text:
Stage(d)
Real Politik
Mainstream Trough
The Shop Floor
2014 Ways of Being Here
It's on a need to know basis
My Body Was Dying
by Edwin Cameron
in Real Politik, Word
This week, former president Thabo Mbeki admitted to having co-authored the HIV-Aids denialist Castro Hlongwane booklet in his "Monday missives" – letters to South Africa which apparently seek to "set the record straight". Mbeki also defended his denialist position, which hampered the roll-out of anti-retrovirals (ARVs) to ordinary South Africans and, is said to have unnecessarily claimed the lives of over 330 000 people. In response, The Con, publishes an edited excerpt from Constitutional Court Judge Edwin Cameron's autobiography, Justice: A Personal Account (Tafelberg), in which he writes about his early battle with HIV-Aids, the benefits he experienced once on ARVs (expensive even for a judge at the point) and the Treatment Action Campaign's "principled, energetic, furious assault" on drug companies and the South African government to make ARVs accessible.
Towards the end of September 1997, nearly eleven years after my doctor called to tell me I had HIV, and three years after our country's transition to democracy, I fell ill with AIDS. The illness hit me hard. Both my lungs were debilitated by pneumocystis pneumonia, or PCP. It is a rare form of pneumonia. Its cause is a fungus that is present in the lungs of many people with normal immune responses. It does no harm there. But in people with a weakened immune system, the fungus opportunistically seizes control, causing severe respiratory problems, and unless treated with strong antibiotics can be fatal.
This fungus was stifling my breath. I lay awake at night, trying to inhale. My lungs felt inefficient, distended, like balloons full of water. But what felt worse was another opportunistic ailment, gastro-intestinal thrush. This fungus thickly coated my mouth, tongue, throat and stomach. It too is often found in healthy people, where it causes no ill effects. But in my body's weakened state, it bullied itself into control, forming a furry white layer that made it difficult to chew or to swallow. I lost my energy and my appetite. And, when I did manage to take in food, my stomach couldn't digest it. I was losing my weight as fast as my strength, and beginning to get the gaunt "AIDS look".
I could not help thinking that fungus grows on decaying bodies. My body was dying.
I had hoped never to reach this pitch of decline and fear. A tiny fraction of people with HIV – less than one-fifth of one percent – manage to elude AIDS. Medical scientists don't fully understand why. But if you have HIV it is on this group you focus your hopes. You yearn to be among the lucky who will never fall ill. My closest family and friends ardently shared these hopes. After three years of solitariness, remaining silent while feelings of shame and fear churned inside, in 1990 I managed to start speaking with my closest relatives about my HIV.
Like most families, my sister, Jeanie, and brother in law, Wim, and their children, Marlise and Graham, responded with unconditional love and support. Why would they not? So did the small group of friends and the tiny handful of colleagues I gradually told. And they, too – how could they not? Yet, knowing how often people with AIDS faced discrimination and ostracism, I felt grateful for the support I received. I needed it.
By now I was a judge. Three years before, at the end of 1994, President Nelson Mandela, on the recommendation of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), appointed me to the High Court. When the advocates' organization, the Bar Society, nominated me for this honour, I was overjoyed. For me, becoming a judge had been a lifelong ideal. I realised I never would or could achieve this in apartheid South Africa. Now we had started on the road to democracy, with a Constitution that included all South Africans equally in the rights it promised. To become a judge now would be a fulfilment indeed.
But something troubled me deeply. Should I publicly state my HIV status?
I felt some anguish about this. I was a vigorous campaigner for rationality and justice in the epidemic. But only a handful of family and close friends knew that I was campaigning for more than just the public issue. I was campaigning also for myself. Were the public, the JSC and President Mandela not entitled to know that I too was living with HIV?
In this perplexity, I turned to an important mentor, Arthur Chaskalson. He was the country's most distinguished public interest lawyer. For many years he had been one of the Johannesburg Bar's most respected advocates in both commercial and public interest law. He had been among the defence lawyers in the Rivonia Trial. Then, in 1977, he founded the Legal Resources Centre (LRC). It was the country's first public interest law firm. It offered free (pro bono) legal services to people oppressed by unjust laws. The impact of its work was deep. His and the LRC's creative legal arguments garnered many judgments that blunted the impact of apartheid laws. As in the pass law cases, the judgments they secured even made it impossible to enforce apartheid…
When I made my appointment, I mentioned to Arthur's new secretary only that it was a personal matter. He came to fetch me at front-desk security when I arrived. As he escorted me to his new judicial chambers, he pointed out some of the artworks that his colleague Albie Sachs had started collecting for the court. When we reached his chambers, he first offered me a cup of tea, which I was glad to accept. Then he gravely bade me sit down. As I did, I found myself battling a sudden impulse to say nothing at all about HIV to him. Instead, I forced myself blurt it out without ado. I said, "Arthur, you know I've been nominated to become a judge. But I need to tell you something. I have HIV."
A look of shock appeared on his face. It was clear that the news was unexpected. His first response was to express distress and concern. I murmured my thanks. He paused. Then, intently, he asked questions. How was my health? How was I feeling? What was the prognosis? Was there any hope of medical treatment?
I told him there was no cure, and that as yet there was no realistic prospect of effective treatment. I also told him that it seemed certain that, at some point, I would fall ill and die of AIDS. Despite this, I was in fact still well. I was playing squash regularly with friends like Gilbert Marcus (whom I eventually told, together with his wife Jenny, of my HIV), and keeping fit. But my CD4 count (the count of the most important blood cells that fight off alien organisms, and which mark the strength of body's resistance) was showing my body's vulnerability to the ravages of the virus. I told Arthur it was slowly but steadily tracking down.
Then our conversation tracked to my dilemma. Could I take appointment as a judge? And could I do so without a public statement about my condition?
Arthur did not rush in with an immediate disclaimer or assurance. He thought further. He asked me more about living with HIV. And he asked about the law in other countries. What did other countries' legal systems say about disclosing one's HIV status before taking a job? And what did the International Labour Organisation in Geneva (ILO) say? I explained that many leading legal systems discountenanced an obligation to disclose HIV status when seeking a job. The ILO, too, recommended against any requirement of disclosure.
After considering carefully, Arthur was clear. I should go ahead with the JSC process. And, if it recommended my appointment, as he thought was sure, I should accept. There was no reason to think that I did not have years of productive service ahead of me. Arthur mentioned Joe Slovo, the head of the South African Communist Party. He had recently accepted a job in President Mandela's first Cabinet, as housing minister, even though it was known that he was very seriously ill. No one suggested that he should not have accepted because he was ill. And, Arthur said, the judiciary needed lawyers who had been involved in human rights law. It was important for me to become a judge.
Finally, Arthur said, I need make no public statement. Since my health was still good, my HIV status was not of concern to the JSC or to the President.
I left relieved. I was not ready to speak publicly. The dreadful burden of fear and inhibition that those of us with HIV internalise still weighed too painfully on me.
But I knew this was only another step in time. Eventually, I would have to engage with the public, whom I proposed to serve now in the capacity of a judge.
The next step came three years later, after the disease had at last caught up with my bodily frailty. I had lived to see democracy and a rights-based constitution in our country. I had lived to serve as a judge under it. Now, my body weakened, I faced death from AIDS.
But there was help in store. My doctor explained that our immediate priority was to overcome the opportunistic diseases that were besetting my body. With some difficulty he managed to do so. The pneumonia proved hardy against my first two-week bout of antibiotics. I needed a second, stronger, course. And the thrush, which we had repelled with an expensive but wonderfully effective new anti-fungal medication, Diflucan, returned.
In the meantime, I was intent on keeping up my work as a judge. This was not just blind duty. It was also self-help. Continuing work helped me to cling to balance in circumstances that imperilled it. Even so, it was not easy. Some months before, the Judge-President had assigned me to a duty that took me outside the high court's headquarters in Johannesburg. This meant that I had to preside in the circuit court of the high court sitting in Vereeniging, a riverside town near the famous Vaal townships of Sharpeville and Sebokeng. It added hours to the day. Each morning, I made the hour-long trip Vereeniging. During the lunch break, I lay on the floor of the judge's room, garnering strength for the afternoon session.
Lying there, hearing my own torturous breathing, it was impossible to imagine how completely I would recover. For, after a grim fifteen-year period of relentless death and disease, and millions of deaths, the landscape of AIDS dramatically changed the year before I fell ill. Drug combinations had become available that could treat it. In 1996, doctors in North America announced that they were treating patients, including some who were extremely sick, and helping them to full recovery. Miraculous stories did the rounds of people on their deathbeds rising up to resume a vigorous life.
This fell also to me. It was a quite extraordinary joy. And it happened with breath-catching rapidity. I started taking anti-retroviral medication in November 1997. From crippling incapacitation with the disease's worst opportunistic afflictions, only a few weeks later, I was restored to health. The medications' effect on me seemed and felt little short of miraculous.
The first sign that I was getting better was that I became hungry. Not just hungry. Ravenously hungry. All the time. From being unable to eat at all, I now craved not three, but sometimes four, meals a day. The weight I had lost quickly returned. From being exhausted and tired, and seeing the ravages of opportunistic illnesses on my body, I returned within a very short time to vigorous energy. My skin tone – often a key sign of immune response – recovered. I looked as well as I felt.
But recovery was bought at a high price. Literally. The medications were extremely expensive. At that time, judges earned just under R360 000 per year. To most South Africans, this was a fabulous figure. At that time, the household income of more than three-quarters of my fellow South Africans was less than R4000 per month. By contrast, every month, after taxes and other deductions, the Treasury paid about R12 000 into my bank account. My medications initially included a particularly rare and expensive drug, the protease inhibitor Norvir, or Ritonavir. The monthly cost of my medications was more than one-third of my income. For me, with god-daughters I wished to send to a good school, with my home mortgage to pay off, and with ordinary household and living expenses, it was unaffordable.
