Recent Posts

81

Sexuality, Reproduction, & Abortion / Re: Gay-related immune deficiency

« Last post by holybuckets on Yesterday at 10:47:54 PM »

What do you mean when you say 'caused by gays' in your poll?

I am not making any opinions on this. Please read the 2nd paragraph.

HIV is most easily passed by gay men because the act of anal sex causes tearing in the anus, which leads to a much more effective bodily transmission. Blood and semen exchange more readily that way.  Far more readily than in heterosexual sex. It can still be spread by heterosexual sex, however. 

None of that has the slightest bit to do with what caused it in the first place. You are confusing the population in which it spread most rapidly with the origin of the condition here. This would be like saying the bubonic plague was caused by people who live close to each other in poor hygienic conditions, when in reality it started with rats, and fleas bit the rats, and then they bit the people.  Living close to someone with it is how it spread after that.

I still don't understand what you mean when you say they caused it.  Are you saying that the act of loving another person of the same sex somehow spawned a deadly virus?  Or that the act of homosexual sex somehow created it?

Jeff, if I am confusing anything, please set the record straight.

82

Sexuality, Reproduction, & Abortion / Re: One man and one woman

« Last post by Chronos on Yesterday at 10:46:08 PM »

Now, regarding ED - during all the debate nonsense over birth control in the last few years, over and over I raised this question: why is it perfectly acceptable to have ED medication covered by insurance, but birth control is a different story? How can they argue that ED is not also "from god" - clearly, he doesn't want your penis to work anymore, so who are you to interfere with his will? If god himself has decided to no longer let you have erections, then by god, no more erections for you.

They never see the hypocrisy.

There is a simple explanation. Insurance is designed to pay for the expense of repairing things. If you crash your car into a tree, insurance pays the expense for repairing the car. With health insurance, the plan is designed to pay for restoring the functions of the human body or alleviating the problems caused by an accident, disease or disorder.

The vast majority of males will have erections until the day they die. The quality of erections decreases with age, certainly, but they still occur. The vast majority of females will have menses from age 15-45 and then menopause. Menses beyond age 50 is a rarity. So, erections for men are normal at any age beyond puberty, and menses are females are normal at any age between puberty and 50.

If you want to do something that alters the normal function of the human body, such as stopping menses at age 25, the expense wouldn't be reimbursed. The expense to restore the normal function of the human body, such as a lack of erections in a man aged 50, would be reimbursed.

While this seems like hypocrisy from the perspective of social policy, and it certainly is, it isn't hypocrisy from the perspective of insurance. This is why insurance is not the appropriate tool for delivering health care because not all health care is for dysfunctions.

83

Sexuality, Reproduction, & Abortion / Re: Gay-related immune deficiency

« Last post by Quesi on Yesterday at 10:43:05 PM »

When affluent, urban gay white men[1] started dying of rare opportunistic diseases, it caught the attention of the medical community.  If you read the timeline that I linked, and if you read the rest of the article that you linked, I think you would agree that it seems pretty clear that people who were not affluent, urban gay white men, were dying of AIDS for decades before the first cases were identified. 

Low income people, people of color, people outside of urban centers, or those without good access to healthcare, people in third world countries, isolated cases of some exceptionally rare disease isolated first world communities, none of these cases raised red flags.

1.	being treated in urban centers by some of the best medical professionals in the world

84

Sexuality, Reproduction, & Abortion / Re: Gay-related immune deficiency

« Last post by jaimehlers on Yesterday at 10:40:48 PM »

What is the point of this poll/question?

85

Chatter / Re: Where did you get your username from?

« Last post by JeffPT on Yesterday at 10:40:07 PM »

I don't know. 

86

Sexuality, Reproduction, & Abortion / Re: Gay-related immune deficiency

« Last post by JeffPT on Yesterday at 10:32:26 PM »

What do you mean when you say 'caused by gays' in your poll?

I am not making any opinions on this. Please read the 2nd paragraph.

HIV is most easily passed by gay men because the act of anal sex causes tearing in the anus, which leads to a much more effective bodily transmission. Blood and semen exchange more readily that way.  Far more readily than in heterosexual sex. It can still be spread by heterosexual sex, however. 

None of that has the slightest bit to do with what caused it in the first place. You are confusing the population in which it spread most rapidly with the origin of the condition here. This would be like saying the bubonic plague was caused by people who live close to each other in poor hygienic conditions, when in reality it started with rats, and fleas bit the rats, and then they bit the people.  Living close to someone with it is how it spread after that.

I still don't understand what you mean when you say they caused it.  Are you saying that the act of loving another person of the same sex somehow spawned a deadly virus?  Or that the act of homosexual sex somehow created it? 

87

General Religious Discussion / Re: My Christian mother refuted her own beliefs

« Last post by neopagan on Yesterday at 10:32:02 PM »

quesi, I certainly agree with the honesty route, always have... except now in this one area of religion.  It was always a big part of our collective life but I just kept sliding away as doubts grew.  My wife has no doubts, since she refuses to entertain the qqestions. 

My stance will bubble to the surface eventually and it will be a bad scene.  My plan is to tread water until the  kids are old enough...  I fully expect it to be over between us when this comes up... she is that blinded by it and that intractable.

I am not happy about that eventuality, but I cannot live with the level of emotional blackmail it would take for me to believe a lie.

As I have said before these boards are a lifeline.

88

Sexuality, Reproduction, & Abortion / Re: Gay-related immune deficiency

« Last post by holybuckets on Yesterday at 10:29:10 PM »

You are free to vote however you wish.

I'm also free to point out that the question is dumb 

Absolutely you are.

89

Religion In The News / Re: Pope says atheists can go to heaven if we do good!

« Last post by sun_king on Yesterday at 10:22:12 PM »

What will an atheist do in heaven?

... for eternity!

90

Sexuality, Reproduction, & Abortion / Re: Gay-related immune deficiency

« Last post by William on Yesterday at 10:21:31 PM »

You are free to vote however you wish.

I'm also free to point out that the question is dumb