk-taking behaviours, then the campaign is in my mind worthwhile.

I also remain to be convinced that the advertisements are suggesting that those people living with HIV / AIDS are mass murderers. To the contrary, I think the advertisements are saying that this killer lives among us, and 'this killer' is the virus.

That is just me though.

But on a slightly different note. Is there anything to be read into why Hitler and Hussein get brunettes and Stalin gets a blonde?

AIDS Is A Mass Murderer -- The Hitler Video...

This is one of those moments when you think to yourself, "why hasn't someone thought of this before?" The use of an Adolf Hitler lookalike having sex as a means of promoting the idea that AIDS is a mass murderer. Perhaps now a whole raft of regional based ads could be made, such as a Russian AIDS ad with a Stalin lookalike doing the deed (which has been done) or a Pol Pot lookalike in Cambodia, the possibilities are numerous.

AIDS, despite what some might have you believe, is an indiscriminate killer in the end; it does not matter whether you are male or female, gay or straight, young or old. The reality, and it is a sad reality, is that we have become much more complacent on the AIDS front. AIDS has morphed from being a much more immediate killer to a chronic illness that can be managed with the right medications. This has made us complacent and this is dangerous. Therefore, a truly confronting ad campaign might just be the way to go to reinvigorate the drive to create a viable vaccine and to find a cure.

The ad was produced by the German Das Comitee advertising agency. The primary focus according to the creative director, Dirk Silz, was to be confronting, to shake people up and get them thinking about reversing the trend in the increasing numbers of people engaging in unprotected sex. You can find the ad here at www.aids-is-a-mass-murderer.com.

AIDS has already caused the death of some 30 million people to date, and a further 6000 are dying everyday. The simple reality is that if we do not address the issue of HIV/AIDS then it will one day be the biggest killer of humans in all of our history. It will have killed more people than all of the wars we have endured as a race combined. This is a truly scary thought.

Maybe, just maybe, an ad like this one is just what the doctor ordered.

However, it is worth noting that not everyone is happy with the ad campaign. There are some who are arguing that the campaign will have the opposite effect and will actually serve to further stigmatize those with HIV / AIDS. The argument is it seems that the ad suggests that people with HIV / AIDS are mass murderers. To be honest I do not see the ad this way. In my mind the ad is indeed confronting, but it is saying the virus is a mass killer that lives among us and that we must be vigilant to ensure that we do not fall victim to it.

In any event, an ad such as this one is likely to generate strongly held opinions on both sides of the equation, yet in some way I believe if it generates debate and gets people talking about the pros and cons, not only of the ad but of the virus, then it has achieved the greater part of its objective.

Don't forget World AIDS Day on 1 December.

You can check it out here or just watch it below.

God is Love -- Jesus Supports the Use of Condoms

I fully expect to offend people with the picture that leads off this post. I do not apologize for the message of this piece. Thanks to the Freethinker for illuminating this controversy for me here and here.

Sexually transmitted diseases of all types are slowly but surely decimating our collective future. The idea that abstinence is the answer has proven to be clearly not the case. The need here is to ensure that people are fully educated and therefore able to make informed decisions on their own. If abstinence happens to be that choice, then all well and good. However, if the choice is a different one, then at least those individuals will have at their disposal the knowledge that may just save their lives.

The art work is by Ben Heine, a Belgian, and was in direct response to the statements of the Pope and his fellow clergy members who seem to believe that it says somewhere in the Bible that condom use is strictly prohibited and that the use of condoms actually makes the HIV / AIDS tragedy in places like Africa even worse. The art work was posted on a site called DeviantArt. Unfortunately, DeviantArt in their infinite wisdom deemed the work too offensive or controversial or something because they removed it, and then ultimately banned Heine from the site.

I fully support the right of websites to determine their own content. However, a quick look around the DeviantArt site turns up quite a lot of art that would best be described as pornographic and perhaps even offensive to some, not to me though. So, why single out this piece of art for censorship? Come to think of it, I am not offended by Jesus wearing a condom or the idea that the Christian God is a God of Love and would be cool with a pro-condom message. This is not because it encourages promiscuity but to the contrary because it saves souls from agonizing and pointless deaths.

The right to freely express one's ideas is a core tenet of my philosophy on life. I have not and do not advocate that there are no limits to free speech, in fact quite to the contrary. However, sometimes free speech sometimes offends, and causing offense does not necessarily mean that it has crossed that uncrossable line in the sand where it is no longer protected. My personal opinion is that I can accept some people will be offended by the image, but I do not believe the image crosses the line.

Is it in bad taste? To each their own.