But for many of the millions of people in Africa the cost was quite unimaginable. Like me, they faced death from AIDS. Yet they could not possibly afford the medications. I was buying my life with my position and my salary.
The statutory medical insurance that covered judges and parliamentarians barred my condition. Illogically, and unjustly, it listed AIDS as an excluded condition. My colleagues battling high blood pressure, cancer or diabetes could turn to the scheme to cover their doctors' visits, hospital stays and medication. During his last months in President Mandela's Cabinet, before he died on 5 January 1995, Joe Slovo needed expensive hospital treatments. The same medical insurance surely paid for these. Yet now it would give me no help in fighting AIDS.
My battle with it lay ahead. For now, to stay alive I had to find the money every month.
I was to be able to do so. I was acutely conscious of how lucky I was. One friend's gesture moved me deeply. It showed what all the friends and colleagues to whom I had spoken felt, even though they could not match it. One afternoon after court, with the bills for my anti-retroviral treatment streaming in, my friend and former colleague at CALS, Gilbert Marcus, walked into my judge's chambers. Without comment, he dropped an envelope into my in-tray. Inside was a cheque for R4000 – a month of life.
Zackie Achmat, a friend and comrade who had worked with me at CALS for the AIDS Law Project, was deeply concerned for those who did not have judges' salaries, or generous friends. In 1998, a year after my own brush with death, Zackie founded the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC). He did so shortly after going public with the news that he was himself living with the virus.
The TAC's target was the international drug companies who held patents on life-saving anti-retroviral drugs. Most of these drugs were quite cheap to manufacture. But the drug companies' patent rights meant they could make them cheaply but demand high sums for them. And they did. Their chief argument was that they needed to accumulate war chests for future life-saving research. Many regarded this argument with skepticism – particularly since the companies paid their shareholders fat dividends, and their executives bonuses that sometimes ran into hundreds of millions of dollars.
But even if the assertion that high prices were necessary to make future research and development possible held some water, it surely couldn't apply in the face of a continent-wide emergency. In Africa, tens of millions of the world's poorest people faced death from AIDS. The reason was not because no treatment was available. The reason was purely drug company patents and pricing policy. That was surely intolerable. The moral emergency of AIDS in Africa required new thinking, and new flexibility, in both business and politics.
In 1998, the activists' arguments were regarded as so far-fetched as to be outlandish. But within a few years, they had changed the debate not only on AIDS, but more broadly on the right of poor people to proper healthcare. And today they are widely accepted amongst healthcare planners and even drug companies. What changed the landscape was the principled, energetic, furious assault the TAC and its allies around the world launched on the drug companies.
A death of a close comrade spurred Zackie to more action. Simon Nkoli was a brave and outspoken activist against apartheid. During the Delmas Treason trial, he was imprisoned with other leaders of the internal uprising against apartheid that took place from September 1984. With them, he faced trial for treason and murder.
But there was something special, and unusual, about Simon. Simon was not only an anti-apartheid leader from the townships. He was also a proudly and openly gay man. His defiant courage about his sexual orientation helped win over internal leaders of the ANC to the idea of lesbian and gay equality. This proved crucial. Simon paved the way for the legal arguments we eventually submitted at the crucial times to the CODESA negotiations at Kempton Park. We urged the negotiators to include sexual orientation in the equality clause of the South African constitution. When they agreed, and South Africa became the first country, anywhere in the world, to entrench the right to equality of gays and lesbians, it was a direct result of Simon's work.
But barely four years after the Constitution came into effect, in December 1998, Simon died of AIDS. It was a grievous loss. For him, the new drugs hadn't worked. On a rainy night, we gathered for Simon's funeral in inner-city Johannesburg. The sad rite took place in St Mary's Cathedral – the very place where in January 1971 the security police arrested The Very Reverend Gonville Aubie ffrench-Beytagh and took him off into solitary confinement.
In a stirring speech to Simon's mourners, Zackie took the formation of the Treatment Action Campaign to the public. "We are not asking everything", he said: he realised that government had limited funds for treatment. But, he said, we have to do whatever is necessary "to save the lives of everyone who needs to be saved".
The campaign gathered momentum. Funders were found. Organisers, field workers, desk administrators and strategists were appointed. Two vital insiders were Mark Heywood and Nathan Geffen. From the start, they provided the steady stream of analysis and strategy that brought the TAC international recognition.
As all this happened, I was finding my own silence increasingly unbearable. In the light of the public statements by Simon and Zackie, it was increasingly clear to me that continuing silence was not possible.
Then, just after Simon's death, another death was reflected in searing headlines. It was also someone with HIV. Her name was Gugu Dlamini. She was from KwaMashu, a township near Durban. But, unlike Simon, Gugu was not prominent because she campaigned for any cause. And, unlike Simon, she did not die of AIDS. She died a violent death because of fear. Only in her death did she become a campaigner – most poignantly so. She has in death become famous as a symbol of the injury our own ignorance and prejudice and violent hatred can inflict.
Gugu Dlamini died because she spoke openly about her HIV. In an interview on 1 December 1998 – the very day of Simon's death – Gugu told Zulu-language radio listeners that she was living with HIV. Her openness in that interview sealed her fate. Three weeks later, fellow residents from KwaMashu killed her. They beat and stabbed and stoned her to death.
Her death spoke powerfully to me. If Gugu – who enjoyed none of the comforts and protections my life had – could speak out, why not I?
Arthur Chaskalson knew of my illness and of my recovery. I saw him and his beloved wife, Lorraine, for meals, and our conversations would never conclude without touching on my well-being. Setting up the new court required many pressing duties of Arthur, as did helping guide its jurisprudence through its first landmark judgments. Despite these, he took a warm interest in my wellness.
But Gugu's death, coming so soon after Simon's, and in such shockingly different circumstances, made it plain to me that I could no longer be silent. But how to end the silence? And when? Again, I confided in Arthur. In early 1999, just after Gugu died, I was nominated for a position on the Constitutional Court. Just more than three months after Gugu's and Simon's deaths, over the Easter weekend of 1999, he invited me to lunch at his home.
Arthur sketched out a plan. I should seize the moment, and the advantage, and make a public statement with maximum effect. I should announce my HIV status, and my successful treatment for AIDS, before the very meeting of JSC that would interview me for the Constitutional Court job.
It was breathtakingly bold. But it was right. And it was perfect Arthur. The hard-headed moralist, the wily legal strategist, and the caring friend.
My public statement had a beneficial impact, in South Africa, in Africa and elsewhere. For me, it was an enormous release. And still today I am boosted by the public affirmation and affection lavished on me. Arthur's advice, and his timing, were perfect.
Meanwhile, Zackie's call at Simon's funeral resounded across the world circle of global health and treatment activists. When the massive two-yearly international AIDS conference chose to convene in Africa for the first time, in 2000, the organizers chose Durban. The afternoon before the conference opened, the TAC held a big demonstration. It was impressive, vivid and clamant. Drug company executives, physicians, healthcare planners, government ministers were confronted with a plain and principled demand: poor people should have access to available medicines. Obstructing this demand was immoral and unacceptable.
The morning after the demonstration, I gave the keynote speech at the conference. I said that I existed as a living embodiment of the iniquity of drug availability and access in Africa. This was despite the fact that I was unlike the prototypical person living with HIV or AIDS in Africa – a black, heterosexual woman. I was a white gay man.
Yet my presence embodied the injustices of AIDS in Africa because, on a continent in which nearly million Africans live on less than one US dollar a day, I could afford monthly medication costs of nearly US $400 per month. "Amidst the poverty of Africa," I said, "I stand before you because I am able to purchase health and vigour. I am here because I can afford to pay for life itself."
Within a very few years, the TAC achieved more than its founders could have dreamed possible when it was set up. Its first objective was to challenge the drug companies to make available to poor people in Africa patented drugs that were cheap to manufacture. In this they succeeded. Through a combination of well-directed, principled outrage and masterful tactics, the TAC coaxed and pressured and shamed the drug companies into change.
In a few short years after the Durban AIDS conference, former United States President Bill Clinton and Microsoft founder Bill Gates added their high-level support. Both started foundations with deep commitment to drug treatments in Africa. Their personal interventions led to breakthroughs in the policies of many pharmaceutical companies.
Some radically reduced their prices. Others agreed to grant licenses to manufacturers, in South Africa or India or other countries, who could produce and distribute the drugs cheaply. Yet others agreed to allow importers to bring in drugs manufactured elsewhere, which, under strict patent law enforcement, would have been impossible.
But just as the organizers were putting the final touches to the planning for the Durban conference, in late 1999, an unexpected hazard emerged. It was more menacing than corporate intransigence and high drug prices. And it posed a far greater political danger to the TAC's goal of universal treatment for AIDS. The threat came from an astonishing source. It was from the President, Thabo Mbeki, who in May 1999 succeeded President Nelson Mandela as President of South Africa.
When President Mbeki assumed the presidency, the epidemic was cruelly corroding the country's life and health. In less than ten years, the prevalence among women attending antenatal clinics had soared from 0,07%, in 1990, to over 20%, in 1999. As his presidency started, the death toll was already frightening. In 1999, perhaps one quarter of a million people died in South Africa from AIDS-related causes.
How would President Mbeki deal with this crisis of death and suffering?
