World AIDS day - guess what? It’s overblown
December 1st, 2008One of my History Professors in the 90s was talking about the AIDS crisis in Africa, how it was overblown. Now, keep in mind, this isn’t just some Joe Schmoe but a guy who has been called in to advise Congress on African issues. He told us that African villagers knew that if you wanted to get money, you call everything AIDS. Your kid has dysentery, it’s gotta be AIDS. You have a staph infection - AIDS. Your Mom has malaria - AIDS. You stubbed your toe - AIDS. So the numbers of people who really had AIDS were grossly exaggerated. And this was over a decade ago.
You can’t blame the villagers though. They know how to use the system. If you want money, call everything AIDS.
System works great. You got overrated celebrities with egos ten times the size of their brain who haven’t put out a decent album in over a decade crying for more and more money and the politically correct sheep on the other end giving all they got. Then on top of that, you got a stupid President who bought the lie and pledged $15 billion of YOUR taxpayer money to solve this crisis.
Well, not only is this bad for your pocketbook, let’s put things in perspective. Diseases suck. Whether you die from AIDS, malaria, or pneumonia, you have my condolences. But pneumonia kills more children in Africa than AIDS and malaria combined, but it’s just not a sexy nor politically correct topic like AIDS is. So if you really wanted to save lives…
Get this, in Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Uganda, AIDS donations outstrip their entire national health budget. If you think AIDS is more important than the rest of their health issues put together, I have a bridge to sell you.
But then again, who needs reason when you can have emotion? People are sheep, we all know that. It’s the same thing with gun control. It’s the same thing with pretty much any of these politically correct issues. If you really wanted to save lives…
But who needs reason when you can let emotion rule you?
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Source for facts: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081130/ap_on_he_me/eu_med_challenging_aids
getting here late and commenting on below too. your comments on sports are enlightening to me. i have biases against organized sports because of the way they were exalted above anything else in my hometown (we can build a $3mil arena for high school teams but we’ll let the school itself crumble around our ankles) but i appreciate your perspective and hos positive it was for you.
as for movies, i saw australia. great film? no. diverting to watch hugh jackman? ooooooh yeah.
i have no real comment on the AIDS issue in africa. i don’t feel well informed enough to add anything meaningful to the discussion.
Call me a cynic, but I always wonder how much of the AIDS money gets to the victims and how much goes to building the armies of African dictators.
Lime, we have the same problem with sports in our town. We don’t have money for books for all the kids, special ed teachers, or lockers whose doors will close, but we always have money to send numerous sports teams out of town twice a week.
No, didn’t see it (Australia).
Yeah, I’m aware of the whole sports thing. The reason I defended sports was just in that context - that race isn’t even mentioned. I got so sick of hearing Obama’s race and Clinton’s and Palin’s gender.
As for AIDS money going to armies of African dictators, a lot of it does. And we all know what the armies of African dictators do - kill people.
You’re not calling out Bono, are you? If you are, good. His music is lame and he’s not the Messiah. I am.
Walking pneumonia kills a lot more people because it sneaks up on you. AIDS kills a lot of people because of lack of education. I think like a third of the money goes to AIDS victims and the rest goes to the government.
What are you talking about?? You must be crazy! Dubya is AMAZING!! He would never do such things with our money.
Psst… Learn me how to work the system.
You would have thought we’d learned our lesson about giving money to countries with dictators back in the 60s when we gave money to Egypt (I forget the reason), but the guy in charge (I love that I remember the big picture, but can’t remember the details that helped form the big picture). Anyway, it was supposed to be used to help them in some way, but the guy instead used it to build this lotus shaped building that is nothing but a tourist trap - the locals don’t have to pay to get to the top, but tourists do…and then they don’t have the good local Stella beer up at the top, just the crappy export Stella (not Stella Artois).
I could, of course, look up the details, but I’m too lazy.
I like how everything is related to gun control in your little Zombie world.
Kathleen - Because gun control is about control. It’s the one thing I don’t want from the gov’t. I like making my own decisions.
As to Egypt, now I’m curious. If you look it up, let me know.
Jenn - Oh, there are many, many ways to work the system. You don’t even have to move to Africa, fake a cold, and tell them you have AIDS either.
I think the best way is to become a CEO of a big bank, run it into the ground, and start crying for a bailout. Not only will you get a bonus in the tens of millions, you can have a $400,000 party too.
Kate - Agreed.
Skeletor - Ah, you caught that. Yeah. U2 hasn’t put out a good album since Achtung Baby which was what, 1991?
Come by. My NFL pool is up.
Okay, I got unlazy, just for you.
http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/cairotower.htm
Their take on it was a little more diplomatic than mine, but they get around to kind of telling the story.
I tell people who go NOT to waste their money on the tower, but those people went on and on about how fabulous it was. I think it was raining the night we went up, so you couldn’t prove any fantastic views by me.
funny… i posted a similar one a few days ago
UM Zombie one small problem with this particular post is I have a lady coming from Uganda on Dec 24th to stay with us for a while. She runs one of the Orphanages over there.
You might have heard of Another Hopes Children’s Ministries. She is going to be in America for about a month or so. I have a cd with the photo’s of the kids and most of them have lost there parents from AIDS… They dont have the health care we have here.
From what I am learning from the pen pal thing is most of these kids have lost there parents from AIDS but I could be wrong but its a raw topic really.
I know how a lot of people feel about AIDS and Africa over there. I feel like Tshsmom does about where the money is going. but what about the little that goes to feed these children. I am not saying I would send money to these children each and every month.. I am sorry I am ranting.
Kate - Nice.
Kathleen - Thanks. I think I’ll skip that if I go to Egypt. It looks like nothing spectacular.
Laughingwolf - I see it. Commenting.
Tweety - The thing is, it’s one of many epidemics Africa has. I’m not denying AIDS isn’t a problem. I’m just saying 2 things:
1) Africa has bigger health problems than AIDS,
2) The actual numbers of AIDS deaths are exaggerated. Five times more children die from dysentery in Africa than AIDS, but nobody even brings that up. Plus, whenever there’s an outbreak of anything, from Malaria to Typhoid, a lot of villagers will claim it’s AIDS so they can get funding. If they said the whole family died of Malaria, no one cares.
True. Very true.. I just heard of the news tonigth that S. Africa has a Cholera Epidemic going on.. That is what you are talking about… I know.. Its just sad they have to use a big thing instead of the little stuff.
Tweety - Yeah, Africa has tons of epidemics each year. Ebola, cholera, malaria, AIDS, you name it. Another reason I’m glad I was born here.