[MEME] Nicked from eclips1st

"If there is at least one person in your life who you consider a close friend, and who you would not have met without being part of an online community, post this sentence in your journal."

[BLOG-LIKE POSTING] Three Points on World AIDS Day

(I blogged briefly on the subject of HIV and AIDS when I got my negative HIV test results back in early August. I don't think I did a very good job, then, though I can claim the mitigating factor that it did take three hours, after I half-staggered from the clinic over to the Grey Region, before I could write anything at all. It's all right to be paranoid, even without cause, when something really is out to get you, but paranoia does not good writing enable.)

The 1st of December is World AIDS Day, as Crooked Timber, among many other blogs and bloggers, notes. The statistics are fairly depressing around the world, given the nascent Chinese, Indian, and above all else Russian epidemics in the Old World and the continued strength of AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. Only somewhat less worrying, given the smaller proportions of national populations and greater availability of prevenative measures and medical treatments, are the new surges of HIV infection rates in the First and Second Worlds, caused partly by the immigration of HIV-positive individuals, partly by the diffusion of HIV into general populations (at admittedly very low levels compared to southern Africa), partly by new surges of infection among men who have sex with men. Emerging from relative obscurity in central Africa a bit over a generation ago, HIV has now managed to successfully establish itself as a permanent feature worldwide.

This issue is a bit more personal for me, since I belong to a demographic (gay or bisexual male residing in a major urban area) that, if the AIDS Committee of Toronto's statistics are to be believed, is experiencing a 2% growth per annum in the number of HIV seroconversions. Given that this demographic's population growth in the GTA has to be less than 2%, the mathematics implies rather discomforting things about the potential for HIV to spread. That particular unpleasant exercise is mathematics is, of course, as good an example of the pitfalls of blindly extrapolating current trends to the present as any, not taking into account--to name two factors of many--of the impact of new medical treatments (particularly on viral loads, which bear a direct relationship to the chance of HIV seroconversion in the uninfected) or of people who consistently use safer-sex techniques. It's quite suggestive enough, though, to cause concern.

Three points now, for further discussion.

( 1. Why do people take risks? )

( 2. What is it with AIDS education? )

( 3. Can we really attack the root causes? )

I don't want to speculate about the future of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the world, not least because I have no taste for grisly predictions of the future. All that I can say is that I really, really want to be pleasantly surprised. Here's hoping.

( Counter )

[BRIEF NOTE] New Kate Bush?

It shouldn't come as any surprise to any of my readers that I'm a Kate Bush fan. Despite the 11 years which have passed since the release of her last album, The Red Shoes, she still has a very large body of generally excellent work for the fan to peruse. And if you're into mp3s, go to this website, which has a nice collection of Kate Bush demos, rarities, and unreleased tracks. My favourite tracks are "Stranded at the Moonbase" and the frustratingly scratchy cover of "Sexual Healing." (That she apparently has a sense of humour is another point in favour, though a minor one relative to the music.)

Naturally, there is a Kate Bush livejournal community (gaffa). You can learn some very interesting things there about Kate Bush, including the imminent release of a new album. Peter Gabriel reports that Kate Bush is finishing up her album, having been delayed by the combined effects of motherhood and perfectionism. More interestingly, anonymous sources provide more detail. Including what seems to be photos of an early version of the first music video. A variety of websites are listing the new album as being scheduled for release as soon as March 2005.

Count me excited.

[BRIEF NOTE] Later this week

This looks quite interesting.

Any takers?