Unlike President Mandela, President Mbeki had not cut his political teeth in the rough and tumble world of local emerging activist pro-democracy politics. Going into exile at a young age, in the early 1960s, he had been groomed for high office as part of an ANC elite. This included a period at Sussex University in England, where he acquired an advanced degree. He assumed office with an aura of technocratic expertise. And with a reputation as an independent thinker, with a self-acknowledged philosophical bent.
These characteristics strengthened some aspects of President Mbeki's leadership. But the President's inclination to self-minded research, and to idiosyncratic reasoning, had consequences for South Africa's management of the AIDS epidemic that can be described with only one word: horrific. Just months after taking office, President Mbeki started signalling that he planned to upend accepted medical and scientific approaches to HIV, the epidemic, and the treatment of AIDS.
In October 1999, the President spoke in the National Council of Provinces, the second house of Parliament. His reference to the impact of AIDS led him directly to AZT, the popular name for Zidovudine or azidothymidine. AZT was one of the drugs central to life-saving anti-retroviral combination therapies. It was first synthesized in 1964, and used to treat certain cancers. A quarter century later, in the late 1980s, it seemed to show significant promise as an anti-retroviral treatment for people with HIV. But the promise was dashed when studies showed that when the drug was used alone, the virus adapted itself quickly to find ways around is anti-retroviral properties.
That led to the big breakthrough in AIDS treatment – the one that saved my life. It came when doctors started using AZT together with two or more additional anti-retroviral drugs in simultaneous combinations. They found that combination therapy stopped the virus in its tracks. And that it was astonishingly effective – with few side-effects. This is what allowed patients dying of AIDS who received treatment to be restored to full health, amidst vivid and visible drama.
By 1999, when President Mbeki took office, this was already well established scientific knowledge. But because of the extremely high cost of treatment, combination therapy had never been tried on a mass scale. And it had never been tried with large groups of poor Africans. Many practical questions remained about the complexities of mass drug administration. We did not know then, as we know now, that anti-retrovirals would be as spectacularly successful as they have proved amongst rich and poor, young and old, rural and urban, male and female, black and white.
The TAC foresaw this. It realised that there was no time to waste in dallying with reflective uncertainty. It and its allies demanded action. Its core project was to stop the suffering and grief and bereavement of the mass epidemic of AIDS in Africa by extending drug treatments to everyone who needed them.
But now President Mbeki started casting a deep shadow over the fulfilment of this dream. In his address to Parliament on AZT, he took aim at the core scientific propositions providing the basis for anti-retroviral treatment. He asserted that there was "a large volume of scientific literature alleging that, among other things, the toxicity of this drug is such that it is in fact a danger to health". This, he said, was a "great concern" to government. It would, he claimed, "be irresponsible for us not to heed the dire warnings which medical researchers have been making." He said he had therefore urgently commissioned his health minister, Dr Manto Tshabalala Msimang, "to go into all these matters" to find out "where the truth lies".
He urged members of Parliament's upper house to access "the huge volume of literature on this matter available on the Internet", so that they could inform themselves of the dangers of AZT.
This speech had menace. First, it seemed to suggest that public leaders were under a duty to undertake their own research on the internet. This would mean delving into masses of writings on difficult questions. If they did not, their views would be deficient. This was an intimidating challenge. Most public policy is formed relying on knowledge and expertise derived from scientific consensus. Was this no longer to be the case, now that President Mbeki was in office?
Second, there was no scientific doubt at all about the effects of AZT. Doctors and scientists had exhaustively studied it over more than three decades. And there was no doubt about its efficacy and importance to people with HIV. It was a highly effective agent curbing retroviral replication of the deadly in their blood. The only mistake doctors made with AZT in the late 1980s was from insufficient knowledge. They used it as a single drug, or monotherapy. So administered, the virus quickly outwitted AZT and other drugs. But doctors set that right in their breakthrough discovery of triple therapy, or combination treatment.
What about AZT's alleged toxicity? There was equally no doubt that, just like all drug treatments, when AZT was administered in massive and unsuitable quantities, it was bad for the human body. Just like aspirin. The stories of AZT's "toxicity" were all based on doses that no doctor would consider giving to a patient battling AIDS.
And the "scientific literature" on the internet to which President Mbeki referred was not scientific at all. It consisted of conspiratorial scare-mongering by discredited fringe researchers and their political backers. Respected mainstream scientists regarded them with equal disdain and dismay.
I knew all this. I knew it from the clear and certain voice in which my own body's vigorous wellness was speaking, after the horror full-blown AIDS had inflicted on it. When President Mbeki spoke in Parliament in October 1999, I had been taking anti-retroviral drugs, in appropriate daily doses, for close to two years. It was the reason I was still alive.
Yet from shortly his October 1999 speech, President Mbeki expressed increasingly outspoken support for views that questioned the science of AIDS. He lent powerful presidential endorsement to discredited dissidents who cast doubt on the medical science of AIDS. He repeatedly questioned the viral aetiology of AIDS, the efficacy and safety of drug treatments for it, and the reliability and meaning of statistics showing that AIDS was having a cataclysmic effect in Africa.
How could it be that these fringe voices had caught the attention of so impressive and thoughtful a leader in a young African democracy? A man who was now the chief executive in South Africa's new government? One who in many ways was the most powerful person on the African continent – and the most influential African holding power anywhere in the world?
The answer lay in two powerful words. Each of only a single syllable. Race and sex. In North and South America, Europe and Australasia, the AIDS epidemic was largely concentrated amongst men like myself – gay men, or men who, even if they didn't identify themselves as gay, had sexual relations with other men. Despite acute fears in the mid-1980s, the epidemic never entered the heterosexual population in countries outside Africa on any significant scale.
And, as the epidemic gathered in ferocious worldwide intensity, the same appeared to be the case in south and southeast Asia. There, low and middle income countries had inadequate healthcare systems, like South Africa, which many thought put their populations at risk of mass transmission. Yet no significant national prevalences manifested themselves in countries like India or Thailand.
A compelling set of statistics illustrated the difference. In 1990, both Thailand and South Africa had an estimated national prevalence of less than one percent. But, by 1995, South Africa's prevalence amongst pregnant women attending public antenatal clinics had skyrocketed to over 10%. By contrast, that of Thailand had stabilized, and even decreased.
The only continent where a mass epidemic of AIDS took fire and spread amongst the heterosexual population was Africa. From Uganda southwards, country after country. Mass epidemics of AIDS. Caused by a sexually transmitted virus. What could the difference be? Was it because Africa was black? Was it because black people had sex differently?
Of course not. Many theories have sought to explain the particular course and shape of the AIDS epidemic in Africa. Some rest on poor healthcare provision. Others suggest that unique patterns of concurrent sexual partners have caused the high rates of HIV transmission. All are contested amongst experts. And none seem satisfactory to me. Most of them point to environmental or behavioural phenomena that also exist in other societies, but without mass epidemics of AIDS.
My own view is that current explanations take too little account of the fact that the epidemic in Africa is not continent-wide. It is sub-continental. The mass epidemic of AIDS in Africa is almost entirely confined to the heterosexual populations of Central and Southern Africa. In west Africa, thirty years after the epidemic ravaged Uganda, no country has yet registered a national prevalence of higher than three or four per cent. Most prevalences in west Africa are 2, 3 or 4%. This makes AIDS a serious public health problem. But not on a mass scale.
The search for a epidemiological key must therefore focus not on Africa but on the Bantu-speaking peoples of Central and Southern Africa.
It is my surmise – cultivated with the precocious confidence of a lawyer entirely untrained in science, epidemiology or medicine – that further research will eventually pinpoint a physiological, not behavioural or environmental, key. Scientists will identify susceptibility to HIV transmission that is peculiar to the Bantu-speaking peoples of our region. In short, a genetic co-factor – something in the bodies of black people in Central and Southern Africa that make them devastatingly vulnerable to infection by HIV. This will explain why a massive epidemic of HIV took place in this region, and nowhere else in the world.
President Mbeki himself missed this point. He regarded the epidemic as African – and the implications of its sexual transmission as applying to all black Africans. This lead him to castigate AIDS scientists and doctors and epidemiologists for inflicting demeaning racial stereotypes on all Africans.
He was desperately wrong. But the real point is that it doesn't matter. That the mass epidemic of HIV is sexually transmitted, and that it exists in Central and Southern Africa and nowhere else, cannot matter one jot to whether we should offer treatment for the disease. The fact that HIV is overwhelmingly transmitted through sex is of course crucial to how we urge people to take preventive measures.
But the fact that the virus is sexually transmitted cannot matter to our understanding of the virus itself, or of the effects of the disease, and to whether medical science can alleviate them.
The mode of transmission in Africa matters only if you consider sexual transmission something embarrassing. An accusation. Something shameful. In other words, if you brand those who have HIV as sexual sinners. If you think that, you would resent scientific findings that say only your continent, and no other, has a mass sexually transmitted epidemic of disease.
And this seemed to be how President Mbeki saw things. Shortly after his speech in Parliament, he established a "Presidential AIDS Advisory Panel". Almost half its number were discredited but strident AIDS denialists. One of the key jobs President Mbeki asked was for the panel "to determine if HIV was the cause of AIDS". But the question was absurd. Scientifically verified evidence had long established that it was.
But President Mbeki responded strongly to criticisms of the panel. He wrote to world leaders, saying that his critics they engaged in an orchestrated "campaign of intellectual intimidation and terrorism" against him. He lionised AIDS denialists as martyrs to true intellectual inquiry. "At an earlier period in human history", he told President Clinton and other leaders, "these would be heretics that would be burnt at the stake!"
