Beyond the Diagnosis: Cornerstone & Gilead Sciences

Cornerstone Theater Company is partnering with Gilead Sciences to produce a collection of original short plays exploring how urban communities are living and dealing with HIV/AIDS. The plays: Page Leong's In a Word , Sigrid Gilmer's Head Trip and The Brothers , and Peter Howard's Long Term are presented as staged readings in cities across the country in an evening of performance and conversation titled: BEYOND THE DIAGNOSIS: Real stories of those who are living and thriving in the most serious epidemic of our time Beyond the Diagnosis has been presented in major cities across the country including Los Angeles, Houston, Detroit, Baltimore, Ft. Lauderdale, Jackson, Atlanta, Washington, D.C. and New York. With each location Cornerstone and Gilead bring this program to, the short plays are created in collaboration with that city's HIV-positive residents. This collection of plays reflect the passions and challenges faced every day by the people living with HIV/AIDS in that particular city and the health professionals who treat them. These plays share real stories of patients, family members, healthcare providers, case managers and social workers dealing with HIV treatment in cities all across the country. Each performance features a combination of professional actors as well as community participants from those who are directly affected by HIV/AIDS in their city. For more information on Beyond the Diagnosis, contact news@cornerstonetheater.org This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . HOW WAS THIS PROGRAM BORN? In early 2007, Deborah Wafer of Gilead Sciences approached Cornerstone with the germ of an idea, a potential partnership between the two companies with a focus on HIV treatment. Specifically, she inquired about using Cornerstone’s methodology to help further their goals of improving communication between HIV/AIDS patients and their healthcare providers. Some initital questions: How might a large corporation and a smallish non-profit collaborate effectively in a way that goes beyond traditional notions of sponsorship or philanthropy? How can we create a program in which corporate and non-profit missions are being met simultaneously? We came up with a proposal to develop three short play scripts based on story circles in Los Angeles with members of the HIV/AIDS treatment community. We approached our story circles with a number of questions including open and honest communication between patients and their healthcare providers. What factors support that kind of relationship? What obstacles come up that prevent patients for advocating themselves for better care? In addition to the performances of these short plays, there are facilitated conversations with the audience about some of the questions and ideas that the plays bring up. Cornerstone has heard stories of growth, triumph, and health in the face of HIV/AIDS in conversations all over the country and we look forward to continuing our onging relationship with Gilead and bringing open and honest conversations about HIV treatment to the forefront of the discourse.

Harris Interactive I Newsroom I Harris Polls

Harris Interactive I Newsroom I Harris Polls

Mar 24, 2010

"Wingnuts" and President Obama

A socialist? A Muslim? Anti-American? The Anti-Christ? Large minorities of Americans hold some remarkable opinions A new book, Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe Is Hijacking America by John Avlon describes the large numbers of Americans who hold extreme views of President Obama. This Harris Poll seeks to measure how many people are involved. It finds that 40% of adults believe he is a socialist. More than 30% think he wants to take away Americans' right to own guns and that he is a Muslim. More than 25% believe he wants to turn over the sovereignty of the United States to a world government, has done many things that are unconstitutional, that he resents America's heritage, and that he does what Wall Street tells him to do. More than 20% believe he was not born in the United States, that he is "the domestic enemy the U.S. Constitution speaks of," that he is racist and anti-American, and that he "wants to use an economic collapse or terrorist attack as an excuse to take dictatorial powers." Fully 20% think he is "doing many of the things that Hitler did," while 14% believe "he may be the anti-Christ" and 13% think "he wants the terrorists to win." These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,320 adults surveyed online between March 1 and 8, 2010 by Harris Interactive. The actual percentages of adults who believe these things are true are as follows: He is a socialist (40%) He wants to take away Americans' right to own guns (38%) He is a Muslim (32%) He wants to turn over the sovereignty of the United States to a one world government (29%) He has done many things that are unconstitutional (29%) He resents America's heritage (27%) He does what Wall Street and the bankers tell him to do (27%) He was not born in the United States and so is not eligible to be president (25%) He is a domestic enemy that the U.S. Constitutions speaks of (25%) He is a racist (23%) He is anti-American (23%) He wants to use an economic collapse or terrorist attack as an excuse to take dictatorial powers (23%) He is doing many of the things that Hitler did (20%) He may be the Anti-Christ (14%) He wants the terrorists to win (13%) What Republicans, Democrats and Independents think There are – no surprise here – huge differences between what Republicans and Democrats believe. Majorities of Republicans believe that President Obama: Is a socialist (67%) Wants to take away Americans' right to own guns (61%) Is a Muslim (57%) Wants to turn over the sovereignty of the United States to a one world government (51%); and Has done many things that are unconstitutional (55%). Also large numbers of Republicans also believe that President Obama: Resents America's heritage (47%) Does what Wall Street and the bankers tell him to do (40%) Was not born in the United States and so is not eligible to be president (45%) Is the "domestic enemy that the U.S. Constitution speaks of" (45%) Is a racist (42%) Want to use an economic collapse or terrorist attack as an excuse to take dictatorial powers (41%) Is doing many of the things that Hitler did (38%). Even more remarkable perhaps, fully 24% of Republicans believe that "he may be the Anti-Christ" and 22% believe "he wants the terrorists to win." While few Democrats believe any of these things, the proportions of Independents who do so are close to the national averages. One big surprise is that many more Republicans (40%) than Democrats (15%) believe the president does what Wall Street and the bankers tell him to do. Differences by education These replies are also strongly correlated with education. The less education people have had the more likely they are to believe all of these statements. Consider these differences between those with no college education and those with post-graduate education: He is a socialist (45% and 20%) He wants to take away Americans' right to own guns (45% and 19%) He is a Muslim (43% and 9%) He was not born in the United States so is not eligible to be president (32% and 7%) He is a racist (28% and 9%) He is anti-American (27% and 9%) He is doing many of the things Hitler did (24% and 10%). After reviewing these findings, John Avlon comments, "These new numbers are shocking but not surprising – they detail the extent to which Wingnuts are hijacking our politics. This poll should be a wake-up call to all Americans about the real costs of using fear and hate to pump up hyper-partisanship. We are playing with dynamite by demonizing our president and dividing our country in the process. Americans need to remember the perspective that Wingnuts always forget – patriotism is more important than partisanship." So what? So what indeed! These responses recall a favorite saying of our founder Lou Harris that "when you don't want to publish a poll finding you dislike, you should get out of the business." The very large numbers of people who believe all these things of President Obama help to explain the size and strength of the Tea Party Movement, a topic that will be addressed in another Harris Poll in a few days time.

