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One more blow for the idiocy of the Middle East
Religious folks. One would think that historians would revise their
story about it being the cradle of civilization and how their religions are the
"great religions" of the world. Well, I guess you just have to tout
what you have been given since that's all you've got. They
have Gadhafi, we have Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell while the Israelis can
speak for themselves.
REH
Associated Press, July 12, 2003
Gadhafi: 'Straights' don't get AIDS By Elliott Sylvester, Associated Press Writer MAPUTO, Mozambique � Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi told a conference of African leaders Saturday that Africans who are "straight" need not fear AIDS, which is ravaging many countries on the continent. Speaking through a translator, Gadhafi drew some laughter with his reference to AIDS only affecting homosexuals. He told the closing session of the eight-day annual African Union conference, "All you have to do is observe the rules. If you are straight, you have nothing to fear from AIDS." However, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says HIV can be spread by an infected person through heterosexual or homosexual sexual contact, the sharing of needles or syringes and, less commonly, through transfusions of blood or blood clotting factors. Also, babies born to HIV-infected women may become infected before or during birth, or through breast-feeding. Of the 42 million people worldwide infected with HIV, 29 million live in sub-Saharan Africa. AIDS has already killed more than 17 million in sub-Saharan Africa and is the leading cause of death among South African women. More than 11 million African children have lost at least one parent to the pandemic. The devastating AIDS pandemic was one of the major themes of President Bush's five-nation African trip. He has proposed spending $15 billion over five years to help the hardest-hit African and Caribbean nations battle the disease. Gadhafi added in his address to 40 African heads of state that they also should not "worry about tsetse flies and mosquitoes" � which carry malaria and sleeping sickness � saying they were "God's armies" protecting Africa from its enemies, apparently foreigners. "If they come here, they will get malaria and sleeping sickness," he said. Malaria kills 5 million Africans a year, while sleeping sickness � also known as African trypanosomiasis � kills more than 25,000 people a year. |