Shortly before the world's AIDS experts gathered in Durban in July 2000, he wrote to an opposition leader, Mr Tony Leon denouncing those who said that HIV originated in Africa. To say this, the President claimed, was "wild and insulting".
What then was the cause of the death and illness that was afflicting the continent from Uganda southwards? President Mbeki's views had emerged most clearly when he officially opened the AIDS conference in Durban. Speaking just hours after the big demonstration led by the TAC, President Mbeki seemed to attribute the ravages of AIDS not to a virus, but to poverty.
He was addressing nearly 15 000 scientists, doctors, healthcare workers and activists from across the world. To this audience, the President noted that the world's "biggest killer and the greatest cause of ill health and suffering across the globe, including South Africa, is extreme poverty".
For the President to say this was in itself not disturbing. What was, was the inference he plainly sought to draw – that AIDS was not virally caused, but an environmental phenomenon. He said that "the deeply disturbing phenomenon of the collapse of immune systems among millions of our people" could not be blamed on HIV alone. "It seemed to me", President Mbeki stated, "that we could not blame everything on a single virus."
But the President's most searing attack on those who accepted what science had proven about AIDS was to a university audience in October 2001. His target was treatment activists. Amidst the rising death toll from AIDS, TAC marches in townships and cities were demanding anti-retrovirals for all. President Mbeki took aim at those making demands by "carrying their placards". They considered black Africans "germ carriers, and human beings of a lower order", he said who cannot subject their "passions to reason".
Hence, he said, scientists and treatment activists insisted that Africans must "adopt strange opinions, to save a depraved and diseased people from perishing from self-inflicted disease." The President was not finished. He added that the conventional explanation of AIDS branded Africans as "natural-born, promiscuous carriers of germs, unique in the world", and that those adhering to science proclaim that Africa "is doomed to an inevitable mortal end because of our unconquerable devotion to the sin of lust".
These views were breath-taking in their ferocity. But worse was their frightening consequence for practical policy. If AIDS was not caused by a virus, then it couldn't be treated with anti-retroviral drugs. If AIDS was caused by poverty, then medicines would not work against it. AIDS had to be addressed by anti-poverty projects. Not anti-retroviral treatments.
This led the President to refuse to allow government to distribute the only known treatment for AIDS – anti-retroviral drugs. The cost in lives and in human suffering was extremely high. As hundreds of thousands in South Africa fell ill and died, the mists of an absurd debate delayed decisive government action for years.
Conservative calculations show that more than 330,000 lives (or what epidemiologists call 2.2 million "person-years") were lost because President Mbeki thwarted a feasible and timely ARV treatment programme.
But there was one significant difference between the interim Constitution and the final Constitution. This was to prove momentous to the AIDS activists' challenge to President Mbeki's policies.
Unlike the interim Constitution, the final Constitution enshrined rights to social and economic goods. The inclusion of this bundle of rights set the South African Constitution far apart from the United States Constitution, or that in Canada, or even the European Convention on Human Rights. The South African Constitution explicitly acknowledged that it was impossible to enjoy equality, freedom, free speech and religion, and freedom of association without a minimum level of social benefits. You had to have education, social security, food, water, housing and healthcare in order to be able to enjoy any of the other constitutional rights.
The new Constitution therefore included the right to basic education and a provision that no one may be refused emergency medical treatment. These two rights are absolute. By contrast, the other social and economic rights are not absolute or immediate. They are expressed as rights "to have access" to various social goods. These include adequate housing, health care services, sufficient food and water, social security and further education.
But government was not required to realise these rights immediately. The Constitution obligated the state to "take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to achieve the progressive realisation" of each right.
As one of the chief ANC participants in the transitional negotiation, President Mbeki had fought for a system of constitutional supremacy. Parliament and the executive would not exercise untouchable power. Instead, the Constitution would be supreme. This idea – that there would be constitutional review of legislative and executive action – lay at the heart of the new Constitution. President Mbeki's own deep skepticism about what caused AIDS, and his consequent reluctance to authorize anti-retroviral treatments, would now be subjected to that very process.
The stage was thus set for an immense drama: one that would determine whether millions of South Africans with HIV faced only death, or whether they would be offered life.
Main Photograph: Judge Edwin Cameron at the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg, South Africa - By Madelene Cronje
Justice: A Personal Account retails at R237 and is available at all good bookstores or online at: http://www.takealot.com/justice/PLID34644066 for a print book or http://www.takealot.com/justice-ebook/PLID37579071 for an e-book
Aids in Africa, anti-retrovirals, Arthur Chaskalson, azidothymidine, AZT, Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, CALS, Centre for Applied Legal Studies, Codesa, Constitutional Court, Delmas Treason Trial, Gilbert Marcus, Gugu Dlaminii, HIV-Aids roll-out in South Africa, Joe Slovo, JSC, Judicial Service Commission, Legal Resources Centre, LRC, Mark Heywood, Nathan Geffen, Nelson Mandela, President Thabo Mbeki, Rivonia Trial, Simon Nkoli, St Marys Cathedral, Sussex University, Thabo Mbeki's Aids denialism, The Very Reverend Gonville Aubie ffrench-Beytagh, Treatment Action Campaign, Zackie Achmat, Zidovudine
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Edwin Cameron is a judge on the Constitutional Court of South Africa.	View all posts by Edwin Cameron →
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For nearly 100 years, we've been fighting heart disease and stroke, striving to save and improve lives.
The six cardiologists who founded the American Heart Association in 1924 would be amazed.
From humble beginnings, the AHA has grown into the nation's oldest and largest voluntary organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke. A shared focus on cardiovascular health unites our more than 33 million volunteers and supporters as well as our more than 3,400 employees. Learn more about our impact over time.
Heart disease is the No. 1 killer worldwide, and stroke ranks second globally. Even when those conditions don't result in death, they cause disability and diminish quality of life. We want to see a world free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke.
Our size and scope let us have real impact. We have invested more than $4.5 billion in research, more than any U.S. nonprofit organization. Learn more about our life-changing funded research breakthroughs.
To be a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives.
TWO HEARTS BEATING AS ONE
The American Stroke Association is a division of the American Heart Association. The ASA amplifies our efforts to educate people about stroke prevention and treatment.
Learn More About American Stroke Association
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GIRLS' VOLLEYBALL NOTEBOOK
Samantha Tam and Isobel Streeper eager to lead Needham to a three-peat title
By Tyler Foy Globe Correspondent,Updated September 1, 2022, 7:30 p.m.
A returning 2021 Globe All-Scholastic, Samantha Tam (left) had a sensational sophomore campaign with 265 kills and 65 aces while Isobel Streeper (right) will be inheriting a new role as the team's libero.Carlin Stiehl for The Boston Globe
Samantha Tam and Isobel Streeper have been linked as teammates on the volleyball court for five years, starting with their play for the SMASH 12U club program.
Now, as juniors at Needham High, they will be at the forefront for a Rocket squad that reigns as the two-time defending Division 1 champion.
The two have been companions at every step of their shared volleyball journey — building an on-court chemistry and inseparable bond along the way.
"We can just look at each other and make decisions on the court without asking coach."
"Playing together for so many years, it's a lot easier to have that kind of connection," Tam said. "We can just look at each other and make decisions on the court without asking coach."
The class of 2022 — which saw nine seniors graduate — left an imposing legacy within the program, with their 70-5 record and two state titles. The two captains are eager for the challenge to fill their shoes.
"We're inheriting this huge responsibility from the past class," Streeper said. "I'm really excited to be playing a bigger role, leading the defense and having that confidence to lead other players in the back row."
The recent graduates served as role models for the two juniors; their development as players, as well as individuals, has made on impression on Needham coach Courtney Chaloff.
The Needham girls' volleyball team has readily embraced juniors Isobel Strepper (center) and Samantha Tam (right) as the team's leaders this season.Carlin Stiehl for The Boston Globe
"They were the babies of the team last year, and now they're stepping into a more prominent leadership role," Chaloff said. "They're forces on the court and it's been exciting to see their growth on and off the court."
Tam was the only sophomore on the Globe's All-Scholastic team last fall, collecting 265 kills and 65 aces at outside hitter. She said that she is not phased by her new leadership role.
"We've seen all these senior classes come and go," Tam said. "It wasn't a super huge change, because we've always had to share that responsibility. But now we're in front of it, so we do have to have a little bit more."
The 5-foot-5-inch Streeper is moving from a defensive specialist into the libero role played a year ago by her older sister, Ellie, a 2021 Globe Athlete of the Year who is now a freshman defensive specialist at Swarthmore College.
"When we had tryouts, I said, 'That libero uniform is yours. You're stepping into that role,' " Chaloff said she told Isobel. "I can tell she's really fired up."
Losing Ellie is not only a burden for Needham on the court, but it has left an empty room in the Streeper household.
"I've watched her here since she was a freshman to then leaving last year," Isobel said of her older sister. "I have been definitely mentally preparing for not having her be my teammate, but also not having her at home."
After playing alongside her older sister, Ellie, now a freshman defensive specialist at Swarthmore College, Isobel Streeper (above) has mentally prepared herself to step up into a leadership role this season as the team's libero.Carlin Stiehl for The Boston Globe
Streeper has already started to make suggestions on restructuring the team's defense less than two weeks into the season.
"[Isobel] shared some of her ideas with me about our defensive systems," Chaloff said. "I love that. She's one of those players who just really takes a lot of initiative."
During the offseason, Tam and Streeperplayed for SMASH 16, where they have competed in out-of-state tournaments like the New England Winterfest in Hartford and the Big South in Atlanta.
After presiding over back-to-back Division 1 state titles, Needham coach Courtney Chaloff began charting the course of her team's quest for a third consecutive state championship.Carlin Stiehl for The Boston Globe
To put a bow on their club season, they put their skills to the test at AAU Nationals in Orlando, Fla.
