HIV/AIDS Map of the world 2006

People living with HIV/AIDS (adults and children)
Global Data, 2006; Country Data, 2005

Global health data provided by GlobalHealthFacts.org
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The well reknowned queer theorist Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick came to York. Her talk covered a multitude of autobiographical, art, Buddhistic and physics topics, which at first seemed a little incoherent, however, after reflection the elements began to become fused into a mantra of connectivity. A move away from poststructuralist deconstruction, she introduced David Bohm's ideas of the of hidden orders of patterns or enfolded order much like those you capture when ink is on water and when you place a sheet of paper or cloth upon the pattern (like in the base of the picture on the left) and capture the unfolding of the waves. While this touch upon physics did not go as far as I would have liked, I sensed this connectivity because I was reading the The Holographic Universe By Michael Talbot, where I had just been reading about Bohm's contribution to the theory of the enfolded and unfolded (dis)order of the universe. Although a mind-boggling set of ideas for me I will try and explain what I think I understand and put it forth for discussion. Everything in the cosmos is connected and is part of the same unfolding and enfolding 'order(s)' of the fabric of the universe, much like viewing the different patterns in an ornate carpet as part of the whole. The threads of the carpet may 'come loose' and and someone may wish to reform the fabric, the pattern may not be the same but it is still part of the same carpet. This allows us to contend the basic tenets of enlightenment thinking about scrutinising each part in their separateness, like such things as size, rate, or other 'respective' part. This way of looking at 'things' can in fact misguide our judgment of the whole. This is not to say that these things are not 'visible', 'audible', or anything like that, but 'they' are only abstractions in order to allow them to stand out in our perceptions. Bohm prefers to call these respective parts "relatively independent subtotalities."

i could not resist putting Mariza on. The Portugese singer with a voice that brings shivers to the spine and a pounding in your heart ENJOY

Image from: http://lgbthmuk.blogspot.com/search/label/Exhibition

What Makes a Picture Queer, the Subject, the Artist, the Scene?

I have been thinking recently about the Trans social movement, if there is such a thing, in the UK. While there are organisations that can conceivably come under the banner of Trans-Social Movement, we must ask, are they fighting, or indeed do they have to fight, for the same things for it to be classed as a Social Movement? From what i understand, there are 4 organisational typologies that can be found as part of the Movement. (1) Organisations that purport the Biological/Intersexual paradigm. (2) The inclusive 'Social' model groups that is undergirded by human rights and "equal but diverse" motto. (3) The local self-help groups, that i suppose create a more localised rationale and are dependent on the cohort within, as to the directions they will sway. (4) The queerer radical/anarchistic Trans groups who want to aesthetically re-orientate the political praxis through more visible and visual/sensual/artistic actions. With an array of multi-dimensional views, boundaries and potential political actors and actions how can we conceive of these groups under one particular movement? How do the wider community choose to act on one or more "call to arms" from different contradictory groupings? Are we then talking about affiliations to a Political Movement or leanings toward certain political actions that are of most importance to the individual actor? Can i call myself a part of a movement if i do not agree with all the tenets of the organisations involved under the wider social movement umbrella? These are just some thoughts i would like to put out there and discuss.

Get-Bent Interview 2007 with Eliza Steinbock

Watch This Video!
Eliza Steinbock from the University of Amsterdam gives an interview about her presentation at Get-Bent Manchester 2007, on Trans Erotixxxx. She asks: Does Trans pornography have a unique space within the spectrum of pornography?

A few colleagues

This is a few colleagues who presented papers at the Lesbian Lives conference 2007, Dublin. Papers included a look at Queer Theory in Practice, Deleuze and Guattari, Anarchism and Queer Politics, Transgendered Political Spectrum, Conscious Raising Feminisms, HD and the Pool Group, and LGBT Activism in Portugal. The group from University of Leeds organised two panels, which encouraged a lively debate around the problems with identity politics and the potential of queer politics to overcome these shortfalls. However, the counter argument was just as valid in relation to political climates other than those of the UK and the US. Has "queer" turned into a euphemism for LGBT theory and activism?