A daily miasma of frivolity by two wanna-be cultural critics. Or: just, like, some good links, dude.

Tag Archives: AIDS

Jan 11 2012
Mark Twain, probably

Critics assail crime laws aimed at people with HIV

Critics assail crime laws aimed at people with HIV

David Crary, the Associated Press:

Now, a coalition of advocacy groups — backed by an outspoken champion in Congress — is ratcheting up a campaign to press for review and possible repeal of criminal statutes specifically targeting HIV-positive people.

Well, surely it can’t be that ba–

A man in Texas is serving a 35-year prison sentence for spitting at a police officer — because he has the virus that causes AIDS and his saliva was deemed a deadly weapon. In Michigan, an HIV-positive man who allegedly bit a neighbor during an argument faced a bioterrorism charge.

…

HIV is not spread by saliva, tears or sweat, and there are no documented cases of it being transmitted by spitting, according to the CDC. As for biting, the CDC says there is no transmission risk if the skin is not broken; in a “very small number of cases,” transmission did occur when a bite drew blood and caused severe tissue damage.

Oh, well I guess it can.

This country.

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Nov 26 2011
Mark Twain, probably

At DC DMV: Driver’s license, tag renewal, HIV test

At DC DMV: Driver’s license, tag renewal, HIV test

Jessica Gresko, AP:

At one Department of Motor Vehicles’ office in the nation’s capital, motorists can get a driver’s license, temporary tags and something wholly unrelated to the road: a free HIV test.

In a city with one of the highest percentages of residents living with HIV or AIDS, health officials have spent the last year test-driving the HIV screening program. Since the program began last October, more than 5,000 people have been tested at the DMV site and gotten results while they waited.

…

The testing project isn’t run by the DMV but by a nonprofit group, Family and Medical Counseling Service Inc., which uses an office inside the site. To ensure confidentiality, residents get tested and receive results in the private office, out of earshot of those going about their usual DMV business. The nonprofit got a $250,000 grant to do the testing and secured the support of the city’s Health Department and the DMV. Now a second, similar grant is funding expansion.

This is a super cool idea.

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