Clinton Fein (born 1964) is a South African born artist, writer and activist, closely identified with his controversial web site,Annoy.com and his notable Supreme Court victory against Janet Reno, Attorney General of the United States, challenging the constitutionality of the Communications Decency Act in 1997, where Fein's right to disseminate his art was upheld in a landmark victory for First Amendment rights.
Remember that looting of the Iraq National Museum back in 2003?
American servicemembers were so busy helping Iraqis chop down and destroy statues of Saddam Hussein, they ignored the looting of people’s private possessions and Iraq’s greatest riches, as treasures from the Iraq National Museum housing ancient priceless Sumerian, Babylonian and Assyrian collections and rare collections of Islamic texts were carted off in wheelbarrows.
As marines peed in golden toilets in Saddam’s palaces, posing for cameras lounging on expensive furniture, and while Secretary Rumsfeld scornfully derided as “exaggerated” the already-too-late media reporting of the looting (missed almost entirely by the networks giddily repeating footage of the toppling statues), the renowned museum was emptied leaving nothing but shattered glass and broken pottery bowls littering its floors.
The cradle of ancient civilization destroyed and plundered by modern barbarians under the banner of liberation.
This was a video installation for my exhibition WARning! in New York, 2004, during the Republican National Convention. Images were sourced from the Internet, and news sites such as Al Jazeera, to draw attention to what the world, it seemed to be, was turning a blind eye -- the devastation of "collateral damage" and what the Iraq war really looked like. The occasional image in American mainstream media, (who were so embedded and so ensconced in cheerleading the war), did nothing to present the truth about what was going on.
As President Obama is accused of "dithering" with regard to Afghanistan by the likes of Dick Cheney -- the very architects of these massacres, and as the President considers sending in more troops, it may be helpful to remember what depleted uranium looks like when its dropped on human beings. These images are meant to turn your stomach. And to cause you to question how your attitude might be toward the country responsible for this, if these were your family members.
San Francisco, California -- Last week, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) released a four page document outlining the steps they have taken following the fallout of a misguided press release pertaining to a study published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine that incorrectly extrapolated data linking a virulent strain of MRSA to gay sex. The press release, issued back in January 2008, resulted in an avalanche of sensationalism-driven stories, from the San Francisco Chronicle to the New York Times, and seized upon by anti-gay organizations across the globe, warning of a potential pandemic at which gay men in San Francisco were at the epicenter.
The publication was released in response to a request from Clinton Fein, who in the immediate aftermath of the irresponsible media coverage that followed, along with activists Michael Petrelis and Hank Wilson, had demanded and met with UCSF to ensure this type of incident did not happen again.
Fein later testified before the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, reporting on the promises made by UCSF, and urging the San Francisco Department of Public Health take steps to educate gyms and schools of the real dangers of MRSA, to counter attacks on the gay community, and to communicate that all populations could take steps to protect themselves.
“I am pleased UCSF released this update relating to the progress they have made since we met with them last year,” said Fein. “In the wake of an alarming new study relating to a new strain of MRSA called USA600 it is critical that accurate and truthful information about the transmission be reiterated.”
In a written response on behalf of Barbara French, Associate Vice Chancellor of University Relations, Shane Snowdon, Director of LGBT Resources at UCSF, characterized the document as an “overview of what we’ve done in relation to what was discussed at the meeting, answering your [Fein's] specific questions, and providing additional information.” Snowdon added, “We appreciate your following up on the February meeting, which helped catalyze a number of important initiatives here at UCSF.”
Fein also pointed to the UCSF document as a solid refutation of the misinformation campaign that resulted from the initial release. “Organizations like Concerned Women for America, Americans for Truth, and Eagle Forum, headed by the likes of Matt Barber, Peter LaBarbera and Andrew Schlafly, have misappropriated the San Francisco Chronicle’s story to spread lies and misinformation about homosexuality, demonize the gay community, and endanger any children who play sport or may be at higher risk for MRSA exposure,” said Fein.
