How AIDS Endangers African Wildlife »
Posted by: jcolman 1 year, 4 months agoAbout 120,000 elephants and countless lions, leopards, crocodiles and hippos run through Botswana's Chobe National Park. But the most dangerous thing -- to wildlife and humans -- is AIDS.
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Homosexuallyspeaking1 year, 4 months ago
Very interesting that aids is killing the good people who are trying to protect the precious wildlife and too bad that aids just doesn't afflict the poachers and other people killing animals for aphrodisciacs and other trinkets. Of course, being an HIV negative homosexual, I'm sure many of you would just assume I die as well. But honestly-I love animals! This just to make the point that the morality of the people who contract aids really isn't the point---it's that there are really too many people of all kinds and we are overpopulating the planet to the detriment of most of the other wildlife.
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jeffery11 year, 4 months ago
What I find interesting is that most wildlife protection organizations are forced to also help people whereas most human focused groups do nothing to protect non human animals.
To be honest most people who are concerned with non human animals are far more compassionate and therefore tend to already be concerned with human suffering or are at least forced to deal with it because if they don't there is no hope to help non human animals. Most people who are concerned with only people tend to see non human animals as mere objects and cannot see that compassion is all encompassing and therefore can be extended to all living things.
I'm willing to say I'm wrong, just point me to an African AIDS fighting group that also states that they must end poaching and protect Africa's wildlife.
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DeadHead131 year, 4 months ago
You're allowed but you are going to take flack for such a stupid comment. Obviously abstinence is the only way that is '100%'; alternatively, you could be careful and use contraceptives and the chance of contracting AIDS is about 1 in 12500000.
For those of you who don't believe this number:
1/1250 people in the United States are infected with HIV and don't know it. There is about 1/200 chance of a condom failure for each instance of intercourse. There is about a 1/50 chance of contracting AIDS from an infected person while having unprotected sex (This is a liberal estimate, with some placing this number as low as 1/500). (1/1250)(1/200)(1/50)= 1/12500000 chance of contracting HIV from having protected sex with someone who doesn't believe they are infected.
Furthermore there is a 9/10 chance of the HIV virus progressing into AIDS, placing the actual likelihood of getting AIDS at around 9/125000000, or about 1/13888888.89
I'll take my chances.
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lfergie8121 year, 4 months ago
Thanks jcolman. That was a very interesting story and something to think about.
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catstevensComment removed: User banned.
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ETproductions1 year, 4 months ago
Thanks for sharing this article, jcolman. It ads a note of urgency to an already huge problem. We've GOT to find the cure or a vaccine, and till we do, we've got to help these people survive.
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ETproductions1 year, 4 months ago
Great points David. Regardless of your religious affiliation, it's hard to argue with this Old Testament quote:
"Therefore my people go into exile for want of knowledge; their honored men are dying of hunger, and their multitude is parched with thirst. Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite and opened its mouth beyond measure, and the nobility of Jerusalem and her multitude go down, her throng and he who exults in her. Man is bowed down, and men are brought low, and the eyes of the haughty are humbled." (Isaiah 5:13-15).
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Charlson1 year, 4 months ago
Every person who had to have a blood transfusion and was infected is partially to blame.
Every person who engages in sex with a partner who was infected and didn't know it is partially to blame.
Every person who is against sex ed is partially to blame.
Every person who doesn't use contraception is partially to blame.
How unrealistic can you be? How can you regulate morality? With religion? A morality police? And whose morals are they going to enforce? Playing the blame game helps no one but getting low cost medication to those who can't afford them might be a big step in the right direction.
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DeadHead131 year, 4 months ago
What the ******?
Immorality has nothing to do with it, AIDS isn't spread by premarital/homosexual/bestial sex or drug use. It is spread by unprotected sex, poor education and an 'abstinence only' policy rooted in superstitious tradition. And that is to say nothing of the stupidity of claiming these things to be immoral.
You get exactly one negative vote from me.
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lvrofwolves1 year, 4 months ago
Yes thanks jcolman, sometimes we lose sight of things far away from us and need reminders of other very important issues that affect us all.
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birdog1 year, 4 months ago
In some African countries the women spend most of their days collecting wood for heat and cooking (producing smoke and depleting the forest) and carrying water. A small coal powered generating plant and a well would change their lives immeasurably and would also produce much less damage to ecology.
