2560 Zarqawi

He was a human being, created in the image of God. He was evil and not a child of God, but there were moments in his life of joy, love, kindness, beauty and laughter. God could have created a world in which he had no choices between good and evil--but He didn't.

God doesn't grade on a curve--life is pass/fail, and eternal life depends on our position in Christ, not our personal laundry list of good qualities or deeds. And it's a good thing too, because dancing in the streets or on the internet when someone dies in a bombing raid would not put us on the right side of the ledger, would it? It would wipe out all those pro-life marches, all those animal rescues, cleaning up the environment, visits to the nursing home and the making of AIDS quilts if we were judged on our own merits.

Zarqawi

2559 A Prairie Home Companion, the movie

We did it--we paid full price to see a movie, the fictionalized account of the closing down of a 30 year old radio show on WLT (with lettuce and tomato). A few minutes into the show and something started to sound familiar (other than the radio show which we'd listened to years ago). "I think these people were at Lakeside," I whispered to my husband when Robin and Linda Williams were performing. I just had some vague recollection that someone who performed last summer had mentioned they were making a movie with Garrison Keillor. So when I got home I checked my blog, and there they were. I knew this thing would come in handy some day. Never mind that I'd totally forgotten their performance until I saw them in the movie and had forgotten there was going to be a movie until I read the review in a local paper. Their web page with a synopsis of the movie.

My husband thought it was funnier than I did. It takes the usual pot-shots at Christians, but what else is new? I would have felt much better if it were at the dollar theater where we usually go (on the rare event we see a movie), but you never know if a film will turn up there. I just find it hard to believe people will pay $8.50 for a first run movie.

The woman sitting next to my husband was rather large--tall and plump--and brought in a huge bag of food, so she was rattling snack packages, and munching and shaking the whole row when she moved. The adverts are way too loud and ridiculous. It's a lot of money to pay to watch 15 minutes of commercials. Even at the one dollar theaters.

2558 What Gen-Y wants

"For young people, a good job means doing something you love... For youth seeking work, the most important factor, by far, is finding a job they enjoy (60 percent). Others say the most important factors are making a good amount of money (17 percent) and having an opportunity to advance (11 percent). Despite a national discussion on health care and Social Security, youth do not worry about good health benefits (3 percent) or retirement benefits (1 percent) when looking for a job. For youth, a job they enjoy does not include traveling; in fact, a majority calls travel one of the least important factors in a good job (55 percent). This generation, at least for now, seems fairly well sheltered from the economic downturn of the past several years," Read the rest at Greenberg Quinlan Rosner report on MySpace Generation. (four parts so far)

Not to worry. Once they start applying for mortgages, having a family, experiencing a major illness or sensing some emptiness in that "job to love," their priorities will change. They might learn that the only way to move ahead in the "job they love" is to move into management, and telling other people what to do wasn't on their "to do list." Life happens.

2557 Agnes Sanford belongs in a public library

but not in a church library. I was browsing our Mill Run campus library today (I volunteer at and use the church library at our Lytham Road location) and saw her autobiography on the shelf. I don't know why Christians think Sanford is a Christian, but they do (God has the final say, but I don't think she recanted her writings). Even pastors who don't appear to make serious errors about other teachings see no harm. Sure, she was a sweet, dear lady (died in 1982) who said and wrote "spiritual" things, but if you get a paperback of one of her titles and underline the nonbiblical drivel in red, and the Gospel based material in green, you'll see my point. About 25 years ago I actually did that, and hid her books in my laundry room packed inside an old briefcase. And although I don't believe her nonsense about vibrations, and auras and spirits, I could swear I felt a heaviness unrelated to the ironing basket when I entered that room. So I threw them out. Better she should give off her vibes at the dump rather than inside my house or the church building--if you believe that sort of stuff, and she does. What makes her so harmful is that she has so many spiritual descendants who are still speaking and writing on the inner healing circuit. It's snake oil folks. Don't be taken in.

