• (1) South African Medical Journal Vol.98, No.10 (2008): Regarding the studies in South Africa which claimed to find that circumcision was an effective measure for HIV prevention, see the editorial ‘Rolling out male circumcision as a mass HIV/AIDS intervention seems neither justified not practicable’ (p. 781), which states the following: “Three randomized controlled trials (RCTs) from South Africa, Kenya and Uganda in 2006–2007 show a protective effect of male circumcision (MC). However, Garenne [6] has subsequently shown from observational data that there is considerable heterogeneity [inconsistency] of the effect of MC across 14 African countries. Despite the South African RCT showing a protective effect, he reports for the nine South African provinces that ‘there is no evidence that HIV transmission over the period 1994–2004 was slower in those provinces with higher levels of circumcision.’ Interestingly, in both Kenya and Uganda, where two of the RCTs were done, a protective effect of MC was observed, but a harmful effect was observed in Cameroon, Lesotho and Malawi. The other eight countries showed no significant effect of MC.”
• (2) An article on pp.762–766 addresses the issue as well, concluding that “Male non–therapeutic infant circumcision is neither medically nor ethically justified as an HIV prevention tool. … the WHO and UNAIDS appear to be basing these multi–million–dollar prevention programmes on limited and … biased information. In order to prevent … misguided decisions … a much broader review process would be called for. Such a process would involve more objective scientific opinion, and the involvement of a representative panel of African experts, such as paediatric surgeons and neonatologists.”
• (3) Likewise, see this study (“Cost-effectiveness of newborn circumcision in reducing lifetime HIV risk among U.S. males.”) in the National Institute of Health which found that circumcision “reduced the 1.87% lifetime risk of HIV among all males by about 16%.” In other words, the 1.87% risk was reduced by 0.29% to about 1.57%. Or in other words, 1000 circumcisions will only help prevent about 3 contractions of HIV ( from 19 to 16). Keep in mind that this is probably the single most touted medical benefit of male circumcision!
• (4) Quote: “Our society has become excessively commoditized. Anything that can be easily marketed is going to attract all the money and the attention, bypassing other ways of being that are harder to market but usually more effective. The people who came up with Barbie dolls made tons of money, while people who are trying to teach children how to play with each other, or parents how to interact with their children, did not. So if you were trying to make a living in child care, what would you do? I’m sure there are a lot of idealists out there who would become kindergarten teachers, day-care providers, and the like, but that’s not where the money is. The big money is in Barbie dolls. Barbie dolls are portable. They can be easily transported, traded, and sold. They are easy to price. It’s easy to assign property rights to them.
On the other hand, trying to sell knowledge of how to interact with children is much more difficult. It’s harder to price; you have to determine whether a person actually knows about children based on their resume and experience. It’s harder to market, because knowing the basic techniques of dealing with children is not an object like a Barbie doll. Once someone else picks up this knowledge, the expert teacher has lost their exclusive possession.”
• (5) Wikileaks: More Children Imprisoned at Guantanamo than U.S. Claimed
• (6) Wikileaks: GMO conspiracy reaches highest levels of US Government: “There’s nothing they are leaving untouched: the corn, the okra, the bringe oil, white rice, the cauliflower. Once they have established the norm: that seed can be owned as their property, royalties can be collected. We will depend on them for every seed we grow of every crop we grow. If they control seed, they control food, they know it – it’s strategic. It’s more powerful than bombs. It’s more powerful than guns. This is the best way to control the populations of the world. The story starts in the White House, where Monsanto often got its way by exerting disproportionate influence over policymakers via the “revolving door”.”
• (7) An absolutely brilliant, impeccably researched and sourced essay countering the claims of the locavorist movement (which proposes that everyone should buy all and only local foods): “Green” Eggs and Ham? The Myth of Sustainable Meat and the Danger of the Local, by Vasile Stănescu (who “is a PhD candidate in the Program of Modern Thought and Literature at Stanford University and the recipient of distinguished awards and prestigious nominations for his writings on animal and environmental issues.”)
No comments:
Post a Comment