US Against the World

AMERICA: WILLING TO STAND ALONE WHEN NEED BE

Thanks to Peter Brown for drawing my attention to this November 26 post, by New York-based human rights attorney Joanne Mariner, on alternet.org. In relevant part:

Here are some numbers to consider: 14 million, 35.9 billion, and 1.

The first is an estimate of the number of people who will die of AIDS and other treatable diseases over the course of the coming year, most of them in the poor countries of the developing world.

The second figure represents the combined 2002 profits, in dollars, of the 10 biggest pharmaceutical companies listed in Fortune magazine’s annual review of America’s largest businesses.

The third figure corresponds to the number of countries that, last week, voted against a U.N. resolution on access to drugs in global epidemics such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. The resolution emphasized that the failure to deliver life-saving drugs to millions of people who are living with HIV/AIDS constitutes a global health emergency. One hundred sixty seven countries voted in favor of the resolution. The single vote against it was cast by the United States.

I would like to think this is not an accurate portrayal of the position our country took – and if it’s not, I’ll post your corrections promptly. But it sure sounds like us lately. To fix that, click here.

Tomorrow: Year-End Tax Selling – And Buying