You get the same reaction from church librarians, pastors and staff that you do from public librarians and library boards if you suggest they've made an egregious error in the collection. The Book of Concord, however, was recently withdrawn from our church library (I've given it a home). Perhaps a new edition is available, or people will just check it on-line. "Just as the church has the promise that it will always have the Holy Spirit, so it also has the warning that there will be ungodly teachers and wolves." [Book of Concord]

Agnes Sanford
inner healing
church libraries

2556 This should alarm librarians

Although public library staff consider blocking or filtering certain sites to protect children to be against their ethics, their budget and their technological know-how (see comments at #2542), I'd read in Wired that Gina Trapani had created a simple little hack for her own computer to block MySpace so she wouldn't waste time at work. So while browsing that site, I came across the story taken from New Scientist, that the data on MySpace and other social networking sites might be used for data mining. Government snoops really get librarians' shorts all twisted. So that, and not protecting children, could raise an eyebrow about these sites. Heaven forbid the NSA be lead back to a library computer.

"Pentagon's National Security Agency, which specialises in eavesdropping and code-breaking, is funding research into the mass harvesting of the information that people post about themselves on social networks. And it could harness advances in internet technology - specifically the forthcoming "semantic web" championed by the web standards organisation W3C - to combine data from social networking websites with details such as banking, retail and property records, allowing the NSA to build extensive, all-embracing personal profiles of individuals."

I don't bank or buy on-line, but I think there are way too many public records online--like photos and floor plans of our homes with neighborhood maps at the state auditor's site. How handy is that for burglars? And Ohio State University hasn't been able to figure out how to stop using my social security number for ordinary transactions like checking out a book.

data mining

2555 Will Haditha story go the route of Dan Rather and Mary Mapes?

So it wasn't a "respected" anti-American international human rights group (Time magazine has corrected its error) and there was no photograph by a marine (Time regrets the error) and it wasn't a journalism student who videotaped the incident, but a 43 year old who had created the 2 person "human rights" agency that sprung the story. Hmmmm. Interesting. Story here at Sweetness and Light. And the Time reporter who broke the story has some unusual, anti-American motives, and lobbied for use of the word massacre? More details here.

All we know is that the Haditha problem is being investigated by the appropriate authorities, and that our honorable media have rushed in to assume guilt, destroy reputations and put the lives of all our military in danger. Business as usual.

2554 Territorial rights

My cat as gradually been spending more time in my office today. Now that I have on my black skirt (going out for dinner tonight), she's decided on my lap. The problem was, well, puppy pee. Yes, little Abby had a few bladder issues yesterday. I mean that is a very big incision, and she was unhappy at being left in a strange place (although she knows me, it has been a traumatic week for her). I'm strongly hoping my cat doesn't decide to reclaim her territory by marking it.

Over at Librarian's Guide to Etiquette, there is a suggestion for librarians who have this problem. I think it might have merit.

2553 Watch out for religion

Unfiltered computers at the public library and religion at the movies. Is no child safe to be left behind? I saw this at Considerettes who notes it is from WorldNetDaily.

"A new family film featuring miracles and a pro-God theme has earned a rating of "PG" from the Motion Picture Association of America due to fears it might offend people who have no faith or a different faith.

The decision surprises many who believed the "parental guidance" warning was reserved for the likes of violence, foul language and nudity.

"Facing the Giants," the story of a Christian high-school football coach who uses his undying faith to battle the giants of fear and failure, was given the rating by the Motion Picture Association of America, the group which brands films according to their content." Apparently, they pray in this movie, and you know how dangerous that is.

2552 Ethics and human cloning

Sounds like an oxymoron to me. Harvard announced this week that they are beginning to clone human embryos for making stem cells. I saw the item in the WSJ, but it appeared in many newspapers. WaPo weighed in with the typical left slant using phrases like "culture wars," "vocal conservative movement," and "ethical wrangling."

