We Are Doomed, part MCMLVIII
Read this article in the NYT. It concerns a study about a new nasty, drug-resistant form of staph that is spreading among gay men. Here's a straight-forward Reuters report from a couple days ago, based on the by-the-book press release from the study and an interview from one of the study's authors.
Related: A really obnoxious editorial in Salon on this issue, pointing to a 2003 outbreak among St. Louis Rams linemen and how the multiple skin abrasions and heavy skin-to-skin contact experienced by linemen put them at higher risk than other players. But as the idiot/liar author of the editorial failed to understand/relate, that was an isolated incident 4 years ago that's obviously been dealt with and not cropped up again.
"Once this reaches the general population, it will be truly unstoppable," said Binh Diep, a researcher at the University of California, San Francisco who led the study. "That's why we're trying to spread the message of prevention."Here's what we find togay in the Times:
One of the major sore points for some critics was a quote attributed to the report’s lead author, Bien Diep, a researcher who said he was concerned about “a potential spread of this strain into the general population.” Mr. Diep, 29, said on Friday he regretted not being more thorough in communicating his research to reporters. He said that the term “general population” was part of medical jargon used in the report, which did not translate well.Mr. Diep was just trying to report the facts. But, God no, not the facts - we can't allow the public to see facts - they might be tempted to draw their own conclusions! We must draw the conclusions for them, and once again, the mantras of "tolerance" and "diversity" win out over truth and safety. Is there no one in the public arena with the balls to tell this relatively small segment of the population to go f--- themselves and grow up already?
Related: A really obnoxious editorial in Salon on this issue, pointing to a 2003 outbreak among St. Louis Rams linemen and how the multiple skin abrasions and heavy skin-to-skin contact experienced by linemen put them at higher risk than other players. But as the idiot/liar author of the editorial failed to understand/relate, that was an isolated incident 4 years ago that's obviously been dealt with and not cropped up again.
posted by ziel | 1/19/2008 09:39:00 PM
9 Comments:
Is there no one in the public arena with the balls to tell this relatively small segment of the population to go f--- themselves and grow up already?
That question could very easily be turned around and applied to anyone whose allergy to political correctness runs so intensely deep that they feel the need to shout it out.
That's not meant to sound combative - let's look at the bigger picture for a minute.
Yes, those of us (I mean that inclusively, of course - you, me, and others) with the ability to think just a little bit, can very easily put two and two together and realize that correlation is not causation, and that this disease just happens to spread through gay bath-houses, when it's a coin flip (or multi-sided dice roll, really) away from having started showing up in an elementary school, a certain hospital, or pedicurist.
But there are people out there who cannot manage such critical thinking on their own. It would be utterly naive to believe otherwise.
So the question becomes - would you really be willing to let the general population of gay people attract the ire of these critical-thinking deprived people who, thanks to one editor being too clueless to insert a simple parenthetical reminder, are now convinced (or even more convinced) that this here mess is just the result of those darn homosinuals sinning it up? Would you really risk all their well-being simply because you're too sensitive to a little political correctness?
Let's make one thing clear: I agree, fully and utterly, with all my heart, that political correctness is like Piglet in Winnie the Pooh - always fucking worrying and just slowing down the advancement of the plot and getting on our nerves as we shift impatiently in our seats. However, sometimes we just have to suck in a deep breath and accept that such a thing exists, and probably exists for a reason, and eventually fade away once there is no need for it. There's no sense in driving it away screaming and hollering like a depraved banshee - that would, in fact, defeat the very reason for having it in the first place (that reason, of course, being that people are not all on the same page to begin with - just look at the varying interpretations people have of the Bible, for instance).
I'm guessing zp is gay and watches winnie the poo movies. Without raising my voice to say so, zp, please grow the f- up.
ZP - I think the problem here is that the gay lifestyle is indeed relevant to the spread of this disease - the kind of skin-to-skin contact that leads to its being passed is typical of rough, anonymous, anal sex. Now it's true that anyone can get it from anyone under the right circumstances, but if you're a promiscuous gay man there's a helluva lot better chance.