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DesertFlower1 year, 4 months ago
Thanks for the article jcolman In enjoyed it though I don't know what the solution to the problem is. It would of been better if when the numbers of people infected were small enough to do something about this problem, that he Government would have not stuck there heads in the sand pretending it wasn't a problem. I know of few in the world today that haven't been affected by HIV/Aids. I will leave the answers to those that know more and instead pray that the solution is found soon. I have a friend who just found out she has HIV her kids need her healthy for some years to come.
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Searchbeam1 year, 4 months ago
Thank Ronald Reagan For that!
When the AIDS cases were just being diagnosed, he was at the wheel, having the "Moral Majority" crowd in his administration neglecting their responsibility. Instead of quarantining the infected, these high priests of "abstinence and monogamy" totally and criminally neglected their duty and let this get totally out of hand. If only they understood about geometric progression, they would have seen the consequences of their inaction.
One of these days, our conservative and NeoCon friends here are going to understand that social behavior cannot be changed by moral dictates, pseudo-theology or inaction.
A serious commitment to educating the public about these issues, while taking preventive measures, is the only prudent way to combat such horrible epidemic!
More..
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Searchbeam1 year, 4 months ago
Contd..
Reagan lost one of his best friends, Rock Hudson, to this epidemic.
By the way, talking about abstinence and monogamy, the NeoCon and Conservatives should start their crusade at their own ranch - Guiliani, Gingrich,Dole, Livingstone etc., are living proof of hypocrisy on this subject!
Peace and Blessings!
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djrevelky1 year, 4 months ago
Whoa....what the hell? You are saying the president of the united states should QUARANTINE AFRICANS because they have AIDS? Oh yeah....So now the president should throw some ppl from another country in a cage because they have AIDS but it is wrong to hold terrorist at Gitmo? Liberal hypocrisy at its best!
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earthlover1 year, 4 months ago
jcolman, thank you for the article. a disturbing news story. i do think that the time for debating where the aids virus started should have passed now. i once watched a documentary were a jivaro healer in south america had thousands of herbs to cure a multitude of illnesses, when they visited him 29 years later he had forsaken them for asprin vicks vapour rub and other western cures. who knows what cures were lost? maybe the cures to aids and a lot of the other untreatable illnesses lie in the rain forests of this planet....maybe?
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earthlover1 year, 4 months ago
how do you expect me to know the answer to that? i did not make the documentary. try asking the bbc archives
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amazed1 year, 4 months ago
Handing out condoms is a start, but, and I KNOW many don't want to hear this, but Uganda has a much lower AIDS rate and they are teaching celibacy, and monogamy as well as just throwing condoms at it. The idea of bringing the workers' families to the post is a good one. Education in safer sex practice is good, but the discouraging of promiscuity is not just a value judgement in this part of the world -- it's probably their best chance of long-term survival.
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earthlover1 year, 4 months ago
valid point amazed. i have been married for 28 years and we have been faithful throughout, but, it would only have taken one of us to stray, contract the virus, and affect the other. prevention is always better than cure, but, is not always an option.
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AnvilHead1 year, 4 months ago
Bull, not when every highway and road through Uganda to the interior is lined with prostitutes, you people should get out more.
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elel1 year, 4 months ago
Kudos White Pawn, and jcolman :) Awareness, education and condoms definitely a great plan of action. This article also brought to mind how far reaching this disease is. I know I only thought of the human factor, and not the other consequences and damage due to it.
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UBCONFUSE1 year, 4 months ago
KelLuv
The primary source of recreation for poor people are their genitals. This rule applies to the poor in the USA and poor Africans. In Africa, the population is totally out of control. Eventually, they will cut down every single tree and eat every animal in an effort to stay alive. Genetic mutation will stop the spread of AIDS as the population declines. The species will survive.
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tracyruns2621 year, 4 months ago
"These people"??? Where have YOU Been??? Right HERE in the US - folks are having the SAME PROBLEMS!!! Let me give you some US EXAMPLES of "These People".
Condoms have been readily available in the US for YEARS - UNLIKE in AFRICA and Other third WORLD Countries - YET WE have Kids and ADULTS of all ages, race, incomes getting Pregnant - WE TEACH SEX Ed in SCHOOLS - UNLIKE in AFRICA and "These People" STILL get pregnant and Catch diseases.
For a long time - Africans and other Third World country residents WERE NOT TAUGHT the manner that HIV could be apread and insteads relied on "old wive's" tales that sex with a virgin would prevent it, or use of homeopathic remedies would protect them. HERE in the US we know better and HIV/AIDS is rising among ALL age groups, ALL races, ALL income levels...
See, we really aren't all that different from THESE PEOPLE - WE ALL ARE THESE PEOPLE.