"The work, aspects of which have already begun, involves creating embryos not by the usual fusing of sperm and egg but by fusing a patient's body cell -- such as a skin cell -- with a human egg whose DNA has been removed. The resulting embryo would be genetically identical to the patient who donated the skin cell, so stem cells derived from it and transplanted into the patient would probably not be rejected by the immune system."

As near as I could tell from reading the article, the "ethics" decisions involved how to pay the women for their eggs, how to advertise for eggs, and how to get left over eggs from failed fertility efforts. Didn't see much about the destroying of human life aspect of it. I'm sure the Nazi doctors of Germany must have debated certain aspects of experimenting with Jews, who were also not considered human.

Friday Family Photos

Today I picked up my husband's paintings at the Upper Arlington Art League Spring Show at the Church at Mill Run. This is the show that got "all" the publicity from the Columbus Dispatch. Which ignored us for years. I forgot to take my camera, so then I tried to get some photos at home. The reflections and the lighting didn't work at all. But this is a painting of our niece Heather in the hayloft of my mother's barn. I think she was about 12 years old.


exterior of the barn, ca. mid 1970s

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen things on my to-do list for Thursday night dinner.
1. First, take care of the hostess, because as the saying goes, "if mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy."

2. So, have everything ready by Wednesday evening, and most of the food by Wednesday noon.

3. Plan the menu--keep it simple with limited number of dishes, easy shortcuts.

4. Buy the food on Tuesday and remember to thaw the meat.

5. Boneless pork roast with orange/cranberry sauce (keeps it very moist), potato salad (I buy a tub at Meijer's deli and add more potatoes, eggs and olives), sugar free orange jello with shredded carrots and crushed pineapple with cream topping (instant vanilla pudding mixed with milk, orange juice and sour cream, stuffing (box mix) with corn, onions and celery added. This gives the guests a mix of hot and cold, vegetable and fruit. Dessert at this writing is a bit up in the air. None of us in this group needs Chocolate peanut butter pie, but that might be it--with an alternative of mixed fresh fruit.

6. Assign the "pot luck" portion. This dinner is for our church's visual arts group--total of 6 family units, some couples, some singles total of 10 people.

7. Three get to bring wine, 2 red and 1 white, one a tray of snack crackers with cheese, and one a specialty bread from Great Harvest or Panera's. This will keep everyone out of my small kitchen and is no work for me.

8. Clean up as I go. On Thursday afternoon, everything will disappear from counter tops so I will look like Mrs. Clean (even though I'm not). For some reason, people like to hang out in kitchens, but I'll be on the deck with the snacks.

9. Vacuum and dust, clean bathrooms and mirrors.

10. Check paper goods, serving dishes and utensils.

11. Set the tables--while praying it doesn't rain because 4 people will need to sit on the deck (right next to the dining room window which will be open). Plan B will be to bring in a small table for the living room. Put the roast in.

12. About 6 p.m. Thursday, warm up the stuffing, take out the meat to let it "rest" before slicing. Put out the cold items.

13. 6:30, lock up the cat, open the door, welcome the guests and enjoy their good company.

1. Benjamin Solah 2. pupski 3. Lazy Daisy 4. Friday's Child 5. reverberate58 6. Aileen 7. carmen 8. trish 9. Mary 10. Uisce 11. EmilyRoseJewel 12. Diane 13. Christine 14. Jane 15. heather 16. Jenny 17. Scone 18. laura 19. angie 20. Tey 21. Kendra 22. Empress Juju 23. Susan 24. Pink Chihuahua Princess 25. anneberit 26. Froggie 27. Titanium 28. Lesly 29. ivan girl



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2549 Puppy sitting a Chihuahua

I have no grandchildren, but my daughter has a puppy who has just had surgery. So in addition to getting ready for a dinner party tonight (actually everything's ready), I'm puppy sitting. She dropped off a cage, a gate, a carrier, two kinds of special food, food and water dishes, a place mat for the dishes, a special blanket, puppy pads, plastic bag and papers to put under the pad, a carpet steamer in case the pup has an accident, toys, and two raw green beans, which is apparently a special treat.
Many, many staples in her tiny tummy
She has her own OSU blanket

I got a long list of instructions, and what to expect. She practiced on the puppy pad. She shows no signs of napping, which I was told she would do, but after hearing on the radio that the President of OSU has resigned (or will), she did poop on her OSU blanket. My daughter didn't tell me she knows English.