HIV / AIDS, Microchips, and Papua

The Papuan Provincial Government has drafted a Regional Regulation that includes an article that requires certain people living with HIV / AIDS to be micro-chipped. This seems to fly in the face of other measures that Indonesia has taken to reduce the stigma associated with being HIV positive. Indonesia has laws and regulations in place that make it illegal to discriminate against people living with HIV / AIDS in the work place and the general community.

The article defines "certain" people as being those that are "aggressive". Aggressive in the context of the regulation are those that are aggressively seeking out sexual partners and presumably spreading the virus without informing their prospective partners of their HIV status.

I am not sure how the microchips are going to prevent the aggressive individuals that are so micro-chipped from having sexual intercourse or infecting others. At best the microchips will allow authorities to track movements and general locations where these aggressive people are. I just do not see how the microchips will alert a potential victim to the HIV status of the micro-chipped person.

The idea of chipping aggressive people is just so subjective in nature that it is difficult to see how it can possibly work without falling foul of the constitutional provisions prohibiting discrimination. Who is to decide what constitutes aggressiveness and how is aggressiveness to be measured?

There is something that seems to be inherently wrong in tagging people within certain groups. I wonder how long it will be until there are regional regulations that require the micro-chipping of people from marginal groups such as the homeless, minority faiths, gays and lesbians, expatriates, to name but a few.

I am sensing that there will undoubtedly be plenty of concerned citizens and NGOs that will band together to challenge the validity of the regional regulation. Tagging people is just wrong, at least, to my mind.

Governments Regulating Morality

It seems that the Government of Jakarta has decided the best way to break the chain of HIV infections plaguing the capital is to regulate the morality of its citizens and to pass the burden of testing and screening onto businesses. Sometimes you have to worry about the policy wonks and drafters sitting in City Hall and their inability in putting together a coherent policy and a workable law.

What follows might be too analytical for some. However, it is worth pondering some of the points raised.

It might be argued that this Regulation has been a long time in the making and an equally long time in the coming. The Regulation, No. 5 of 2008, seeks to break the chain of HIV infections that, at least, statistically have seen a rapid spike in the upwards direction. HIV/AIDS is a serious problem in the capital and there is no doubt that the government needs to be more proactive in the fight against the virus.

The basic premise of the Regulation is to break the chain of infections. Furthermore, the Regulation is designed to ensure that the quality of life of HIV / AIDS suffers and intra-venous drug users improve. However, the responses that the government proposes to this end are interesting for many reasons. In many ways the provisions of the Regulation seem to be more suggestion in nature than enforceable as the provisions seem to be aimed at regulating moral behaviour and criminalizing poor moral judgment.

The rest of the Regulation deals with matters that provide a loose framework for ensuring that people living with HIV / AIDS have access to adequate medical treatment and are not discriminated against once their HIV status is known either to an employer or the community at large. It is not explicitly clear from the construction of the Regulation but it appears that generally this provision would make it an offence to discriminate against and vilify a person with HIV.

Furthermore, the Regulation requires businesses that are considered to be high risk and potentially sources and spreaders of the virus to be more pro-active in screening their staff for HIV infection. Through to June 2008 there are 3,123 cases of HIV reported in the capital which on a percentage basis is small considering the size of the population.

There are five components to the Regulation:
1. general provisions;
2. promotion;
3. prevention;
4. medicine; and
5. treatment and support.

In general the Regulation targets those individuals that are considered high risk or work in high risk businesses. These businesses are identified in the Elucidation to Article 15(g) as, among others, employees of massage parlors, spas, discotheques, and karaoke joints. However, the Regulation also makes special mention of ensuring that pregnant women and nursing mothers have access to suitable and continuing services to ensure the health of any children born to a HIV positive mother.

Promotion is a matter of communication, information, and education. The promotion role is to be filled by the community, the Central Government, and the Government of Jakarta as required. However, it is expected that there is to be a degree of synergy developed among these promoters to ensure efficiency and effectiveness of any promotions undertaken.

It is expected that the promotion activities will focus on two core elements, namely: changing lifestyle patterns and reducing the stigma attached to being HIV positive.

The educational aspect of the promotional program is to include both internal and external (extracurricular) elements within schools. This means that schools are required to develop a personal development or sex education program that includes materials on HIV / AIDS. Interestingly, the Regulation uses the word “schools” and the Elucidation to the relevant article does not provide any assistance to how schools must be defined. So it is therefore reasonable to assume that the word schools can conceivably include from the primary level through to the senior secondary level.

Nevertheless, the likely target will be senior high school. Yet, if statistics were to bear out that increasingly larger numbers of junior high school students were engaging in high risk behaviours then it would seem to make sense to start the education program at the junior high level.