"Our goal is to play in more out-of-region tournaments, especially in the South," said Tam, a 5-foot-10 outside hitter who had a sensational sophomore campaign at Needham with 265 kills and 65 aces. "In the South, volleyball is super huge and everyone practices all year round, but our goal is always just to improve and stick together as a team."
Although Tam and Streeper got their start after the team's championship in 2019, the quest for the program's third consecutive title starts Thursday against Bay State Conference rival Braintree.
"The beginning is going to be a little bit messy," Tam said. "There's going to be some mistakes, but I am hopeful for the rest of the season."
▪ Tom Turco is entering his 35th season as coach at Barnstable, and his run is more than impressive, with a dazzling career record of 723-74. But it was not all smooth sailing; after a 5-11 finish in his first season, Turco wanted out, but was persuaded to stay by the athletic director at the time..
During Turco's tenure, the Red Hawks have won 18 Division 1 titles. The program has been built for longevity with the growth and cultivation of a feeder system..
"All I wanted to do was win one championship," Turco said.
▪ Lynnfield senior outside hitter Ella Gizmunt is the lone returning 2021 Globe Athlete of the Year. Barring injury, she is on pace to score her 1,000th career kill. And with departure of just one graduating senior, the Pioneers are primed for a run at a state championship.
"Just watching the team in our scrimmage against Austin [Prep] gave me goosebumps," said Lynnfield coach Brent Ashley. "This team has such a chemistry on the court that it excites me as a coach to maximize their synergy."
▪ Newton North and its players set their goals on the very first day of practice to go hard every game and compete for the Division I state championship. The secret? Cohesion and stability.
"We're a really young group," said second-year coach Nile Fox, who guided the Tigers to the state final against Bay State Conference rival Needham last fall.
"We are going to need to click on the court and find a way to get consistent results in every match."
Correspondent Sarah Barber contributed to this story.
Tyler Foy can be reached at tyler.foy@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @Tyler__Foy.


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RBG (2018)
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Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg now 84, and still inspired by the lawyers who defended free speech during the Red Scare, Ginsburg refuses to relinquish her passionate duty, steadily fighting for equal rights for all citizens under the law. Through intimate interviews and unprecedented access to Ginsburg's life outside the court, RBG tells the electric story of Ginsburg's consuming love affairs with both the Constitution and her beloved husband Marty—and of a life's work that led her to become an icon of justice in the highest court in the land.
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Julie Cohen, Miriam Cutler, Claudia Raschke, Carla Gutierrez, Courtney Sexton
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Jane C. Ginsburg, James Steven Ginsburg, Nina Totenberg, Clara Spera
The Poseidon Adventure was one of the first Catastrophe films and began the Disaster Film genre. Director Neame tells the story of a group of people that must fight for their lives aboard a sinking ship. Based on the novel by Paul Gallico.
Director: John Williams, Wendell Mayes, Alexander Courage, Stirling Silliphant, Paul Gallico
Stars: Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Red Buttons, Carol Lynley, Roddy McDowall
Blood Myth (2020)
A journalist desperately tries to find his missing fiancee and finally uncover the truth behind a sinister folklore, leading him down a dangerous road of discovery.
Director: Stewart Sparke, Hamish Saks, Hamish Saks, Sean Brown, Sean Brown
Stars: Jonathan McClean, Anna Dawson, Hannah Chalmers, Matt Ray Brown, Charlie Walker McClimens
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)
Ethan and team take on their most impossible mission yet—eradicating 'The Syndicate', an International and highly-skilled rogue organisation committed to destroying the IMF.
Director: Lucinda Syson, Joanna Johnston, Tom Cruise, Florian Reichmann, Robert Elswit
Stars: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Ving Rhames
The Iron Lady (2011)
A look at the life of Margaret Thatcher, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, with a focus on the price she paid for power.
Director: Thomas Newman, Elliot Davis, François Ivernel, Consolata Boyle, Nina Gold
Stars: Meryl Streep, Anthony Stewart Head, Harry Lloyd, Jim Broadbent, Susan Brown
The Blob (1988)
Remake of the 1958 horror sci-fi about a deadly blob which is the spawn of a secret government germ warfare project which consumes everyone in its path. Teenagers try in vain to warn the townsfolk, who refuse to take them seriously, while government agents try to cover up the evidence and confine the creature.
Director: Johanna Ray, Sanja Milkovic Hays, Frank Darabont, Anne H. Ahrens, Mark Irwin
Stars: Kevin Dillon, Shawnee Smith, Donovan Leitch, Jeffrey DeMunn, Candy Clark
A young elephant, whose oversized ears enable him to fly, helps save a struggling circus, but when the circus plans a new venture, Dumbo and his friends discover dark secrets beneath its shiny veneer.
Director: Rick Heinrichs, Tim Burton, Tim Burton, Danny Elfman, Chris Lebenzon
Stars: Colin Farrell, Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Eva Green, Alan Arkin
Hunt to Kill (2010)
A U.S. Border Patrol agent Jim Rhodes, a tough divorcée mourning the loss of his murdered partner while struggling to raise his rebellious daughter in the mountains of Montana. But when a crew of trigger-happy fugitives takes Rhodes and his daughter hostage, a rugged wilderness will explode in all-terrain vengeance. Is there any wounded animal more dangerous than a lawman left for dead? Daniels portrays one of the villains.
Director: James Bamford, Candice Elzinga, Frank Hannah, Thomas M. Harting, Keoni Waxman
Stars: Steve Austin, Eric Roberts, Gil Bellows, Gary Daniels, Marie Avgeropoulos
After the Sunset (2004)
Two master thieves (Brosnan and Hayek) are finally retiring after one last succesful mission. Residing in their own tropical paradise, their old nemesis, FBI Agent Stan P. Lloyd shows up to make sure they really are retired. Docked in the port is an ocean liner called the "Diamond Cruise" and Stan is convinced that they're not really retired at all, and that this is the next set up.
Director: Victoria Thomas, Mark Helfrich, Rita Ryack, Lalo Schifrin, Beau Flynn
Stars: Pierce Brosnan, Salma Hayek, Woody Harrelson, Troy Garity, Russell Hornsby
The Man Without Gravity (2019)
A gravity-defying boy raised in seclusion matures into an extraordinary man -- and an international celebrity -- who longs for human connection.
Director: Michele D'Attanasio, Giorgio Magliulo, Marco Bonfanti, Marco Bonfanti, Marco Bonfanti
Stars: Elio Germano, Michela Cescon, Elena Cotta, Silvia D'Amico Bendico, Vincent Scarito
Following the events of Captain America: Civil War, Peter Parker, with the help of his mentor Tony Stark, tries to balance his life as an ordinary high school student in Queens, New York City, with fighting crime as his superhero alter ego Spider-Man as a new threat, the Vulture, emerges.
Director: Louise Frogley, Sarah Halley Finn, Beat Frutiger, Gene Serdena, Stan Lee
Stars: Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Robert Downey Jr., Marisa Tomei, Jon Favreau
Remnant (2020)
In the near future, issues arise when two field biologists encounter undocumented research near a restricted area.
Director: Christophe Charre
Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins (2008)
When a celebrated TV show host returns to his hometown in the South, his family is there to remind him that going home is no vacation!
Director: Malcolm D. Lee, Malcolm D. Lee
Stars: Martin Lawrence, James Earl Jones, Margaret Avery, Joy Bryant, Cedric the Entertainer
Texas Chainsaw 3D (2013)
A young woman learns that she has inherited a Texas estate from her deceased grandmother. After embarking on a road trip with friends to uncover her roots, she finds she is the sole owner of a lavish, isolated Victorian mansion. But her newfound wealth comes at a price as she stumbles upon a horror that awaits her in the mansion's dank cellars.
Director: William A. Elliott, Ferne Cassel, Mark Burg, Tobe Hooper, Tobe Hooper
Stars: Alexandra Daddario, Dan Yeager, Bill Moseley, Marilyn Burns, Tania Raymonde
Graveyard Shift (1990)
John Hall is a drifter who wanders into a small town in Maine. He needs a job and decides to seek employment at the community's top business: a large textile mill. He is hired to work the "graveyard shift" -- from around midnight to dawn -- and, along with a few others, he is charged with cleaning out the basement. This task strikes the workers as simple enough, but then, as they proceed deeper underground, they encounter an unspeakable monstrosity intent on devouring them all.
Director: Mayne Berke, George R. Nelson, Richard Pagano, Stephen King, Sharon Bialy
Stars: David Andrews, Kelly Wolf, Stephen Macht, Robert Alan Beuth, Andrew Divoff
My Fellow Americans (1996)
They used to run the country. Now they're running for their lives! Two on-the-lam former Presidents of the United States. Framed in a scandal by the current President and pursued by armed agents, the two squabbling political foes plunge into a desperately frantic search for the evidence that will establish their innocence.
Director: Peter Tolan, Peter Segal, E. Jack Kaplan, E. Jack Kaplan, Richard Chapman
Stars: Jack Lemmon, James Garner, Dan Aykroyd, John Heard, Wilford Brimley
Legacy (2020)
While on a hunting trip in the isolated wilderness, a father and his adopted teenage son are turned into the prey of unknown assailants. They are unexpectedly joined in their fight for ...
Director: R. Ellis Frazier
Stars: Luke Goss, Elya Baskin, Roberto 'Sanz' Sanchez, Mark Krenik, Marshal Hilton
Prom (2011)
At "Prom," every couple has a story and no two are exactly alike. As the big dance approaches for Nova Prescott, it's a battle of wills as she finds herself drawn to the guy who gets in the way of her perfect prom. Fellow seniors Mei and Tyler harbor secrets, while others face all the insecurity and anticipation that surrounds one of high school's most seminal events.