Chihuahuas
Karen Holbrook

2548 Our Summer Frank Lloyd Wright Tour

We'll be doing another Frank Lloyd Wright tour this summer--this time in Ohio and Indiana. Ohio has some really interesting restorations. This three-day tour includes FLW’s Burton J. Westcott House in Springfield, OH which we've already seen, but is worth going to again. He brought the Westcott Motor Car Company to Springfield (founded by his father in Richmond, IN). The house was completed in 1908 and is in a neighborhood of large Queen Anne, Victorian and Romanesque Revival houses. I'll bet the neighbors weren't thrilled.

We'll also visit the Meyers Medical Center in Dayton, which is now called the Plastic Surgery Pavilion (1956). In Cincinnati we'll see the Cedric G. Boulter house near the Gaslight District, the Gerald B. Tonkens home dating to 1955 in Amberley Village (Usonian) and the William Boswell residence (from 1957, completed in 1961) in Indian Hill, recently renovated. We'll also visit Louis Sullivan’s People’s Federal Savings and Loan Association in Sidney.

Overnight accommodations in Columbus, Indiana, will be at The Columbus Inn, listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and formerly Columbus City Hall. I don't know if you've ever been to Columbus, IN, but it is a small city with amazing architecture. We were last there in 1968. The second night will be spent in Historic Madison, Indiana, at the Hillside Inn, nestled in the rolling hills of Southern Indiana and overlooking the majestic Ohio River.

There will also be architectural/historical walking tours in Springfield and Columbus, Indiana, a trolley tour of historic downtown Madison, Indiana, and a tour of the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati.

2547 Children of Hoarders

There's help for you on the Internet here. Their stories will amaze you, but not if you are the Child of a Hoarder--the photos will look like your home. Children who grow up with hoarders feel that "things" and "stuff" matter more than they do. As adults they live in fear that something terrible will happen to their parent because of the trash.

Excerpts from 5 different stories:

"We've dug her out so many times, but it never made any difference. The last time I dug her out we filled 200 lawn size trash bags. It didn't make any difference."

"I think it is amazing how every hoarders house looks the SAME!!!!!"

"I remember my sister and I confronting her with the parish priest when we were teenagers she sat with a stone turtle in her hands petting it. ALL WE ASKED IS THAT SHE TRY TO HELP US CLEAN UP. The priest suggested making a pile of things to sell or donate. She pet the stone turtle and said "but these are my things, they are important to me, I can't give up my THINGS" Yet she was quite ready to loose my
sister and I. JUST DON"T TAKE MY THINGS."

"[for] Dad it was junk, so-called antiques, motorcycles in the living room (we used to put Xmas lights on them) broken power tools, bottles the list goes on & on & onnnnn. Mom's favorite was clothing. I’m talking mounds and mounds mixed with all that important paper work."

"What scares me more than the past is seeing some of my siblings becoming the same way. I see the stuff creeping into their lives and their inability to part with it. I don't want to nag them, but I do mention our parents... They don't see any resemblance (because the stuff is theirs) I am in the middle. I regularly purge
my home when I see myself getting too much. I guess I have Knee jerk reactions. I have 1 sister that lives like a monk-SPARSELY out of fear ending up like we grew up. It is sad that we have to insulate ourselves."

2546 Wanted: a sense of humor

Do you suppose if the writer of the want ad specifically mentions candidates who are cooperative, warm and have a sense of humor, she's possibly saying something about the person who vacated the position? Hmmm. Or maybe the last director was such a stitch, they want to continue that trend at staff meetings?

