From: MPetrelis@aol.com Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 16:09:08 EDT Subject: HIV poz piss to be thrown on CDC panel to protest "voodoo epidemiology" [Dear friends, I've snail mailed 350 hard copies of this release, on bright yellow paper, to assorted reporters and politicians. --MP] -------------------------------------------------- (EMBARGOED UNTIL JULY 13) Contact: Michael Petrelis at 415-621-6267 HIV Positive Piss to be Thrown at CDC Panel; Activist to protest anti-queer, sex-negative "voodoo epidemiology" SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- This Thursday, an HIV positive activist will throw a gallon of his urine at representatives of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) HIV Prevention Planning Council as a form of political protest. The meeting is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. July 13 at the majestic Unitarian Church (1187 Franklin Street, at Geary). Michael Petrelis has gathered his HIV positive urine in a bucket since June 30 when the San Francisco Chronicle splashed across the front page, in blatant yellow journalistic style, unsubstantiated increases of HIV among gays. According to the outraged activist, Dr. Willi McFarland, epidemiologist for the SF Department of Public Health (DPH), employed "voodoo epidemiology" to concoct a supposed tripling of HIV. While McFarland spouted off in the Chronicle that HIV rates suddenly skyrocketed to "sub-Saharan African levels of transmission," AIDS writer Bruce Mirken derided the paper as "The Comical" in the May issue of POZ Magazine, because of its piss poor AIDS coverage. "The anti-queer, sex negative statistical blame game manufactured by the DPH and the University of California at SF using CDC funding is nothing less than an overt war against gays. We're bombarded with endless campaigns on bus shelters, Chronicle scare stories quoting UCSF employees failing to cite hard numbers, placards for AIDS Walks and Rides, and through drug company propaganda everywhere gays gather," Petrelis said. "I'm pissed off and prepared to spray my aromatic disgust!" Petrelis also cited 35,000 copies of a DPH ad in gay papers featuring a ticking time-bomb alleging a syphilis outbreak among gay males cruising web chat rooms. He stated that such alarmist imagery is proof the DPH and federal agencies cook up HIV and STD statistics demonizing gay sex to maintain high levels of federal funding. According to Mayor Willie Brown's 1998 AIDS Summit report, " the UCSF is the largest center for AIDS research outside of the National Institutes of Health itself. More than $50 million federal dollars will support over 200 research programs in San Francisco." Furthermore, in 1998 The City received $55.3 million in NIH funding, $37.5 million for Ryan White programs, $19.2 million for AIDS drugs, $9.1 million for CDC efforts, and $7.2 million for housing subsidies. A total of $128.3 million taxpayer dollars administered through the DPH and UCSF. "The AIDS industry in San Francisco is piggier than the Pentagon when it comes to feeding at the public pork trough," Petrelis asserted. The angry activist anticipates that after tossing his HIV positive body fluid 14 AIDS researchers will study the color of the liquid for doctoral theses and 3 case management workers will inquire about his techniques for AIDS anger management. UCSF AIDS careerist Michael Scarce then declares a devastating new epidemic of "Piss Tossing." Expect queer academia to convulse and ejaculate esoteric essays soon published in book form. "My piss elegant act comes after wading through years of toxic mud heaped on the backs of queers who demand sexual liberation. Gay men's personal safety and mental health are under attack by bogus CDC science that continually paints us as diseased petri dishes," Petrelis said. "I can't hold it anymore. This Thursday will be a golden opportunity to see one gay Golem fight the barrage of DPH/UCSF anti-gay attacks. Bring your umbrellas!" -30- [NOTE: In the 1920 Czech film version of The Golem a huge clay figure is given life by a rabbi in hopes of saving the Jews during a pogrom in the ghetto of medieval 16th century Prague. This rarely seen 1920 version directed by Paul Wegener heavily influenced James Whale's Frankenstein. The cameraman for Der Golem was Karl Freund, who also worked on many important German films of the expressionist era before leaving for America. In Hollywood, he was hired by a dizzy redhead and her Cuban bandleader husband for their nascent TV series. At the end of every I Love Lucy Freund's name is listed as the camera director. Anyway, the upcoming Jewish Film Festival at the Castro Theater and UC in Berkeley is this version of the film. Apparently it is a restored printed undertaken by film preservationists in the Czech Republic. If you are unfamiliar with the myth of The Golem in Jewish life, you might want to check out the film both for its cinematic pleasures and the political and religious ramifications of creating a Golem out of dirt. --MP] ================= Michael Petrelis Welcome to AIDS-STATISTICS www.AIDS-statistics.com 2215-R Market Street, #413 San Francisco, CA 94114