Subject: HIV poz piss to be thrown on CDC panel to protest "voodoo epidemiology"
From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 16:09:08 EDT

[Dear friends,
I've snail mailed 350 hard copies of this release, on bright yellow paper, to 
assorted reporters and politicians. --MP]
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(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
 <A HREF="http://www.aids-statistics.com/">Welcome to AIDS-STATISTICS</A>
www.AIDS-statistics.com 
2215-R Market Street, #413
San Francisco, CA 94114