In a more general sense the promotion elements of the HIV / AIDS program are aimed at promoting the idea that a harmonious and loving family is one that does not tolerate high risk behaviours.

The prevention strategy on face value is a good one. Unfortunately, neither the Regulation nor the Elucidations provide enough detail about how the prevention strategy is going to be implemented in full. There is considerable scope for further regulations in order to “fill” out the regulatory framework.

The prevention strategy includes, among others, the following:
1. abstinence for unmarried people;
2. sexual relations only with those who are your legal partner;
3. use of preventive aids (presumably condoms although nothing is mentioned) by people of known HIV status;
4. programs to reduce the negative impacts of intra-venous drug use;
5. standard operating procedures for organ transplants and blood transfusions;
6. programs to ensure that pregnant women of a known HIV status have prioritized access to antiretroviral drugs to lessen the risk of transmission to their unborn child;
7. programs that require high risk business to routinely screen for HIV infections in their employees;
8. universal precaution for health workers who are at risk of contact with HIV; and
9. family counseling.

The above strategy gives rise to a number of questions. These questions will need to be answered going forward either in a legislative manner or in terms of a commitment to allowing certain strategies to take shape. There is also considerable scope for public / private partnerships to develop in such areas as needle exchange programs and injecting rooms as a means of reducing the negative impacts of intra-venous drug use and abuse. Other possibilities include the development of community health programs that promote the use of condoms and make them readily available to the masses.

Furthermore, the compulsory nature of the obligation on employers to test employees who work in high risk businesses is an interesting one on a number of different levels. For example, the costs of the testing are to be borne by the businesses themselves. However, the Regulation is unclear as to whether the government is going to appoint an accredited screener for the process or are the businesses free to choose a screener of their own? The Regulation is also unclear as to what the employer is to do with an employee who is HIV positive once they are uncovered through the screening process.

Another interesting question not properly addressed in the Regulation is how are bars and pubs to be tested and screened in this process. Admittedly, the Regulation would cover employees of bars but it would not conceivably cover freelance female and male sex workers who might inhabit such establishments. It would appear that there would also be a need to screen these people as well. However, if they are not employees then who does that responsibility fall to? And isn’t the screening of high risk individuals one of the pillars of this piece of legislation?

In a perversely funny kind of a way, the Regulation seems to suggest that certain entertainment venues are places of prostitution. It is clear that prostitution is illegal in Indonesia so if the government of Jakarta is making such an admission then would the more common sense approach be to close these venues down and reduce the level of prostitution in the city.

The reality is that the Regulation is far from being as comprehensive as it might have been. Considering the intent of the Regulation is to break the chain of HIV infection, then to leave large numbers of high risk individuals to voluntary testing would seem to undermine the good intentions of the provisions as they currently stand.

In terms of medicines the Regulation is much more scant on provisions and states that further regulations are to be issued to clarify this matter.

The Regulation creates both Provincial and District / City AIDS Prevention Commissions which in a cynical sense serves to create another level of bureaucracy in the system. However, if the Commissions were able to be developed in a manner that allowed for consolidation of the current diaspora then this may be a positive development.

Interestingly, the Regulation sets out a role for community participation but simultaneously obligates the members of the community to treat people living with HIV / AIDS in a just and humane manner. Combined with the earlier noted provisions, this appears to bring into play the possibility of people being charged and prosecuted for vilifying HIV positive individuals.

The community’s role also seems to include a moral policing aspect as the Regulation is specific in stating that the community must ensure that the is an increase in religiousness of the community and that the existing family units are maintained. The Regulation then goes on to state that the community must create an environment that is conducive for the, presumably, wider acceptance of the fact that there are HIV positive people and drug users living within their midst.

The Regulation also includes a Chapter on investigation and explicitly states that investigators can either be police investigators or appointed civil service investigators. The provisions in Article 27 set out what the investigators are authorized to do but what the Regulation is lacking is specifically what the investigators are to investigate. It is therefore presumed that the matters that would be subject to investigation are those relating to compliance and the specific provisions noted in the Chapter on sanctions.

Yet, it is worth noting that investigators have extensive powers to fingerprint, photograph, and seize property and documents. What is unclear from the Regulation is whether this power is as unfettered as it seems to be.

The provisions require businesses to test staff members at least every three months. Presumably, this means that investigators would be able to demand documents that would prove compliance. The sanctions provisions only note the following offences:

1. failure to keep HIV status data confidential;
2. failure to follow standard operating procedures with regards to transplants and transfusions;
3. non-discrimination against HIV positive people in the provision of medical services; and
4. compulsory HIV screening for high risk employees.