I've met many librarians who have a wonderful sense of humor, some of them like Tunia and Annoyed also write blogs, but I'm not sure but what a lot of what we find amusing would be a bit under the radar for the rest of you.

Read the ad for the Director of the Kennebunk Free Library.

2545 More on media mush brains

So, the Globe and Mail got it [see previous entry] but. . .here's a humorous piece by blogger Greg Strange on how this was written up by another Canadian paper.

"As reported in the Toronto Star, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were certainly puzzled. About the terror suspects, it said this: "They represent the broad strata of our community. Some are students, some are employed, some are unemployed." And, said the Star article, "Aside from the fact that virtually all are young men, it's hard to find a common denominator."

Yep, this is a real puzzler alright, but let me see if I can make some kind of breakthrough here. Hmm . . . Now let me think for just a moment . . . Okay, I'm going to look at the suspects' names first and see if I can detect any sort of pattern. I'm seeing names like Mohamed, and Ahmad, and, let's see now-- Oh, there's another Mohammed (with a slightly different spelling), and Abdul, and, well, what a coincidence, another Ahmad.

Okay, I think I'm zeroing in on a clue here. Wait a minute . . .

Okay, I've got it. They're all Muslim! That's the common denominator! Somebody alert the Canadian authorities because this could be really significant!"

2544 The difference between the 2nd paragraph

and the 32nd is the Canadian border. I was listening to Glenn Beck rail against the NYT coverage of the Canadian bomb plot by Islamic terrorists. He couldn't find a word about Islamic anything until the reporter quoted a Canadian Muslim source who said he was relieved they'd been caught. I think it was around paragraph 32--or maybe 28, but it was way down. And then it was a quote. Then a caller to the show from Canada reported that in the Globe and Mail, hardly a conservative paper, it was actually mentioned in the second paragraph. So I looked and here's what I found--although it may not be the same article.

"The ammonium nitrate was delivered. The targets were set. After two years of a stealthily assembled counterterrorism web of surveillance, wiretaps and informants, police were ready to swoop down.

The operation was so complex and tightly shrouded that everyone involved — including all the roughly 400 police officers who scooped up the 17 suspected Islamic extremists Friday and Saturday — had to sign the Official Secrets Act, pledging total discretion."

I guess it all depends on whether Toronto or New York is being bombed. Did NYT get 9/11 and Islamic terrorists in the same story back in 2001?

2542 Will librarians ever think "children first?"

This is so tiresome, it makes me glad my children are 37 and 38, but I sometimes wonder if we're graduating LIS students who are 12.

"There have been multiple stories in the news in the last few months about schools, libraries, and colleges banning MySpace for reasons of bandwidth-hoggery (which in a select few cases could be well-argued) or what's being sold as "safety concerns," "behavior issues," or "user protection." That last one makes me sick when I hear library staff touting it. Physically sick. Why? Because it's censorship. Plain and simple." Librarian in Black

Because it is censorship. You betcha. Bad for bandwidth and she can support that, but not the protection of children. Someone doing cancer research won't get to look up body parts, maybe. No library is required by its mission statement to distribute entertainment free circ newspapers (like my P.L. which has made this a censorship issue) or to promote chat rooms or even e-mail. It defeats their information mission in many cases, if the CRTs near me are any example. Librarians will eventually kill the public library system, I predict, with their leftist gibberish. Not a peep when a librarian is sued for suggesting a conservative book, however.

Have these librarians never strolled through a room full of geezers and geeky kids side by side at computers? Parental control? Who are they kidding? They don't notice the parents who use the library as a free latch key program? Do they go online and check the addresses of the sex offenders? In MySpace they might as well reside IN the library. Do they have such great eyesight they can spot an 11 year old in MySpace pretending to be 20? Or that sweet 75 year old rubbing his privates while pretending to be a teen?

Really. My profession is such an embarrassment.