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AuntFunnel1 year, 4 months ago
This article exposes the far-reaching HIV/AIDS problem of, but not just IN Africa - it's a case of the "ripple effect"of tsunami proportion, with global implications, telling us to "BEWARE" and act now.
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jumpmaster1 year, 4 months ago
It amazes me that someone could give this comment a negative.
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Beeboppin711 year, 4 months ago
Is she responsible for this bad choice?
On Nov. 11, a nine-month-old baby girl from Kimberley in the Northern Cape who survived a gang rape underwent a full hysterectomy and will require further surgery to repair intestinal damage, a hospital spokesperson said. The baby from Louisville was left unattended by her 16-year-old mother when six Upington men allegedly raped her. The baby had undergone a full hysterectomy and she suffered extensive damage to her colon and anus as well The six men, aged between 22 and 66, appeared in the Kimberley Magistrates Court on charges of rape and indecent assault on Monday.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?A...
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amazed1 year, 4 months ago
are you trying to say that all the HIV/AIDS patients were victims of gang rape when they were children?
You know, when the AIDS epidemic first started, it swept through the gay community like wildfire because of the promiscuous lifestyle of many of them -- bathhouse, cruisebars, etc. When it became apparent that AIDS was spread by unprotected sex, the American gay community (for the most part) cleaned up its act. The bathhouses were closed, many gays started using condoms. Of course, because of the long incubation period, there was quite a lag between the change in behavior and the drop in new cases.
The last study I read is that between the crossover to females because of drug users and bisexuals, the incidence of new AIDS cases is no longer significantly higher in the gay community than in the straight community.
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Searchbeam1 year, 4 months ago
Kel,
What Africa needs is education, support network, and pro-active steps, such as providing condoms, treatment centers with well-trained nurses, and supply of drug cocktails that are proving to be effective in slowing the progression of the disease and extending life. ALL of these steps, along with "educating" Prime Ministers, Presidents and petty dictators about how this disease starts and progresses, will be vital to stop the virulent spread of this pandemic. I remember the stupid actions of South African President who refused to accept that AIDS was a preventable disease, and wasted years of opportunity to do something useful.
Peace and Blessings!
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djrevelky1 year, 4 months ago
Searchbeam,
You said "What Africa needs is education, support network, and pro-active steps, such as providing condoms, treatment centers with well-trained nurses..."
Isn't that what we have in the U.S. as well? Is AIDS shrinking or growing here? You can't educate it away...it is strickly a moral issue. If you quit having sex with more than one person you chances of getting it DRAMATICALLY drop.
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Searchbeam1 year, 4 months ago
djrevelky,
There is no question that moral values and commitment to a responsible personal behavior are important ingredients of any sensible solution. But they must be done in conjunction with the above steps to get any tangible results, otherwise it will be a sermon in the desert where nobody comes to listen.
Africa has a long history of economic slavery, and the consequences are evident everywhere. The corrupt governments there have no interest in improving the lives of their citizens.
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vettenut1 year, 4 months ago
searchbeam:
All the things you list above are PARTIAL ingredients to the solution, but that DO NOT COMPOSE THE REAL ANSWER because they ignore the KEY ingredient:
CHANGES IN MORALITY AND PERSONAL CONDUCT!!!!!
All who don't like that ingredient should ask themselves this question:
Would you want your (real or hypothetical) son/daughter to engage in risky behavior, like, say, for example riding in a car with someone with a blood alcohol content of .25%??? Or would you prefer that they protect themselves from potential harm by not riding with ANYONE who has been recently consuming alcoholic beverages?????
CHANGES IN MORAL VALUES and PERSONAL CONDUCT, ANYONE???????
Education is not GOD, and the best education in the world does not exempt anyone from REALITY!
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crespi1 year, 4 months ago
DavidHalko-
Every person (Republican/Christian) who said gays and n*g*ers deserve to get aids.
Every person (Republican/Christian) who stigmatized gays and wouldn't support AIDS research before it was an epidemic.
Every church that turned away sick people because "they must be sinners."
Fundamentalist hate-morality, attacking the victims, blocking education, is beginning to bore us all.
Besides, Fundamentalists are the biggest sinners of all. Have you seen the statistics of infidelity among Fundamentalist Christians? Not good.
And how about CHRISTIAN LEADER Ted Haggard condemning gays to Hell while having gay sex?
Try contributing something worthwhile to these discussions instead of trying to convert us because you only reveal the inherent weakness of your Fundamentalist doggerel.