The administrative sanctions would include written warnings to businesses that have failed to comply with screening procedures. Ongoing compliance failures would then allow the government to shut down the business.

The criminal sanctions provide for terms of detention up to three months or fines of up to IDR 50 million. The deliberate spread of HIV is not subject to a specific penalty under this Regulation but rather the Regulation states that the criminal penalty will be whatever is applicable under the prevailing laws and regulations.

The Regulation was issued on 22 July 2008 and came into force on 24 July 2008.

Julia Perez Blacklisted by the MUI

The Head of the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) in Pekanbaru, Ilyas Husti, has decided that the MUI needed to issue a letter rejecting the visit of Julia Perez (aka Jupe) from visiting the city, and he has done just that.

Since when has the MUI been the arbiter of travel in Indonesia and since when have they had the power to ban the travel of private citizens? Furthermore, since when has the MUI had the power to regulate who political parties or any other organization invite to perform at the functions of these organizations?

The MUI really needs to pull its head out of the sand before it gets the communal backlash boot in the arse. This is the same sort of thing you would expect to see from fundamental Muslim elements who deem themselves as arbiters of what is entertainment. I always thought that the MUI liked to consider itself a moderate organization.

A recent example from Indonesia's near neighbours in Malaysia saw an Islamic student organization seeking a ban on Indonesia's "queen of the drill", Inul. Let's face it, both Indonesia and Malaysia have much bigger problems than a little hip wiggling at a political rally or a concert.

The overall expectation was that Jupe would participate in the celebrations that have been planned for Independence Day on 17 August. Independence Day in any country is an important day, one where the freedoms that independence have brought are celebrated by the masses. It is a time to let down the collective hair and enjoy being free. Unfortunately, for the citizens of Pekanbaru, the MUI seems determined to rain on this parade.

The problem seems to be that Jupe's reputation as a bit of a sex symbol proceeds her and the MUI is concerned that this image will get all the local lad's hormones raging and perhaps a bunch of testosterone engorged teenagers will lose the plot. Jupe is a bit of a sensationalist and panders to that image. Her most recent claim to fame involved the packaging of condoms with her latest album release. Considering, the heightened risk of HIV / AIDS in Indonesia, perhaps Jupe should be praised for her convictions rather than blacklisted for them.

Now is a time to celebrate Indonesia's rich cultural and ethnic diversity and not to curtail it. It is sad that the MUI cannot see this simple truth, that sometimes people just need to have fun!

Justice Michael Kirby -- Criminalizing HIV

Australian High Court Judge Michael Kirby has spoken about the growing pressure on States to criminalize the transmission of HIV. Justice Kirby while addressing a criminal law conference in Dublin was speaking about the rising rates of HIV infection in Australia and the pressure to see those that transmit the virus punished.

It is Justice Kirby's view that criminalizing the transmission is going to have a a negligible effect on transmission rates, if any effect at all. The idea of criminalizing the transmission of HIV is likely to be counter-productive as this would be best described as a punitive measure.

The money that the State is likely to have to throw at this to make the policy of criminalizing the transmission of HIV would be better spent on research and development that leads to a vaccine and eventually a cure.

The fact that HIV is no longer the immediate death sentence it once was because of significant advances in the effectiveness of antiretrovirals and other drugs has meant that people have become much less cautious in protecting themselves. Perhaps psychologically the idea of a chronic illness is more palatable and less scary than rapid progression to death from an AIDS related illness.

I know Justice Kirby and I once wanted to clerk for the man. Justice Kirby has lost friends to the disease. So, in that sense he has a personal perspective on this.

Circumcision and STDs

A recent study is one of good and bad news with respect to circumcision. A study conducted in Africa by the US National Institutes of Health evidenced that the rates of HIV / AIDS infection in circumcised men fell by 50% compared to their non-circumcised colleagues. However, another study shows that circumcision does not seem to protect men from other more common sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). These are part of a number of studies that have examined this issue.

A study out of South Africa showed even more promising figures where circumcision was shown to reduce HIV infection by 60%. For African countries that are in the midst of a HIV / AIDS pandemic these are encouraging figures.

Nevertheless, a New Zealand study has shown that circumcision does not protect men from other common STDs like herpes, chlamydia, and genital warts.

The results and discussions of the studies can be found in the International Journal of Epidemiology (online) and the Journal of Pediatrics, 152: 383-387, 2008.

Avian Influenza or H5N1

Fortunately, this nasty little virus has not become the pandemic that everyone supposedly in the know thought that it might! However, this is not the end of the story but merely the beginning as the potential remains and questions remain as to whether Indonesia and others have been accurately reporting avian influenza deaths. Instead of calling this thing its scientific name or the somewhat pompous avian influenza, I am just going to call it bird flu!