Monday Memories

Have I ever told you about Aunt Dorothy's Taco Salad?

We're heading into summer so this is a good time to tell you about "Aunt Dorothy's Taco Salad." As a new bride, Aunt Dorothy moved to California near the end of WWII, and never returned to Illinois except for visits. One of my earliest memories is her wedding which was held in our home, and I was allowed to attend. I was probably about 4 years old and was just stunned with the excitement and thrill--I thought she looked like a movie star with red lipstick and nails (although I'd never seen a movie, we had movie star paper dolls.) Later that month my Dad, left for the Marines and our quiet life changed overnight because we soon left for California too, leaving behind our house, friends, relatives, neighbors and pets--my whole universe. She and Uncle Charlie made a home in Long Beach and raised their two boys there. But I saw her from time to time over the years, most recently in 2003, and always enjoyed her lovely personality and cheerful Christian spirit.

High School graduationShe sent me this recipe in 1993 for a family reunion cook-book which I compiled. Of course, I had to try most of them (I didn't do the complicated ones like yeast rolls for Christmas morning) and added my own personal touch for our use. This is her version. I double this for company--doesn't seem to matter much what the proportions are how how many other ingredients you use.

1 lb. hamburger
1 medium head lettuce, shredded (chopped)
1 large tomato chopped
1/4 cup minced onion
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup KRAFT Catalina dressing (this makes it!)
1 1/2 cup mashed taco flavored taco chips
Kidney or garbanzo beans may be added

Saute hamburger as you would for tacos. Drain, set in refrigerator to cool. Mix together shredded lettuce, onions, tomatoes, cooled meat and dressing and mashed chips. Add chips just before serving.

I don't follow these instructions. I arrange all the ingredients in serving bowls and let the guests create their own salad. I don't like the taco flavored chips, so I use the regular yellow or white corn chips, and let the diner decide what to do with them--either put them on the bottom or the top or use as a scoop. I serve the meat hot cooked with the dressing and I use heated Brooks Hot Chili Beans. I put out a cup of sour cream to spred over the top. Shredded cheddar also comes with a taco flavoring. In fact, I've made so many changes, at our house, it is Dorothy and Norma's Taco Salad.

My husband liked this salad so much he used it for some of his week-ends at the Lake with his friends--making about 3 or 4 times the basic recipe. The guys would eat this the entire week-end. That may be why we haven't used it for several years.

Because we hadn't had it for awhile, I made it for our Memorial Day week-end at the Lake with Bill and Joyce two weeks ago. It was good, but not fabulous. Oh well, I thought, I'm probably just disremembering how good it was in the 90s. The following Monday on the drive home, I remembered that I'd left the lunch meat and cheese in the refrigerator at the lakehouse. And then it came to me. I also had neglected to put out the shredded cheese for the taco salad. No wonder it didn't taste, feel or look right.

If you've enjoyed this Monday Memory, leave a comment and I'll link back to you.

1. Wandi has no MM, but good stuff, 2. Ma Tutu Bent 3. Uisce 4. Lazy Daisy, 5. Mysterious Lady, 6. Shrone, 7. If Life were perfect, 8. Yellow Roses Garden, 9. Lifecruiser, 10. Chi, has no MM, but a cute quiz, 11. Purple Kangaroo, 12. Chelle, 13.

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taco salad

2541 The Twenty Fifth Anniversary

Intolerance and social stigma, privacy and discrimination, poverty and access to health care. That's what it's all about if you all you read or hear about the 25th anniversary of AIDS is the American primary media. Not much about how a very powerful lobby in the 1980s of special interest groups who advocated for voluntary testing and patient privacy rather than protecting the general public through the usual epidemiological procedures we've used to conquer other diseases. To read the USAToday story, you’d think it was all about poverty, being a neglected minority, and homophobia.