Director: Ted Griffin, Mark White, Samson Mucke, Marcia Ross, Joe Nussbaum
Stars: Aimee Teegarden, Thomas McDonell, Nicholas Braun, Faith Ford, Danielle Campbell
A Kind of Murder (2016)
In 1960s New York, Walter Stackhouse is a successful architect married to the beautiful Clara who leads a seemingly perfect life. But his fascination with an unsolved murder leads him into a spiral of chaos as he is forced to play cat-and-mouse with a clever killer and an overambitious detective, while at the same time lusting after another woman.
Director: Christine Vachon, Ted Hope, Patricia Highsmith, Chris Seager, Peter Graham
Stars: Patrick Wilson, Jessica Biel, Vincent Kartheiser, Haley Bennett, Eddie Marsan
They Came Together (2014)
A small business owner is about to lose her shop to a major corporate development.
Director: Mark White, Craig Wedren, David Wain, David Wain, David Wain
Stars: Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler, Bill Hader, Ellie Kemper, Cobie Smulders
The Neighbors' Window (2019)
The story of a middle aged woman with small children whose life is shaken up when two free-spirited twenty-somethings move in across the street.
Director: Marshall Curry, Marshall Curry, Elizabeth Martin, Wolfgang Held, Julia Kennelly
Stars: Maria Dizzia, Greg Keller, Juliana Canfield, Bret Lada, Lorelei Smith


23 year old Hispanic patient with painful breast due to excess breast tissue. The amount of excess tissue caused pain when the patient wore tight clothing or had any contact in the area. In this particular case the patient's job requires wearing a vest daily, which was next to impossible given the amount of pain that would cause. A Gynecomastectomy was performed removing all excess breast tissue resulting in no pain and smaller breast for the patient.


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Review Of Thriller Book Series From A Scientific Viewpoint
Written by Vicky May 16, 2017
Thriller Release Alert!-Full Wolf Moon
Best selling author Lincoln Child has released today his fifth book in the Jeremy Logan series.
Legends, no matter how outlandish, are often grounded in reality. This has been the guiding principle behind the exhilarating career of Jeremy Logan, the "enigmologist"–an investigator who specializes in analyzing phenomena that have no obvious explanation–previously seen in The Forgotten Room, The Third Gate, and Deep Storm. Logan has often found himself in situations where keeping an open mind could mean the difference between life and death, and that has never been more true than now.
Logan travels to an isolated writers' retreat deep in the Adirondacks to finally work on his book when the remote community is rocked by the grisly discovery of a dead hiker on Desolation Mountain. The body has been severely mauled, but the unusual savagery of the bite and claw marks call into question the initial suspicions of a wild bear attack. When Logan is asked to help investigate, he discovers no shortage of suspects capable of such an attack–and no shortage of locals willing to point the finger and spread incredible rumors. One rumor, too impossible to believe, has even the forest ranger believing in werewolves. As Logan gets to know the remote deep-woods landscape, including a respected woman scientist still struggling with the violent loss of her father in these very woods, Logan realizes he's up against something he has never seen before.
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Google Maps' Virtual Diving Brings the Great Barrier Reef into View
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY : Fisheries, Biodiversity, Pollution, Oceans, Technology
2012•09•28 Jessica Aldred The Guardian
Photo: Richard Ling.
Millions of people will be able to take a virtual dive on the Great Barrier Reef via Google Maps on Wednesday as part of a pioneering underwater scientific expedition.
The Catlin Seaview Survey will allow internet users to share the discoveries of scientists who are using new technology to study the composition and health of the Great Barrier Reef.
Up to 50,000 high-definition panoramic images of the reef will be taken by the world's first tablet-operated underwater camera and geolocated. When the rapid-fire images are linked together, users will be able to choose a location along the reef, dip underwater and go for a viewer-controlled virtual dive using the street view feature of Google Maps.
Dives already completed at three islands on the Great Barrier Reef, as well as sites in Hawaii and the Philippines, will be available today, with more images virtual dive sites added as the scientists map 20 separate reefs along the 2,300 km system to a depth of 100 m.
The imagery will be available to more than 1 billion monthly users of Google Maps around the world, as well as through a dedicated YouTube channel, Google+ and Panoramio, a geolocation photo-sharing website. The survey was launched with a live night dive via a Google+ Hangout at the Blue Ocean film festival in Monterey, California.
The three-month survey of the Australian reef system is the first in a series of Catlin Seaview surveys to explore and record the world's coral reefs. Next year, the expedition will move on to Hawaii, the Philippines and Bermuda.
The survey aims to make the underwater experience accessible to the public in a way that has never before been possible, and help bridge the gap between scientific awareness and public knowledge. It is sponsored by the UK-based insurance company Catlin, and backed with technology from Google and support from NGOs, research institutes and the University of Queensland (UQ).
"From a scientific point of view, this survey is about getting a baseline record of the world's coral reefs and how they are being affected by climate change," said the project's chief scientist, Prof. Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, from the Global Change Institute at UQ. "But it's also about engaging the public with this issue. Most of us haven't been lucky enough to dive on a reef but by using these tools, people will know what we mean by the beauty and diversity of our coral reefs."
Around 50 percent of the world's coral reefs have been lost in the past 30 years to pollution, overfishing and climate change, which is increasing sea temperatures and elevating levels of ocean acidity. Coral reefs support the lives of millions of people worldwide and a quarter of the world's marine species, and are an important indicator of the health of the seas.
Shallow reef surveys will involve scientists using state-of-the-art digital technology to capture images of the reef that can be linked to create a virtual dive experience. Automated technologies for rapidly assessing the amount of amount of coral cover and other life forms will provide a "baseline" for understanding change. The cameras for the shallow reef survey, the SVII, have been specially designed to take 360-degree, geolocated panoramic images every 4-6 seconds while travelling at 4 kph.
The deep reef survey will use diving robots and HD cameras to explore and reveal habitats that are rarely visited by humans. In ecosystems like the Great Barrier Reef, more than 90% has not been explored because it is more than 40m – too deep for scuba divers.
Scientists will use the deep survey to assess the potential for the deep reef to host "refugee" communities of species under stress because of bleaching and changes in the shallow reef due to climate change.
They also hope to discover new species – a pilot study on Heron Island revealed a new species of pygmy seahorse and four new species of coral.
"This is a real opportunity to understand the story of climate change and natural ecosytems, Hoegh-Guldberg said. "At the end of the three-year survey we will have an important snapshot and understanding of the state of coral reefs across the planet."
All of the data gathered will be made public in a database called the Global Reef Record, a "game-changing scientific tool", according to Hoegh-Guldberg. "We will be able to monitor change in marine environments now and in the future. Marine scientists researching researching any aspect of the reef will be able to study these environments from any of the surveys we conduct – shallow reef or deep reef."
"We want to make these special underwater locations as accessible to people as the roads and landmarks they explore in Google Maps each day," said Jenifer Austin Foulkes, Google's oceans manager.
The survey was unveiled at the World Ocean Summit in Singapore in February.
This article originally appeared on guardian.co.uk on 26 September 2012.
Jessica Aldred
Environment Production EditorThe Guardian
Jessica Aldred is the environment production editor for the Guardian.
Satoumi in an Okinawan Coral Reef System
The Killing of Coral Reefs and What It Means
Conservationists Unveil Plans to Save Coral from Extinction


AUTHOR'S NOTE #1: The following blog post is an update to an earlier blog post, which I've linked to below.
AUTHOR'S NOTE #2: The blog post has been corrected to include information provided by Westville, Illinois Village Board member Darren VanDunyn, who also is the head of the local Lions Club chapter here in Westville.
Here in my hometown of Westville, Illinois, it's rare for major controversies to occur in local politics. However, a recent political controversy involves St. Mary's Church, the local Catholic parish here in Westville, sending out "public notice" postcards spewing anti-LGBT bigotry and railing against homosexuality.
The Lions Club wants to make sure a controversial mailer doesn't affect a big event this weekend. Now, they're distancing themselves from St. Mary's Church.
The church sent out an anti-gay mailer last month. On the other side was information about the upcoming Labor Day celebration and parade. The event is partially sponsored by the church.
Members of the Lions Club decided to drop that partnership. They say the message does not reflect their club in any way.
While I'm not Catholic, it is an indisputable fact that, in his tenure at the helm of St. Mary's Church, Father Sauppé (I'm not sure what his first name is), the current head of the local parish, has repeatedly embarrassed Westville and has alienated a ton of people. Now, the local Lions Club here in Westville is distancing themselves from St. Mary's due to Father Sauppé's actions.


Are You Moving to Oregon? You're Not Alone!
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Add casual sophistication and ample seating to your living room with this classically comfortable sectional. A transitional style with confidence. An over-sized look with traditional elements such as rolled arms and rounded, fluted, turned feet. With this armchair, you will have the ability to choose from over 1,000 different fabric and leather upholstery options to truly customize your living room. Available with or without nailhead trim.
The Patterson Three Piece Sectional Sofa with Rolled Arms by Flexsteel at Conlin's Furniture in the Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Wyoming area. Product availability may vary. Contact us for the most current availability on this product.
7321-23 Full Wedge 1 28" 47" 40"
7321-28 RAF Love Seat 1 62" 42" 40"
7321-37 LAF Sofa 1 87" 42" 40"
Arm An over-sized, traditional rolled arm adds to the transitional style this Collection offers.
