Wednesday, July 13, 2011
More great news...
Even though Congress and the Obama administration seem hell-bent on driving the federal government into default, and the Middle East continues on its course to Armageddon, there's again great news.
New evidence suggests antiretroviral drugs can prevent HIV infection. In two separate studies conducted in Africa with heterosexual couples in which one partner was HIV positive, the non-infected partner were given either antiretrovirals or placebos. In both studies, antiretrovirals reduced the rate of transmission of the infection by well over 50%!
But that's not all! There's even more great news...
Some time back, Pew Research posted a recent finding that the number of Americans who believe the crazy idea that AIDS is God's punishment for immoral behavior has dropped precipitously. Today they released a study that finds that an increasing number of Americans now say that they wouldn't be less likely to vote for a presidential candidate if s/he were homosexual (64%). (Scroll down.) In every single category -- black, white, conservative, liberal, even evangelical protestant -- the percentage who think homosexuality isn't an issue increased noticeably.
I find all of this very heartening. If we human beans use our heads, think positively, and don't let ourselves be driven by irrational fears and mysticism, we can solve problems and make the world a better place. It's great to see evidence that we're succeeding in this.
Note: I've used the term "human bean" for a number of years; probably picked it up from Walt Kelly's comic strip "Pogo." I've only just now stumbled across Chip Walter's use of it (linked above) which happens to largely captures my thinking. His All Things Human project looks promising.
New evidence suggests antiretroviral drugs can prevent HIV infection. In two separate studies conducted in Africa with heterosexual couples in which one partner was HIV positive, the non-infected partner were given either antiretrovirals or placebos. In both studies, antiretrovirals reduced the rate of transmission of the infection by well over 50%!
But that's not all! There's even more great news...
Some time back, Pew Research posted a recent finding that the number of Americans who believe the crazy idea that AIDS is God's punishment for immoral behavior has dropped precipitously. Today they released a study that finds that an increasing number of Americans now say that they wouldn't be less likely to vote for a presidential candidate if s/he were homosexual (64%). (Scroll down.) In every single category -- black, white, conservative, liberal, even evangelical protestant -- the percentage who think homosexuality isn't an issue increased noticeably.
I find all of this very heartening. If we human beans use our heads, think positively, and don't let ourselves be driven by irrational fears and mysticism, we can solve problems and make the world a better place. It's great to see evidence that we're succeeding in this.
Note: I've used the term "human bean" for a number of years; probably picked it up from Walt Kelly's comic strip "Pogo." I've only just now stumbled across Chip Walter's use of it (linked above) which happens to largely captures my thinking. His All Things Human project looks promising.
