2009 July - replyforall blog

Archive for July, 2009

South Africa Denies HIV/AIDS Research Trials

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009

For countries whose adult population is infected with HIV/AIDS at rates higher than 25%, research and care led by the government is critical. This week, South Africa announced it would begin clinical trials for the first HIV/AIDS vaccines created by a developing country. Then, a day later, announced it would stop funding AIDS vaccine research.

Image via Wikipedia

Working in collaboration with the US National Institutes of Health, South Africa announced Sunday they will begin trials on 36 healthy volunteers. The vaccines began clinical trials in the US earlier this year with 12 volunteers. The vaccine developed at Cape Town targets the strain of HIV that is most prevalent in South Africa, with the intention of making it widely available at an affordable price.

Why, then, did they announce Monday to stop funding the research for HIV/AIDS vaccines? Though the trials will continue under US financial support, the lack of funding from the South African government begs the question of who is responsible for health and what measures are necessary to provide care.

After the disappointing results and subsequent discontinuance of the most promising AIDS vaccine ever in 2007one that actually found that trial volunteers were more likely to contract HIV than those without the vaccinesthe setbacks of South African researchers are no surprise.

As local governments step back from their role in the funding of HIV/AIDS research, nonprofits like YouthAIDS and Partners in Health are stepping forward to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS from the ground up. Top nonprofit organizations, despite the shift in funding for research, continue to make a difference with your help for those infected and for early detection and prevention. Nonprofits and governments, local and foreign, will need to continue to fight the disease from all angles.

Fight the Good Fight,
Johanna Hudgens

hundreds of new graphics for our Fight Global Warming signatures!

Thursday, July 23rd, 2009

today we unleashed a huge set of new graphics for our Fight Global Warming supporters! were so excited, there are literally hundreds of new graphics grouped into different themes for your emailing pleasure.

how does it work?

our Fight Global Warming supporters use the replyforall signature because they want an easy way to help remove CO? from our atmosphere. but sometimes its hard to tell if its actually doing anything since you dont really see anything happening. so we thought, wouldnt it be cool if your replyforall signature actually changed the more youve used it, reflecting the actual impact its having on the world?

so we tried it out. a few months ago we rolled out similar graphics for our Fight Global Warming supporters in our original signature to test the concept. these graphics change as you progress through the different levels of impact by using your signature. this hasnt been available in our new signature designs until now.

were happy to announce these new impact-based graphics are now available in all 6 new signature designs. now, the more you use the signature, the more impact you drive, the more levels of artwork you’ll see in your signature!

(thanks for all the great feedback about the original design. if youve been waiting to upgrade your signature so you wouldnt lose those impact graphics, you can now have your cake and eat it too. upgrade to a new signature design today.)

what can I expect to see?

here are just a few examples of the graphics. theres so much more great artwork in these new graphics, but we wanted to give you a taste of whats in store as you use your replyforall signature!

cool! ?how do i make it happen?

heres what you need to do in order to see these new graphics:

use our Firefox, Internet Explorer or Outlook add-on with your signatures (not the copy and paste version). install the add-on if you havent already.
choose Fight Global Warming as your cause and pick 1 of the 6 new signature designs. you can change these options at any time.
then just use your replyforall signature in your emails and your signatures impact will increase causing the graphics to change. enjoy! and let us know what you think, we always love to hear from you.

Tags: design, email, fight global warming, new signatures
Posted in news | 1 Comment »

Rallies and Hopeful News for Journalists Ling and Lee

Thursday, July 16th, 2009

It’s been months since US Journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee were captured at the North Korean border, and since then they have been tried and found guilty of “hostile acts” against the country. They were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor, but Ling and Lee– and their supporters from around the globe– hope that they will be given amnesty and allowed to return home. Because there was no chance of appeal in the North Korean court system, this may be the method for release. However, US officials report that the two journalists remain in Pyongyang and have yet to go to a labor camp.
Rally in Seoul Rallies were held across the United States and the world on July 9, 2009 in support of Euna Lee and Laura Ling. It was an incredible turnout, and some believe that North Korea is willing to release the journalists, though experts say that their capture may be more about politics than criminal acts.

Regardless of suspected reasons, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the press that the journalists have apologized and that everyone is very sorry the incident happened. The US has shifted from asking for Ling and Lee’s release on humanitarian grounds to seeking for amnesty for the two journalists. This slight shift may be the remorse North Korea is looking for by holding the journalists, as amnesty implies an offense has been committed. After recent meetings with North Korean officials, it appears the country is willing– some say even “eager“– to release Ling and Lee.

At replyforall, we are following the latest news on this and hope for an expedient release. We also wholeheartedly agree with Melanie Sill, editor of the Sacremento Bee. In her editorial, Sill urged all of us to support the release of Laura Ling and Euna Lee, stating that “A free society relies on journalists who are willing to take risks to inform the public… We should celebrate them and the quest for truth they represent.”

You’ll notice that your replyforall signature still has the link to a petition for their release. We’ve also updated our background on Twitter to support this cause, and we’re asking for your help. Please sign Amnesty petition and forward widely to your friends and family and whomever else you email. And if you missed the video from our founder, Enmi Kendall, you can watch it again here. Thank you for all of your support thus far, and for keeping Ling and Lee in your thoughts.

Fight the Good Fight,

Johanna Hudgens

Combatting Climate Change through Legislation

Tuesday, July 7th, 2009

With the increased acceptance that climate change actually exists, the Senate is now looking to pass an energy bill that President Obama calls historic:

The bill would mandate reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and require greater use of renewable energy. The Markey-Waxman bill has already passed the House, and is now being worked on in the Senate. With the changes made in the House, the US would need to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent before 2020 and 83 percent by 2050. The bill passed after many compromises, many demanded by representatives from states that rely mostly on nuclear and coal. Of course, the agriculture sectorwhile exempt from cap and trade policieslobbied for benefits from following climate guidelines, a lobby that has been accused of crippling the passage of the bill.

After the House bill passed with a 219-212 vote, its up to the Senate now to draft their bill and finish hearings before the September 18th deadline. According to an E&E analysis, the passage is within reach! And looking towards the global climate summit this December in Copenhagen, this bill could put the US in good standing to be a leader in an international protocol.

All we can do now is call or write our senators to demand the passage of the bill and create the most progressive energy standards in the United States. But as President Jimmy Carter said three decades ago of our energy crisis:

It’s clear that the true problems of our Nation are much deeper — deeper than gasoline lines of energy shortages, deeper even than inflation or recessionall the legislation in the world can’t fix what’s wrong with AmericaEnergy will be the immediate test of our ability to unite this Nation, and it can also be the standard around which we rally We can manage the short-term shortages more effectively and we will, but there are no short-term solutions to our long-range problems. There is simply no way to avoid sacrifice.

Hard to believe that was said thirty years ago? Now it has fallen on the shoulders of our generation. I know that our generation will rally behind the environmental cause. It starts with us– make the change.

Fight the Good Fight,
Johanna Hudgens

Recent Posts

Archives