History has seen an earlier form of bird flu that was either called chicken flu or the Spanish Flu. The Spanish Flu was thought to have originated in the battlefields of the First World War and migrated from chickens to a mutant strain into humans. The number crunchers are whacking out the scary statistics that if this thing was to take off then it could conceivably kill up to 3 billion people. Now, there is one way to ensure population control and turn back the effects of global warming!

This brings us to Indonesia's claim of some kind of intellectual property rights over the bird flu virus and that if anyone wants samples of the virus then they must pay by the Indonesian Health Minister. This seems to say to her fellow citizens that we do not care whether you live or die but we are going to ensure that we make a few dollars at your expense.

She then trots out the argument of the big bad west and the fact that they are trying to rape and pillage Indonesia's intellectual property and profit from it! If Indonesia has the ability to develop medicines and drugs to treat bird flu then it should do it and profit from it if it can. However, the reality would seem to suggest that Indonesia does not think that it can do this and is therefore now seeking to sell samples.

It is at this point the story takes a truly bizarre and perhaps disturbing turn. The Health Minister publishes a book and by a number of accounts Health Department funds were thrown at the task. The truly bizarre and disturbing part is not so much the claim that WHO and large pharmaceutical companies are conspiring to defraud developing countries of their rights but the idea that the west is desperately seeking samples of Indonesian bird flu in order to develop a biological weapon that might be used against Indonesia in the future...

Stupid, stupid, stupid conspiracy theory with absolutely no grounds based in even the slightest realities of current geo-political relationships! These kind of xenophobic conspiracy theories do nothing but stoke the fires of hatred. These are fires of hatred that Indonesians, not just foreigners, should fear and loathe. These things also only serve to perpetuate the hatred and stereotypes that some people hold of others.

The fact that the Indonesian government has remained relatively silent on this book is of some concern as the question that arises is, "is this silence in fact an endorsement of the views of the Health Minister?" To be fair the book was withdrawn temporarily and many believed much of the xenophobic vitriol and the idea that bird flu is the work of God would be removed (redacted) from this tome. The idea that Allah gave Indonesia the deadliest strain of bird flu to date in order that Indonesia could make money off of it is as ludicrous as it is offensive to those that have already died from infection with the virus. However, it allegedly reappeared pretty much in tact and with some words of encouragement from the President.

I must be honest and admit that I have not bought the book and do not intend to (if someone wants to give me copy then they can). I have been following this primarily in the news and my comments here are interpretations of what I have read. I, therefore, encourage you to read them in that context.

As as side note perhaps it is worth noting that conspiracy theories abound in the supposed dark world of pharmaceutical development where men and women in suits sit in high-rise office buildings developing sinister plans to keep the world sick in order to maximize profits.

Similar conspiracy theory type arguments have been trotted out with regard to HIV/AIDS. The idea that pharmaceuticals stand to make more money out of treatment than they ever would out of cure. Simply, the conspiracy theory goes that allowing people to remain sick is more profitable in the long term than being able to cure them. It is my belief that the Indonesian Health Minister has done nothing than adopt this view and change the virus to H5N1.

Killing Our Environment and Killing Ourselves

Why is it that human beings have such an exaggerated appetite for death and destruction? This appetite includes an obvious innate desire to limit our opportunities for survival on this planet. We better hope those astro-scientist types work out practical ways for us to live elsewhere in the universe or we will soon be victims of our own excesses.

What inspired this not so cheery post is a press release from the UN that highlights the human race's propensity to destroy its environment means the likelihood of finding cures to modern diseases decreases as rapidly as the natural environment that we destroy on a daily basis.

An example of this is the Rheobatrachus or the Southern Gastric Brooding frog which was thought to produce substances that slowed acid and enzyme excretions which are a main cause of peptic ulcers! Nah, bugger me if we haven't gone and made this poor little frog extinct and with it the possibility of finding and developing a treatment for the prevention of peptic ulcers - idiots!

Just the possibility that the cure for cancer or HIV/AIDS is just sitting there out in the environment there waiting to be discovered must become motivation enough for us as a people to protect the biodiversity that we have left.

Climate change, stripping away of natural resources, environmental degradation, and the like are real and we each need to start playing our little parts in turning the tide against what will ultimately lead to our destruction!

This would be the ultimate irony for those that believe in God our ability to destroy that which was given us! It would also be the ultimate vindication for evolutionists as the cycle of life and death would fit nicely into the evolution theory of humans coming into existence and ultimately being evoluted out of existence.