Leg or Skirt Exposed wood, round, fluted, turned legs.
The Patterson Collection is a more transitionally based banded style with both traditional and contemporary aspects. It is gorgeous with the lovely detail of round, fluted turned legs and rolled arms. There are over 1000 different fabric and leather upholstery options to choose from, making the Patterson Collection a smart choice for any consumer looking to customize their home.
The Patterson collection is a great option if you are looking for Traditional furniture in the Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Wyoming area.
Traditional Rolled Arms and Rounded, Fluted, Turned Feet Add Style to This Collection.
Browse other items in the Patterson collection from Conlin's Furniture in the Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Wyoming area.


Qualis Health announced today that eight consultants on its patient-centered medical home (PCMH) consulting team have achieved NCQA Medical Home Certification. This certification reflects an in-depth level of expertise in supporting NCQA PCMH Recognition.
The company's now-certified consultants are: Kelley Carnwath, MPH, CPHIT; Susan Crocetti, RN, BSN, CPHQ; Diane Altman Dautoff, MSW, EdD; Peggy Evans, PhD, CPHIT; Michelle Glatt, PA-C, MPH; Regina Neal, MS, MPH; Heather Russo; and Karen Vest-Taubert, RN, BSN, MBA, CPHQ.
NCQA developed the PCMH Content Expert Certification program in an effort to help practices and other interested parties identify experts with a demonstrated understanding of the NCQA PCMH Recognition program and to provide professionals with a way to validate their knowledge base.
"Certified NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home Content Experts receive thorough training and demonstrate in-depth knowledge to assist organizations applying for NCQA PCMH Recognition," said NCQA President Margaret E. O'Kane.
Qualis Health provides support for NCQA PCMH Recognition and also a broad range of other PCMH consulting services that help health systems and practices understand and implement the medical home model. These services include readiness assessment and gap analysis, practice coaching and facilitation, support for multi-practice learning communities, and other training and education related to practice redesign.
"Qualis Health puts practices on a proven path to becoming a patient-centered medical home," said Jonathan R. Sugarman, MD, MPH, Qualis Health's President and Chief Executive Officer. "More than 1,000 practices in 20 states have used our evidence-based framework, with many seeking and achieving NCQA PCMH Recognition. These certifications demonstrate our continued commitment to assisting practices in achieving medical home transformation."
NCQA is an independent, not-for-profit organization dedicated to assessing and reporting on the quality of health plans, managed behavioral healthcare organizations, preferred provider organizations, physician organizations, credentials verification organizations, disease management programs and other health-related programs.


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Bossen Showcases Bursting Boba® at Summer Fancy Food Show in New York
Bursting Boba® SAMPLES & GIVEAWAYS available at Booth #5412
Hayward, CA (06/14/2016) Bossen, a pioneer brand in bringing forward fun Asian eats including Bursting Boba®, bubble tea, and snow ice, has announced attendance in Summer Fancy Food Show in New York. The Summer Fancy Food Show - America's largest specialty food and beverage show - will take place June 26 - 28 at Jacob Javits Center in Manhattan.
Bossen will exhibit at Booth 5412 at North Hall of Jacob Javits Center. The brand will showcase its popular popping Bursting Boba® in six flavors, and Mini Mochi in assorted flavors. The brand will also feature on-site iced slush sample tasting. Free Bursting Boba® giveaways will also be available.
"We are excited to introduce our fun and unique products to the participants at the Fancy Food Show," said Edward Shen, Business Development Director for Bossen. "We see the increasing demand for Asian style specialty food, both in the U.S. and the global markets, and our dedicated team and distribution networks are ready to serve the bigger, thirsty crowds. We are looking forward to making connections and exploring new opportunities at the show."
Over the course of the three-day event, Summer Fancy Food Show will feature more than 180,000 products, 25,000 buyers, and 2,550 exhibitors at Jacob Javits Center. For more information, or to purchase tickets, visit https://www.specialtyfood.com/shows-events/summer-fancy-food-show/attend/
In April, Bossen officially became the member of The Specialty Food Association. By joining the community, it hopes to build a stronger identity as a recognized supplier of fun Asian eats, to educate the public about the uniqueness and the use of the products, to learn and understand the future needs of the consumers, and to seek ways to meet them.
About Bossen
Bossen, a brand under Leadway International, Inc. since 2012, offers virtually every essential for Asian specialty dessert businesses from bubble tea beverage and toppings, Taiwanese snow ice to commercial equipment, and custom printed disposables. Its Boba Academy session has consulted more than 80 food business entrepreneurs to start up a tea business. To learn why tea business owners choose Bossen as their top supplier, visit BossenStore.com, or join Facebook.com/BossenStore and Twitter.com/BossenStore.
About Leadway International, Inc.
Leadway International, Inc., the Bay Area-based food and beverage supplier, has served more than 1,000 food business across the United States. The company provides a variety of distribution and sales opportunities, which include wholesale, franchise, private-labeling, food distributor and export. To learn more about the company, visit GoLeadway.com.
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Bossen | Leadway International
Tags: Announcement Bursting Boba Press Release Trade Show


 During a discussion of the terrorist attack in New York City on 11 September 2001, a host of the talkback station, Radio Pacific, was said to have stated on a number of occasions that Osama bin Laden had nuclear weapons and that New Zealand was a likely target. Mark Madigan wrote to the host disputing this claim. He provided sources for his view that, even if bin Laden had nuclear weapons, he would not be able to use them. Part of Mr Madigan's letter was read out on Radio Pacific between 7.00–8.00pm on 30 October 2001.
 Mr Madigan complained to The RadioWorks Ltd, the broadcaster, that his views had been distorted when the host read only part of his letter on air. When he did not receive a reply to his complaint, Mr Madigan referred his complaint to the Broadcasting Standards Authority under s.8(1)(b) of the Broadcasting Act 1989.
 In its response to the Authority, The RadioWorks pointed out that the exchange of opinions was the essence of talkback radio and reading only part of a letter was a regular practice.
 Discussions about the September 11 events in New York City have featured on Radio Pacific – a talkback radio station. One host (Ian Wishart) apparently expressed the opinion on a number of occasions that Osama bin Laden might well have nuclear weapons, and New Zealand could be a target for the use of such weapons.
 The complainant wrote to that host in mid-October. In the letter, he expressed doubt whether bin Laden had such weapons, adding that even if he did, "he would not know how to use them". The complainant provided references which, he said, substantiated this view. In that letter, he described the host's comments about the use of such weapons as "ill-advised" and as a "red-herring".
 The host read part of the complainant's letter on air between 7.00–8.00pm on 30 October 2001.
 Mr Madigan complained to the broadcaster that he believed it was unethical that the host had not advised listeners that he was reading only part of the letter. He considered, as the host had ridiculed his views, that his correspondence was not dealt with in a balanced or fair way.
 As Mr Madigan did not receive a reply to his letter of formal complaint, or to a follow-up letter, he referred his complaint to the Broadcasting Standards Authority.
I have not requested that any of my correspondence be read on air, nor would I expect it to be, but if hosts choose to do so they should treat such in a fair and ethical manner.
We can offer no logical explanation as to why Mr Madigan's formal complaint was not dealt with in the appropriate manner. Mr Madigan is well known to Radio Pacific hosts, and is a long time correspondent with the radio station on many and varied topics.
We can only speculate that the distinctive handwriting of Mr Madigan was identified with an incorrect conclusion drawn on the spur of the moment, that the content would be another of Mr Madigan's theories and not a formal complaint. For this we apologise.
 Turning to the complaint, The RadioWorks stated that it was a common practice for hosts to read on air extracts from letters received. It acknowledged that only part was read on this occasion.
 With regard to guideline 4a, The RadioWorks pointed out that the exchange of opinions was "the very essence of Talk Back Radio". A host, it continued, was not expected to agree with all callers, but to encourage debate. In view of the accepted talkback format, this aspect was not upheld.
 As for the requirement in guideline 5b that editing is not to distort views, The RadioWorks argued that the host read out only part of the letter, not to distort the views advanced, but to promote discussion. This aspect was also not upheld.
 Finally, as the broadcast did not involve any deceptive practice, The RadioWorks maintained that Guideline 6a had not been contravened.
 Concluding, The RadioWorks advised that it was unable to supply tapes of the broadcast as they had not been put aside at the time of receipt of the formal complaint.
The reading out of just one page of a two page letter about scientific theory is irresponsible and inadmissible.
 Mr Madigan complained that The RadioWorks breached a number of principles in the Radio Code of Broadcasting Practice when a host on Radio Pacific read on air only part of a letter he had written. In essence, Mr Madigan complained that Radio Pacific had been unfair to him when the host did not advise listeners that he was reading only part of his letter. He described the broadcaster's practice as deceptive and argued that his letter had not been dealt with in a balanced way.
 The RadioWorks did not uphold Mr Madigan's complaint. It said that the exchange of opinions was central to talkback, and maintained that it was common practice for hosts to read on air only part of letters received. It acknowledged that this had occurred on this occasion.
 The Authority notes that Mr Madigan has corresponded with Radio Pacific previously and on one occasion he had advised the broadcaster that he was unhappy with the practice where only extracts from his letters were being read on air.
 In response to Mr Madigan's assertion on this occasion that a broadcaster is obliged to read all or nothing of correspondence received, the Authority accepts that the editing practice in regard to letters is generally a matter for the broadcaster's editorial judgment.
 With regard to talkback radio specifically, the Authority acknowledges that the editing of material is fundamental to this genre, frequently as a means of encouraging debate. Talkback relies on advancing opinions, often in an adversarial style.
