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I am retired from government, law enforcement, politics and all other pointless endeavors. I eat when I am hungry and sleep when I am tired.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

SCIENTISTS FIND AGGRESSIVE NEW STRAIN OF PC, CAUSES INCOHERENCE IN FEMALE JOURNALISTS

The tortured sentence below was generated by one Liz Neporent of Good Morning America.  The topic is the finding by Swedish scientists of a new, more virulent mutation of the HIV Virus.   The finding itself is unfortunate if unremarkable.   

Headline, Scientists Find Aggressive New HIV Strain.

"The groups that are most susceptible to HIV infection in Western countries are men who have sex with other men, heterosexuals and people who use IV drugs.  Although all races and ethnic groups are susceptible, African Americans remain disproportionately affected."

It seems it's no longer permissible to refer to male Homosexuals as Homosexuals.  So miss Neporent uses the term "Men who have sex with other men."  On the other hand, it is still permissible to refer to others as "Heterosexuals."   I am not a Biologist, but it is my understanding that men who have sex with other men, are, homosexuals,  and taken together with heterosexuals, are the only kind of "Sexuals" to be found.  (All due respect here to Hermaphrodites and people who account themselves as Asexual.)    So Ms. Neporent can only address epidemiology through gibberish.   She might as well have written that HIV is a  threat only to people with circulatory systems.   

This reminds me of the old joke about the political consultant who explains to his losing candidate that he lost only due to his unpopularity with two groups, men and women.

Ms. Neporent adds, "...and people who use IV drugs."  Apart from the tiny number of people infected by their own Doctors, this can only mean drug addicts.   Why not say so?  Apparently they have been added to the list of people who must not be named or offended.  Perhaps we need to call them the Pharmacological Self Medicating Community.  

Inevitably, race must have its due.  We are reminded that  "African Americans remain disproportionately affected."  Note that this disease, which is almost entirely self inflicted, "affects" African Americans.  From this, one could mistake HIV for the flu or malaria.  But that is nonsense.  African Americans have a higher incidence of HIV because they give it to themselves and each other.  They know this.  Why not be honest and say it?   

This is what political correctness does to language.  It destroys our ability to communicate plain truths.  The truth hurts at times.  But it is necessary for us to understand phenomena in order to take needed action.   


2 comments:

  1. I agree with your point about blacks being 'affected' by HIV, which makes it sounds more passive than it really is. The other two points are weak though. What you have here is not entirely PC, but to some extent an attempt at precision. 'Men who have sex with other men' is meant to distinguish gay men from lesbians, who have a lower rate of HIV infection that gay men or straights. And 'people who use IV drugs' is not synonymous with 'drug addict', as not all drug addicts do it intravenously (which is the key aspect).

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    1. Brian, I don't see how Lesbians come into any statement about "Men who have sex with"….. anyone else at all. It's correct to point out that Lesbians tend to be free of HIV in relation to Heterosexual women but if memory serves, she chose not to deal with them. I'm not responding to what the author left out but what she wrote.

      In the context of HIV transmission, the sharing of needles has been the royal road to infection, but I suppose you could make the case that people who smoke crack together may also have an increased risk of infection due to decreased inhibition on risky behavior.

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