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tryingtofindmyway1 year, 4 months ago
Riiighhtt Crespi. DavidHalko simply listed the various sexual activities that cause AIDS. It's a pity if you can't handle the truth without screaming bloody murder about moralist bigotry. Such an attitude will allow the spread of AIDS to continue unchecked. AIDS is a symptom of sociological and behavioral problems. Merely dealing with the symptoms is foolish. Deal with the problem at it's root! "Inherent weakness of your fundamentalist doggerel" indeed! At least he isn't so blinded by his support for homosexuality that he can't see how dangerous it is to society's health!
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vettenut1 year, 4 months ago
crespi:
Nice try, but way too full of hate-morality!
Your presumptive stereotyping of "Republican/Christian"s as practicing the warped values you list above is IN NO WAY REMOTELY SIMILAR to the true Christian values lived out by the Christians I know!!!!!
Your rant is of the same value as would be one wherein
Liberals would be stereotyped as:
Good swimmers who leave injured female passengers to drown in their cars,
OR who allow their lovers to run call-boy rings out of their apartments,
OR who serve on and vote in committees channeling Government contract money to their spouse's companies,
OR who commit perjury when questioned about their personal activities with their staff
OR...... Get the point???
To summarize, I have heard that there is counterfeit US currency in circulation. Should we then all refuse to use or value the actual authentic currency?
Or does that mentality only apply to "Republican/Christians???"
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not2needy1 year, 4 months ago
Thanks jcolman, excellent article/ I think AIDS has touched each and everyone of us whether directly or indirectly.
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itsme21 year, 4 months ago
This has gone on for far too long to be fixed any time soon but the steps must start now! Thank you jcolman this is an eye opener.
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Dharma1 year, 4 months ago
It is depressing to think that,as other posters have pointed out,that even with the educational opportunities here in the US we are still having this problem.Then compare that to africa where the funding,effort and education are FAR less and it is refreshing to see that,at the least,it isn't any worse,because it could have been.I understand David's sentiment and on it's face it seems like a simple answer,but it isn't.How many of you have met the little old lady,with emphysema so bad she needs oxygen,puffing away on a cigarette.Or How many of our children have taken sex ed(and/or heard the same from parents,religious leaders,peers,etc) and been told that unprotected sex,EVEN ONCE, can lead to pregnancy, disease, and even death,and yet they still do not listen...Also keep in mind when you start telling a person they are morally wrong, and their culture is very different from yours, they will tend to look at that as a personal attack and thus are even less likely to listen to you......
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jumpmaster1 year, 4 months ago
On an earlier post, one comedian suggested that President Reagan should have quarantined Africans with aids.
Now that's a thought process we can all get behind. (sarcasm intended)
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Dharma1 year, 4 months ago
I don't know what the answer is ( if i did i certainly wouldn't be here, posting on netscape, i would be out solving it!) but moral bullying doesn't help, it just "strengthens reserve". keep in mind that in most parts of africa if you are raped you are considred worthless goods. whether you have aids or not isn't seen as the problem. the having been touched by another is seen as the problem. Somehow we have to continue trying to get the message across but in a different way, a way that makes sense to THEM, from THEIR perspective, not ours..... If you keep trying to talk to someone in english but then realize they don't understand it, but might understand another language, you don't keep talking to them in english you try other languages until you find one that allows you to communicate effectively. not the best analogy but you get the idea, i hope :-)
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eviln3d1 year, 4 months ago
If you believe the last UN report the answer is to circumcise the african dudes... Of course if you wanted to really eliminate it you'ld just whack it off completely... no gun barrel no danger.
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Homosexuallyspeaking1 year, 4 months ago
Very interesting that aids is killing off the good people who are tying to protect precious wildlife and too bad that aids hadn't just afflicted the morally wrong people like the poachers and people killing animals to make aphrodisiacs and trinkets. Of course many poeple would lump me, being an HIV negative homoesexual, in with the undesirable poachers and would just assume that I die as well. But honestly I love animals!
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vettenut1 year, 4 months ago
hss: Interesting comment.
No, the retrovirus that causes AIDS does not harm solely the morally-challenged--it harms many innocents as well.
That's because live in a broken world, and all the education and medical technology in this broken world cannot fix it.
And please know that others should think of you and describe you in terms that do not relate to a disease or sexual preference.
And you should do no less yourself!!!!
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Submitted By:
jcolman
Jonathon D. Colman is the associate director of digital marketing for The Nature Conservancy, where he manages the strategic development and promotion of the Conservancy ...
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