"Justice demands only what is fair for me and you, and has deep in its origins the mistrust that you..."

"Justice demands only what is fair for me and you, and has deep in its origins the mistrust that you...":

“Justice demands only what is fair for me and you, and has deep in its origins the mistrust that you might be getting something more in the bargain than I am likely to be getting. Justice, then, is a standard of potential enemies, an even division of booty in which both sides are apt to view each other dimly and even with underlying hostility. Friendship, on the other hand, includes the willingness to get less than one deserves for the sake of another for whom one cares. The ultimate friendship –fittingly worth noting at the beginning of Lent – is that friendship of God to Man, and of Jesus to his fellow humans, who surely got less than he deserved and gave more than any godhead has ever been expected to offer to an inferior creature. As we pray every Sunday before receiving the body of Christ, ‘Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word, and I shall be healed.’ We pray not for justice from God – for surely we would all burn eternally in Hell if justice was the measure – but for mercy, for love.”

- What I Saw in America: Friendship and Politics"

"If we realize this, then we may understand what Easter is and why it needs and presupposes Lent. For..."

"If we realize this, then we may understand what Easter is and why it needs and presupposes Lent. For...":

“If we realize this, then we may understand what Easter is and why it needs and presupposes Lent. For we may then understand that the liturgical traditions of the Church, all its cycles and services, exist, first of all, in order to help us recover the vision and the taste of that new life which we so easily lose and betray, so that we may repent and return to it. … And yet the ‘old’ life, that of sin and pettiness, is not easily overcome and changed. The Gospel expects and requires from man an effort of which, in his present state, he is virtually incapable. … This is where Great Lent comes in. This is the help extended to us by the Church, the school of repentance which alone will make it possible to receive Easter not as mere permission to eat, to drink, and to relax, but indeed as the end of the ‘old’ in us, as our entrance into the ‘new.’ … For each year Lent and Easter are, once again, the rediscovery and the recovery by us of what we were made through our own baptismal death and resurrection.”

- Fr. Alexander Schmemann, Great Lent"

chocolate soufflé cupcakes with mint cream

chocolate soufflé cupcakes with mint cream: "

I’m clearly some sort of grinch, because when I think of flourless chocolate cakes I imagine giant discs of truffle so dense and overly rich that even a sliver of somehow feels excessive, the kind of throwaway dessert restaurants bust out when they’ve got no better ideas. “Add a couple out-of-season, eerily red raspberries and a tuft of whipped cream from a can and it will, without fail, sell,” I imagine sinister managers instructing kitchen staff. Like I said, I’m a total pill.

However, when the same flourless chocolate cake is treated like a soufflé — eggs separated, yolks beaten until ribbony and whites whipped until weightless, then gently folded in — and then placed anywhere in my proximity, all bets are off. Because what it does is magical; what was once weighted is lifted off the plate. The top puffs and shatters a little, like a meringue, a meringue with butter. It manages to be both the lightest, barely-there wisp of cake and the most unabashedly rich chocolate fix. Yes, at once.

... Read the rest of chocolate soufflé cupcakes with mint cream on smittenkitchen.com

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Crockpot Soapmaking

Crockpot Soapmaking:
by Lynn at Viggies Veggies

I'd been planning on waiting to learn to make soap for a while yet, because I'd heard it made to sound so expensive and complicated. But my net.friend Dilli recently tested out a crockpot soap recipe she found that demystified the process for me. It's pretty well fool proof. And while talking to her about it, I realized I didn't need any special supplies or equipment."

"Dr. King once said that the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice. It bends..."

"Dr. King once said that the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice. It bends...": "“Dr. King once said that the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice. It bends towards justice, but here is the thing: it does not bend on its own. It bends because each of us in our own ways put our hand on that arc and we bend it in the direction of justice….”

- Barack Obama (via azspot)"