Another at risk group appears to be football linemen, as this moronic Salon article points out. But that case was several years ago and obviously has not become a chronic problem, as the idiot/liar author of the article failed to understand/relate.
The facts of this situation speak for themselves. So to keep this report from developing an anti-gay storyline your "clueless editor" would have had to have done more than just add a few parenthetical reminders - he would have had to out-and-out lie.
This report does speak very negatively of the gay community - there's no way to sugar coat it. Promiscuous sex is a bad thing - it leads to disease - and yes, it's a bad thing for homo- or hetero-sexuals. People who do it deserve the scorn of society. The gay community needs get its own house in order (I know many are trying) and lay off the Orwellian tactics.
I Said - it really doesn't matter if zp is gay or straight, now does it?
ZP - I think the problem here is that the gay lifestyle is indeed relevant to the spread of this disease - the kind of skin-to-skin contact that leads to its being passed is typical of rough, anonymous, anal sex. Now it's true that anyone can get it from anyone under the right circumstances, but if you're a promiscuous gay man there's a helluva lot better chance.
And if you're a typical kid who doesn't wash his hands all the time, that lifestyle is relevant to the spread of the disease. You can get it even if you're not a kid, but there's a better chance. Why single out gay men, not all of whom are promiscious?
Why single out gay men, not all of whom are promiscious?
Because that's where the disease is prevalent. If it were prevalent among grade school children then there'd be quite the fascistic hygiene program being implemented throughout our schools, even though not all children have poor hygiene. But it's not, it's prevalent among gay men and it's important that gay men respond immediately to this impending crisis. The fact that this information is freely available (would you prefer it not be freely available?) makes it unavoidable that some will exaggerate its threat (as is done with acts of terrorism) and demonize gays. The best way for gays to fight this is to demonize the offenders in their own community, not vilify scientists reporting facts.
Half Sigma wrote about this a few days ago over at his website. In any event, it just shows how incredibly selfish the majority of the gay community is. If it was AIDS, which is pretty hard to get unless you are engaging in unprotected gay sex/needles, then I could care less. Gays know the risks and they still, of their own volition, behave in ways that are dangerous anyway, hence the rise in AIDS cases in the NYC area. I could just do without the whining/protesting/ribbons/ad campaigns, please. As well as the constant bullshit that if one of us has AIDS we all do, etc...
But MRSA can be spread by touch and lives on a variety of surfaces for at least 24 hours. We all have to use the subway, PATH, NJ Transit, cabs, doorknobs, restaurants, gyms, and public spaces. When selfish gays tell us to just wash our hands and get over it, well, they can go fuck themselves. They don't have the right to expose anyone to a potentially fatal disease that is pretty easily spread. This shit is more dangerous than 2nd hand smoke, but how many people has that killed? Just try lighting up in a bar. But apparently a bacteria that can kill people quickly and horribly and is spread by touch simply isn't a problem. Gald we got that cleared up!
This Diep guy was simply telling the truth. Big mistake. He should know that gays, just like blacks, muslims and hispanics can never ever be criticized for their fucked up and dangerous behavior.
"I Said - it really doesn't matter if zp is gay or straight, now does it?"
I don't care if zp is gay or straight. But there's nothing wrong with being a homophobe. We're not in one of those oppressive, tyranically "tolerant" countries like Sweden or Canada you know.
There are many populations that could be at serious risk: football/rugby players, dirty kids, prisoners, meth users, homosexual men, etc. However, homosexual men are 13 times more likely to have this than people in the general population, and they are only 2.4% of the population. That's more than an order of magnitude! That is a stunning statistic that you can't avert your eyes from. C'mon. No need to demonize anyboy or wall-off the gay part of town, but this is a serious problem. All the anti-viral cocktails in the world can't protect you from a deadly antibiotic resistant bacteria. People have to accept that a promiscuous lifestyle is profoundly unhealthy.
Dan
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