 Taking these matters into account in determining the specific aspects of Mr Madigan's complaint, the Authority considers that Radio Pacific provided Mr Madigan with the opportunity to present his opinions. With reference to the Principle 4 aspect of the complaint, Mr Madigan was particularly concerned that only one page of a two page letter was read on air.
 Mr Madigan provided the Authority with a full copy of his letter from which an extract was read on air. Having read the full letter, and noting that the second page expands on the arguments made on the first page, the Authority accepts that neither the standard relating to editing which distorts, nor the standard dealing with deception, was breached. It declines to uphold those aspects of Mr Madigan's complaint.
 The Authority also observes that to find a breach of broadcasting standards on this occasion would be to interpret the Broadcasting Act 1989 in such a way as to limit freedom of expression in a manner which is not reasonable or demonstrably justifiable in a free and democratic society (s.5 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990). As required by s.6 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act, the Authority adopts an interpretation of the relevant standards which it considers is consistent with and gives full weight to the provisions of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act.


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Opiate Addiction Recovery
Opiate drugs are more familiarly known as prescription painkillers, which are derived from opium. These drugs are closely related to the street drug heroin and have similar effects and withdrawal symptoms. Unfortunately, opiate abuse may be harder to identify than heroin abuse because of the easier accessibility of these pharmaceutical drugs. Prescription opioids also pose additional challenges in recovery due to the difficult symptoms of withdrawal that will arise in the first few days of treatment. Under the care of Tranquility Woods in Maryland, individuals suffering from opiate addiction can find support from the initial phase of detox all the way through relapse prevention with beautiful surroundings to promote a successful recovery.
Opiate Detoxification
When recovering from opiate addiction, initial withdrawal symptoms will be treated with detox therapies that help to cleanse the body of built-up toxins and increase comfort during the toughest days of recovery. At Tranquility Woods, we combine medication with alternative therapies like massage, acupuncture, and infrared sauna therapy for a comprehensive approach to detoxification that will promote a more effective long-term recovery. At Tranquility woods we partner with the detox professionals that fit your needs best. We work closely with these professionals while combining alternative therapy such as a massage, acupuncture, and infrared sauna therapy for a more comfortable withdrawal and a more effective long-term recovery.
A Look At Opiate Withdrawal
Drug detox is an essential component of opiate addiction treatment. The painful and unpleasant symptoms of opiate withdrawal are difficult for an individual to cope with alone, which is why so many opiate addicts relapse. At an inpatient substance abuse center in Maryland, individuals who are struggling with opiate addiction can receive the supportive therapies they need to safely go through drug detox.
Early Withdrawal Symptoms
When an individual becomes physically dependent on an opiate, he or she will experience withdrawal effects after ceasing use or dramatically reducing use. The early symptoms of opiate withdrawal can range from excessive yawning to insomnia and extreme agitation. Other early withdrawal symptoms may include anxiety, muscle aches, runny nose, sweating, and teary eyes.
Late Withdrawal Symptoms
Later in the drug detox process, an individual going through heroin addiction treatment may experience more severe withdrawal effects. These can include painful abdominal cramping, chills, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. The duration of these withdrawal effects can vary from person to person, as symptoms will vary depending on the type and amount of opiates used. For some people, withdrawal effects may last for a few weeks.
Withdrawal Complications
Going through detox in a treatment facility is essential, because complications may occur. During opiate withdrawal, an individual might aspirate the contents of the stomach into the lungs, which can result in a lung infection. Persistent vomiting and diarrhea can result in dehydration and electrolyte imbalance. Another possible complication that is more likely to occur outside of a drug rehab is the return to drug use, known as relapse.
How do we help with Heroin dependency?
Upon entering treatment, a client may feel disoriented and hopeless as the side effects of heroin develop. The initial physical, mental, and emotional lows that a client experiences are treated at Tranquility Woods through a holistic and medically assisted approach, focusing on each level of dis-ease within the client, in order to provide an all-inclusive recovery track. Through methods including group and individual counseling, cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy, acupuncture, yoga, equine therapy, and 12-step programs, the client will begin to develop a stable and productive approach to long-term recovery, enabling them to combat future relapses with the appropriate tools. Treating addiction on a holistic basis is Tranquility Woods' primary objective, recognizing a client is more likely to remain abstinent from drugs when treated thoroughly through every level of care. Though the number of Americans addicted to heroin is staggering, there is hope for every person who makes the decision to get help.
At Tranquility Woods, we work to instill confidence in every client, allowing the individual to re-identify as a person, not just an addict. If you or a loved one is battling heroin addiction, now is the time to receive treatment. Recovery is a phone call away!


ATLANTA – Senior starting pitcher Ryan Turner has been named one of 30 NCAA baseball candidates for the 2007 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award in the all-new baseball division, as announced Monday evening. The award will be presented annually to an NCAA Division I senior baseball player that excels both on and off the field.
Turner, a native of Dahlonega, Ga., has made nine starting appearances this season for the Yellow Jackets and is scheduled to start Georgia Tech's game against the Georgia Bulldogs this week. The senior southpaw has posted a 3-3 record with a 3.88 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 2007.
Lowe's recently announced the addition of baseball and three other NCAA sports to the award program that originally launched in 2001-02 with basketball. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the award is designed to honor the attributes of college senior student athletes that stay in school and pursue the multiple rewards that a senior season can bring.
Along with his exemplary athletic performance, Turner is a dean's list student majoring in management that has been active in the Georgia Tech and Atlanta community, particularly during this, his final season on the Flats. A frequent assistant for Georgia Tech baseball camps, Turner has also participated in Georgia Tech's annual community service day (TEAM Buzz), served as a volunteer for the Georgia Special Olympics State Winter Games, and helped his team raise more than $8,500 for kids' cancer research as a "shavee" for the St. Baldrick's Foundation.
A national media committee will select 10 finalists for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award in May. Those 10 names will then be placed on the official ballot for a nationwide vote beginning May 9 and concluding June 6. Fan balloting will be coupled with votes from coaches, media and sponsors to determine the recipient of the award. The award winner and the college baseball All-Senior All-America Team will be announced this June during the 2007 NCAA College World Series in Omaha, Neb.


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Community Blog: Guile the true american hero
Posted by: blazemanx Jul 4, 2011 | 7 comments
Tagged: blog guile street-fighter
View all stories by blazemanx
a look at the history of a true american.
Guile is the ultimate american character. He has big muscles, crazy hair, is in the air force, loves his country and kicks a whole lot of ass. He may be the only character to have lasted over 20 years and only have two special moves lol. With his iconic sonic boom and flash kick he has secured his place in history and here is some background info on the true american hero GUILE!
Guile made his first appearance in Street Fighter 2 (1991) as one of the eight selectable characters featured in the first release of the game. A Major in the united states air force, he leaves his country and family to enter the World Warrior tournament to avenge the death of his friend charlie, who was killed by m.bison, the tournament's sponsor, sometime before the events of the game. In his ending, he defeats Bison, but is dissuaded from killing him by his wife Jane and their daughter Amy. Guile spares Bison and returns home to be a family man.
Guile's war buddy Charlie would appear in the later prequel series street fighter alpha, although Guile himself did not appear in this sub-series until the console versions of street fighter alpha 3 (1998). Originally Guile was a hidden character in the initial PlayStation version of the game, though subsequent versions made him part of the initial roster. In his storyline in the game, Guile is an Air Force lieutenant ordered to track down Charlie, who has gone missing. Guile eventually fights Charlie, as well as Bison as his final opponent. In his ending, Guile infiltrates Bison's base with Charlie and sets explosives on the Psycho Drive, only for them to be caught in the act by Bison. Charlie holds off Bison while Guile escapes and the base explodes with Charlie still in it, resulting in his death.
Guile also appears as a playable character in Street Fighter EX (1997) and its two sequels, Street Fighter EX 2(1998) and Street Fighter EX3 (2000). The storyline of the EX series takes place at the same time as Street Fighter II. In addition to tracking down Shadaloo to avenge Charlie, Guile is also hunted by a mercenary named Doctrine Dark (another playable character in this sub-series), who is actually a former subordinate named Holger. His relationship with Ken as brothers-in-law (with their respective wives being sisters) is mentioned for the first time in the games in Ken's ending in the Japanese version of the original EX2.
Guile is one of the returning characters who appears in Street Fighter IV. He seeks authorization to conduct a rescue mission for his missing comrade Charlie, but his request is denied by his superiors. During the tournament, Guile faces the amnesiac Abel, who claims that he has seen Guile's moves elsewhere. Guile becomes convinced that Abel means Charlie
Guile is, of course, the original "American Army guy" of fighting games. He's also the first to sport that unique head of hair, which adds to his originality. Guile is certainly one of the most memorable and iconic fighting game characters of all time. Even the button commands of his attacks have been a big inspiration in many fighting games (especially 2D), influencing the likes of Robert, Ash and of course Remy, to name just a few. And just for the record, Guile is in no way related to Jean Claude Van-Damme. lol.
My favorite iteration of Guile would have to be his CVS2 appearance.......capcom still used his alpha 3 sprite but he still blended well with everyone else. The main reason i like his CVS2 appearance so much was because of his voice it was his most awesome voice work to date in my opinion. If you have not played or seen CVS2 look it up its awesome. Guile has been a capcom favorite for many many years and he will always be one of my all time gaming favorites. What do you guys think of guile? Let us know and don't be a jimmy.
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The Ark Club is for children in school years Reception to Yr4.
There are playground games; team games and activities. When weather permits and with full parental knowledge we also make use of the many great parks in the area.
Parents even get to join in too sometimes! The evening always finishes with a short story from the Bible.