“It’s quite stunning that these supposedly religious buffoons, in organizations that are breeding grounds for ignorance and stupidity, would sooner place children at risk in pursuit of a broader agenda filled with hate than tell the truth,” Fein added. "In the wake of this updated information from UCSF, these men will either expose themselves for the deliberate liars they are, or be forced to make a public retraction."
Remember that awful headline back in January of 2008?
“S.F. gay community an epicenter for new strain of virulent staph.”
It began with a San Francisco Chronicle article by Sabin Russell, which in essence “reported” on a University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) study published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine related to a MRSA study, which resulted in widespread misinformation and fear of a “pandemic,” which could magically spread from gay men in the Castro to the “general population” (of which gay men were supposedly not included).
Binh An Diep, a researcher at San Francisco General Hospital and lead author of the report contributed to a UCSF press release that mischaracterized the results of the study, resulting in a global blizzard of sensational headlines, immediately seized upon by the likes of right wing groups, demonizing gay men, and endangering everyone else by its absurd implications that the virus was contained within the gay community, or could only be contracted through gay sex.
Whether an MRSA pandemic resulted seems unlikely, given how little attention has been given to the matter since. You would think.
But MRSA infections are not only on the rise, they’re even being linked to H1N1 (Swine Flu), and a new study by the Henry Ford Hospital's division of infectious diseases, released Sunday, relating to USA600 is alarming. As expected, being gay has nothing to do with neither the transmission nor incidences.
It seems the only real benefit of that initial press release, is that right wing and anti-gay organizations continue to use it as bona fide “evidence” of the “Health Effects of Homosexual Lifestyle,” as it relates to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
At the time, together with activists Michael Petrelis and the late Hank Wilson, we demanded that UCSF meet with us to help understand how they could have released such an ill-informed press release, and figure out what concrete and immediate steps they could take to ensure such a debacle never happened again.
The result of three independent activists demanding answers from UCSF in a face-to-face meeting, and who until then had only participated in the dialog by sending a representative to community meetings, resulted in some concrete action, and promises from UCSF.
Among those were the development of a database that would allow for easier access to accommodate interest in studies and results, even those not published, or terminated prior to conclusion, and the extent to which community relations and communications with the gay community could serve as an across-the-board template in managing other communities, particularly vulnerable populations, such as children, women or prisoners. Soon after our meeting, in which UCSF also agreed to release a retraction, they did.
Chronicle reporter Sabin Russell told SF Weekly, “…as for not responding to the UCSF 'retraction' — that was a clarification of a press release, not a retraction of the article. If UCSF retracts the [research] paper, that would be news.”
Owing to the extent to which the original misinformation continues to be disseminated, I am bringing attention to it again, including video of my testimony before the Board of Supervisors, (in which I refer to Sabin Russell, apparently present at the hearing, as a “transcriber” and the Chronicle’s atrocious coverage of this story).
Today I sent a letter to UCSF to see what, if any, steps have been taken since our meeting. Specifically, I requested follow up with the status of the following:
1. The internal task force that was set up, its findings in the wake of the MRSA fiasco, and the solutions implemented as a result of those findings.
2. The extent to which easier access to the database containing studies/results that would enable communities that may be impacted negatively to proactively protect themselves, and the extent to which, if at all, UCSF could/would help in identifying such studies.
The apparent dangerous rise of MRSA makes it worth reiterating the extent to which such idiotic reporting of a study did not only inspire a slew of homophobic headlines, but put at risk everyone who thought that the spread of the infection was unlikely to impact them. Like people who play sports, or go to the gym.
Imagine the difference in terms of audience awareness, sensationalism notwithstanding, had the headline read: "A new drug-resistant staph infection. Just how safe are your workouts at the local gym?"
In the meanwhile, I will keep you posted on what I learn from UCSF.