There's been a lot of craziness in this 25 years. Like doctors and dentists getting sued for refusing to treat AIDS patients and doctors and dentists who have AIDS suing to be able to continue in their practice of medicine. And AIDS patients claiming protection under the ADA which was never the intention of that legislation. And all the while, the men having sex with men play the victim while drumming up activism, advocacy and research grants with fund raisers by movie stars and the arts community so they can continue life as usual. Other non-life style diseases limp along with inadequate funding because there's only so much money to go around.

This disease isn't about poverty and homophobia. It started as wealth and self-loathing. It's about a group that loves to live in danger and on the edge. We have this disease in developed countries because an extremely small number of highly promiscuous men, many well-to-do with good educations, had sex with men in exotic locations. Then many of them passed it along to unsuspecting faithful male and female partners, who then passed it on to the children. Yes, eventually there were dirty needles. Yes, there are some prostitutes. Yes, there is homophobia--but mostly that state of mind is among the men having sex with men who refuse to acknowledge what they are (and they call US homophobic?) and spread the disease to their wives and lovers. Like Governor McGreevey who recently wrote a really disgusting book about all his one night stands and affairs with men which he kept from his wife so he could keep his political career. "I knew I would have to lie for the rest of my life - and I knew I was capable of it. The knowledge gave me a feeling of terrible power," he writes. I lead a pretty quiet life, but even I personally know at least five women who found out after years of marriage that their husbands were unfaithful with men--during the heighth of the epidemic in the 80s. And it is rampant in third world countries where women are sexually mutilated in adolescence by cultural custom compromising their health and their husbands are so homophobic, that they pretend they don’t have sex with men.

Here's some cites that you probably won't find in the NYT or WaPo, unless they are buried in the 25th paragraph.

"To avoid social isolation, discrimination, or verbal or physical abuse, many men who have sex with men (MSM), especially young and minority MSM, do not disclose their sexual orientation." JAMA. 2003;289:975-977. MMWR. 2003;52:81-86

"Twenty years after the first report on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in the United States, studies of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and sexual behaviors suggest a resurgent HIV epidemic among men who have sex with men (MSM)." JAMA. 2001;286:297-299. MMWR. 2001;50:440-444

"After declining steadily for 10 years, the number of reported cases of primary and secondary (P&S) syphilis more than doubled in New York City (NYC) from 117 in 2000 to 282 in 2001.1 The increases have occurred primarily among men who have sex with men (MSM)." JAMA. 2002;288:1840-1842, MMWR. 2002;51:853-856

"Of newly diagnosed HIV infections in the United States during 2003, CDC estimated that approximately 63% were among men who were infected through sexual contact with other men, 50% were among blacks, 32% were among whites, and 16% were among Hispanics." JAMA. 2005;294:674-676. MMWR. 2005;54:597-601

"Of an estimated 1,000 MSM in Chicago who stated that they had engaged in oral sex during the preceding 60 days, more than 75% never used condoms for either oral insertive or oral receptive sex (CDPH, unpublished data, 2003). Oral syphilitic lesions disrupt the protective epithelial barrier and recruit HIV target cells, increasing the risk for HIV transmission. Although oral sex might carry a lower risk for transmitting HIV than other forms of sex, repeated unprotected exposures, especially in the presence of syphilitic lesions, represent a substantial risk for HIV transmission. Syphilis might also increase progression of HIV disease." JAMA. 2004;292:2459-2461. MMWR. 2004;53:966-968

“Recent estimates of HIV diagnoses suggested a leveling of the downward trend in HIV infections nationally and increases in HIV infections among certain populations.2 Reports of syphilis outbreaks and increased unprotected sex raised concerns regarding increases in HIV transmission among men who have sex with men (MSM).” JAMA. 2004;291:417-419. MMWR. 2003;52:1145-1148

"Evidence suggests that since highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) became available, the prevalence of unprotected sex and the incidence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) have increased." JAMA. 2004;292:224-236.

Safe sex won't save us; compassion and fund raisers won't either. But sensible epidemiology and public health measures might have.

HIV/AIDS
Men who have sex with men