…Brian is using WordPress on a setup that Stephen Reinhardt made for him. It’s pretty slick.

Peace,

Eric

Kaz, I’m not sure if you’ve seen The Constant Gardener but I think it was pretty obvious that they were trying to get us to ask deeper questions like “are drug companies really doing this?” Would you disagree? Also congrats for landing that drug company blog-lobbyist position

Also, thanks for the comments.

I watched these films with Charlie, being simultaneously captivated with the art and story-telling … while being sickened at the poverty and underhanded greed with which I’m corporately associated as an American citizen. I appreciated your comment. I wanted to know whether or not this was a fictional conspiracy-theory or had some ties to reality. If you have direction to offer, I’d like to read more on these subjects.

I’d like to recommend a third film about Africa while you are at it. The first commercial film ever produced in the Xosha language of the Zulu in South Africa is called “Yesterday”. It is the story of a woman and her daughter who live in Rural South Africa. It is a beautufully filmed portrayal of rural life in SA and the extreme challenges and a mother’s hope for a better future. Even the pacing of the film communicates African life.

I think this film should be screened on every college campus.

And in response to Kaz’s question: Drug companies have definitely done shady things in Africa. For starters, HIV medications are only available in most cases because generic versions are being made in India, often illegally. The US drug companies will not make HIV meds available at cost while Africa is burning. One controversial theory of where HIV/AIDS came from is related to polio vaccine trials here in Congo that were haphazardly cross contaminated with trials in orangutans (the only other species known to have a retrovirus similar to HIV). I haven’t seen The Constant Gardener, but when it comes to corruption and misdeeds, I’d guess that drug companies are knee deep in Africa.