Thursday Night News and Notes

Hey y'all.

I'm full of venom tonight as my boys I-pod was ripped off and so was my phone. Here's to hoping there's a special place in hell for thieves. Preferably where they have barbed implements jammed into orifices.

Anyway, here's what's going on:

-Our illustrious president was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for, well, nothing. Here's what he said in his acceptance speech that I have to give him props for:

I make this statement mindful of what Martin Luther King Jr. said in this same ceremony years ago: "Violence never brings permanent peace. It solves no social problem: it merely creates new and more complicated ones." As someone who stands here as a direct consequence of Dr. King's life work, I am living testimony to the moral force of non-violence. I know there's nothing weak -- nothing passive -- nothing naïve -- in the creed and lives of Gandhi and King.

But as a head of state sworn to protect and defend my nation, I cannot be guided by their examples alone. I face the world as it is, and cannot stand idle in the face of threats to the American people. For make no mistake: Evil does exist in the world. A non-violent movement could not have halted Hitler's armies. Negotiations cannot convince al Qaeda's leaders to lay down their arms. To say that force may sometimes be necessary is not a call to cynicism -- it is a recognition of history; the imperfections of man and the limits of reason.

"Evil does exist in the world"...many liberals don't ever comprehend that. Still a great many first person references but how does one make a speech for a an award one didn't deserve?

-Uganda has been swept up in a Muslim fervor and shariah law is the law of the land throughout much of the nation. The despotic regime is on the verge of passing legislation that would sentence homosexuals to death--all under the guise of stopping HIV. Libs went right for the blame the Evangelicals and neocons card but GOP representatives have come out against this vile action before Obama did.

-Oh Lord, we're putting the passage or failure of the healthcare fiasco in the hands of the Maine twins. Dude, Snowe better get her act together on this and not abandon who supported her.

-Got us a high-ranking al-Qaeda scumbag today. Not bin-Laden or Zawahiri but they have effectively been figureheads. The number three is the guy and hopefully it's who we targeted. Here's to hoping we slammed a Phoenix right into his left nostril. I'm so happy I want to be the first to say happy Nobel Peace Prize day!

-How pissed am I today? More pissed than Maynard was when he wrote this little ditty about LA washing into the Pacific and dreaming of swimming in Arizona Bay (NSFW or kids):

Thoughts on World AIDS Day

It's been roughly twenty years since HIV came to prominence in the United States. Back in 1987, contracting HIV meant death. Thanks to the American pharmaceutical industry, that is no longer the case as the advent has protease inhibitors and other drugs that make up the "AIDS Cocktail" has given sufferers a shot at a normal life. Because HIV is no longer a death sentence, the urgency of combating the virus has waned here.

That's not the case in Africa and other nations in Asia. The numbers vary (and the UN recently revised them down)but approximately 33-million people suffer from HIV or full-blown AIDS. That's an incredibly high number and one that could and should be reduced.

The simple fact is that unlike cancer and other fatal diseases, AIDS is 100% preventable. Simple practices can stop most exposures and the disease can be essentially wiped out in several decades. That is a salient fact that many in the gay community want you to forget.

Now I'm far from a Bible-thumper and I am pragmatic when discussing the epidemic of HIV, I would hope those in the gay community would be as well. Whenever I write about this topic I get the usual wackos who attack me for saying that this epidemic is one that shouldn't be and hit me as an Evangelical who doesn't care about those suffering. I am not of course, but they need to hit me on something besides facts.

That said, the only way to stop the spread of HIV is by either abstinence, monogamy or wearing a condom every time you have sex. There are cases from blood to blood contact in a medical setting blood transfusions but those cases are statistically irrelevant when compared with sexual activity. Let's look at these three preventive measures a little more in-depth:

Abstinence--This, of course is the only sure-fire way of preventing the spread from person to person and it is also the most impossible to instill, people are going to have sex whether it be for procreation or pleasure. That's not say that abstinence shouldn't be taught since it may be heeded by some and prevent a small amount of new cases. Which leads us to the next method, monogamy. See below where I talk of the politics of the issue.

