“I say there is no darkness/But ignorance”

South Carolina’s legislature has voted to remove all funding to the state’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP).

This means that the 3000 people (out of 14,000) known to be HIV+ and who receive state assistance to pay for the medication that keeps them alive, won’t be alive a lot longer.

Supporters of the funding were hoping for enough additional moneys to clear out the waiting list at ADAP. So, instead of getting help for an additional 600, everyone loses.

I mean, everyone. Without medication, those carrying the infection will not only die sooner (in some cases, much sooner), the virus will be much easier to spread. AIDS meds lower the viral load, which makes transmission less likely.

The South Carolina legislature took their cue from the microcephalic waterheads directly to their north. In January the North Carolina lawmakers decided to not allow increased enrollment in their ADAP program. (Current recipients are still getting their assistance–for now.)

Separate legislative buttocks cheeks strongly. Insert legislators' crania forcibly.

Support for HIV and AIDS patients has never been high on legislators’ minds. As Molly Ivins said,

“[The legislature] voted against it because if they didn’t, everyone’d think they was queer.”

Published in: on 18 March 2010 at 11:27  Comments (2)  
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“Much ado about nothing”

Never let it be said that a country’s standard of living defines its level of civilization.

In 2008 Michelle Palmer and Vince Acors were arrested and convicted for “having sex on the beach” in Dubai. They were sentenced to three months in jail, but the sentence was suspended so they could be quickly deported.

Last week Charlotte Adams and Ayman Najafi exchanged a passionate kiss in a restaurant in Dubai. They were arrested and convicted. The sentence was a month in jail, and the case is currently on appeal. (The pair were also convicted of being in a public place after consuming alcohol, which is against the law in Dubai. Alcohol consumption itself is not–go figure.)

Yesterday two ethnic Indians (identities unreleased) who work for Emirate Airlines were arrested and convicted for “coercion to commit sin”. They were…

(wait for it)

…sending sexy text messages to each other on their cell phones.

All players were acting consensually. No PDAs were in evidence.

This is yet one more reason why I will never visit such places. Quite aside from a lack of civility (“break it up, folks, and move along”), the very idea of jailing and fining people based on a religious bias that says that sex is “wrong” and “sinful” ought to rank such societies to be considered on the same level with Stone Age cave dwellers.

Published in: on 18 March 2010 at 10:29  Comments (2)  
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