August 23, 2007

AIDS denial in the Internet era. This denial was highlighted on an international level in 2000, when South African president Thabo Mbeki convened a group of panelists to discuss the cause of AIDS, acknowledging that he remained unconvinced that HIV was the cause...the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) was for many years on the front lines of AIDS education and activism. But now a San Francisco chapter of the group has joined the denialist movement...Members of the group “The Foo Fighters” provided music for a soundtrack of the recent documentary, “The Other Side of AIDS”, which questions whether HIV is the cause of AIDS. The band has spread its message that HIV does not cause AIDS at concerts, and it lists the HIV denial group “Alive and Well” as a worthy cause on its Web site...
posted by HawthorneWingo 17 years ago
  • Sorry, that title should read "HIV denial in the Internet era."
  • Idiots. May the ones that are propagating all the lies and bullshite be the ones to get AIDS. Oh, wait, life doesn't work like that. If they want to die, fine. Why do they need to take the innocent with them? Can someone explain to me WHY they are so deliberately wrong-headed about something that kills?
  • (Christine Maggiore, HIV+) after giving birth to and openly breast-feeding her two children, Charles and Eliza Jane. She had neither child tested for HIV, and did not take antiretroviral medication during her pregnancy or subsequent breast-feeding. Eliza Jane died in September 2005 of HIV-related pneumonia Hello Christine? Your kid would have stood a good chance of living a normal life, if you weren't such a gigantic moron.
  • Yeah, that 'Alive and Well' site is craptacular. They imply that HIV tests aren't accurate because they've not been compared to isolating individual viral molecules from tissue samples. Imply it by offering a reward to anyone who can find an example of that in peer-reviewed literature. Like saying cell phones don't accurately transmit sound because they've never been comparison tested with two cups with a string tied between them. Most technology builds on other technology. You don't bother re-establishing that vibration can travel down a cord every time you build a phone network. So, of course you wouldn't see the study they ask for. Too bad to hear such bad news about the Foo Fighters. I had a vague but positive feeling about them before I read this - and now I just like their music. One thing the PLOS article doesn't cover is why people would deny that there is a link between HIV and AIDS. What is the benefit of thinking that?
  • I seem to remember some doctor who jabbed himself with an HIV infected needle to prove that you wouldn't get AIDS from it. I wonder what happened to him.
  • "...why people would deny that there is a link between HIV and AIDS." Because for many years, and indeed to this day, the etiology of AIDS was not well understood, & in fact the link between HIV & AIDS has never been 100% proven in the lab. The fact that people who get HIV eventually die of AIDS notwithstanding.
  • That's just retarded. AIDS is the physical symptoms of having an advanced HIV infection. That is the link. Not just causal, but definitional. Just because the symptoms got named before the viral cause oh my god, never mind. People are idiots. Is the Kennedy assassination just not providing enough fodder for conspiracy theorists anymore?
  • Why have we never -- EVER -- seen an animal evolve? Is it because evolution DOESN'T EXIST?? I'm not a scientist, but on this one I'm trusting the mass of scientists. Just like with the global warming and intelligent design "debates".
  • If it wouldn't annoy the patients, I'd say parade these idiots through an AIDS hospice and have each patient relate whether they think there might be a link. Especially take HIV mothers through, and explain to them, even if they don't believe the link, are they willing to take that chance with their children? Maggiore remains unconvinced that HIV had any role in her daughter's death [13], and continues to preach her message to other HIV-positive mothers. Why can't she be prosecuted for murder/attempted murder? Keep your willful ignorance to yourself. It's just too dang bad SHE is symptom free. It would be interesting to hear her explanation on what's causing her illness. Not HIV, of course. We all know de Nile is a river. And childhood immunizations are evil, EEEEVIL! That's mainly because these idiots have never had, or seen, a kid die of diphtheria or other childhood diseases. Too bad parents 75 years ago couldn't have had the option to have their kids immunized. People just don't think about what they're risking. Foo Fighters suck. Even if they don't think there's a link, how can they presume to diminish the message of safety to kids? Idiocy = Evolution in action.
  • An afterthought... How many of these people are religious and/or conservative? If AIDS is a punishment from God, then they've sinned. They may have HIV, but HIV is like catching a cold, certainly not a punishment for having teh E-vile Sex. Only homos and hos get AIDS. Not God-fearing Christians and Republicans