Monogamy--This is what tends to get the HIV prevention coalitions worked up. They argue (in what I perceive as using racism undertones) that you can't expect cultures to change their habits. What they mean in a subliminal way is that they're not smart enough to change their sexual habits and we should not ask them to do so. That is a subtly racist stance and one that is causing the numbers of infected to rise daily. Granted, sexual activity is not the only way HIV is spread in Africa but it is the most prevalent. This has become a charged political issue, one pitting President Bush against liberals and the HIV lobby. Previous entry on the politics of this issue here.

I'll talk more about Bush in a moment, but the argument that cultural activities can't be changed is a shallow one and one that will result in many more dead in coming years. Quite simply, if a man and a woman are faithful to one another and have no other sexual partners, the chances of getting HIV are nil.

Condom Usage--This is another hot-button topic. I would offer that those who do not support this method based on religious terms are deluding themselves. While monogamy or abstinence are practices to aspire to, it's unrealistic to believe that they will stop HIV infections. Condom usage is the way to end the scourge while teaching both abstinence and monogamy as well. I would venture that using condoms as decorations and jewelry isn't going to help the problem, though.

Finally, the politics of the issue are a major stumbling block to effectively battle the spread of HIV. From inane proposals from the UN to wariness or downright hostility to American programs has gotten us to the point where we are now; nowhere nearer the solution. President Bush has taken the lead on this issue and has given more money to Africa than most other nations combined to stopping the epidemic. Liberals have battled him at every turn for no other reason than having the audacity to want abstinence and monogamy taught as a part of the package. I think the left also is appalled that Clinton never took the lead on this issue and George W, Bush did as Sir Bob Geldof so eloquently put it here. The idea that a Republican not only acknowledged the problem but actually took great strides to put an end to was so alien to them that they had to criticize his plans at every turn, regardless if his policies would be effective or not. Even when he the President calls for doubling funding as he did yesterday it's met will met with scepticism.

I've not even touched on HIV in the US but that's a post for another day.

UN Grossly Inflates Worldwide HIV Numbers

The UN is expected to reduce the number of people they've estimated infected with the HIV virus by 7-million people. It seems the only numbers the UN doesn't inflate is the amount its bureaucrats made on the oil for food scam in concert with Saddam.

This is not insignificant as the US has pledged and delivered billions of dollars to African nations to try to treat HIV sufferers. That amount was based on the amount of people believed to be suffering. As liberals are wont to say about Iraq war funding, couldn't that money have been better spent on anti-poverty programs here at home? The UN lied, poor kids cried! The fact that it is a 100% preventable disease always seems to be forgotten as well.

The first question that should come to the mind of any sane person is what other numbers did they exaggerate? The UN is the international sale manager for global warming hysteria. If they could be so far off on HIV numbers, how far off are they for planetary destruction warnings.

Some people like this misguided soul here can't comprehend why we don't trust the UN. It's simple; they are anti-America, anti-Israel, anti-Capitalism, support the most despotic regimes on the planet, lie, steal, rape children and generally make matters worse wherever they intervene. In other words, the vaunted UN is useless. We give billions to the UN and they piss on us at every opportunity.

I'll make it simple for you libs; suppose you made $150 a week working at Starbucks and you were forced to pay $20 to a local group consisting of every conceivable class of people in town but they were only forced to pay $0.50. Now let's say that whenever a dispute came up between you and another member, the leader of the group always went against you regardless of right or wrong. You're the rich one so you are always wrong. Let's further imagine that you were in charge of the anti-crime board for this organization but were forced out and replaced by the local Crips leader. Your friend (let's call him Yitzak) who lives in a small, yet nice house in the middle of the largest crime area in town is struggling to hang on amidst the daily attacks on himself and his family by the Crips and their enemies the Bloods. Every time Yitzak calls for protection and redress, he not only doesn't receive it but is excoriated and told it is him who is the problem. Let's go on and imagine that the leaders (we'll call him Coffee Amman) son gets rich off a scam that your money is supporting.

In a nut shell, that's why us "wing-nuts" abhor the UN.