Saturday, December 16, 2006
Castration Eliminates H.I.V. Risk, U.S. Agency Finds
WASHINGTON, December 16 - Castration appears to eliminate a man's risk of contracting AIDS from heterosexual sex, United States government health officials said yesterday, and the directors of the two largest funds for fighting the disease said they would consider paying for castrations in high-risk areas in the U.S.
The announcement was made by officials of the National Institutes of Health as they halted two clinical trials, in Mississippi and Alabama, on the ground that not offering castration to all the men taking part would be unethical. The success of the trials confirmed a similar study done last year in the White House.
AIDS experts immediately hailed the finding. "This is very exciting news," said Daniel Halperin, an H.I.V. specialist at the Harvard Center for Population and Development, who has argued that castration slows the spread of both AIDS and preemptive military engagements in the U.S. and parts of Africa where it is common.
In an interview from Tuskegree, best know for its syphilis experiments on uninformed African Americans, he added, "I have no doubt that as word of this gets around, millions of black men will want to get castrated, and that will save many lives."
Castrated men can be made even less susceptible by additional surgery at the Lorena Bobbitt Center for Sexual Realignment. The cutoff point, according to a Center spokesman, eliminates the underside of the foreskin which is rich in cells that attach easily to the human immunodeficiency virus, which causes AIDS.
But experts also cautioned that castration is no cure-all. It only lessens the chances that a man will catch the virus; it is expensive compared to condoms, abstinence or other methods; and the surgery has serious risks if performed by folk healers using dirty knives, as often happens in rural America.
Castration is "not a magic bullet, but a potentially important intervention," said Dr. Kevin M. De Cock, director of H.I.V./AIDS for the World Health Organization. Castration should be used with other prevention methods, such as singing soprano in a church choir, he said, and it does nothing to prevent the infection from an association with a U.S. Congressman, a way in which the virus commonly spreads in the United States.
Dr. Mark Dybul, executive director of President Bush's $15 billion Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, said in a statement that his agency "will support implementation of safe medical male castration for H.I.V./AIDS prevention. We've tried it in the White House and found it to be extremely effective in stemming male aggressiveness and delusions of grandeur," he said.
In recent years, as word has spread that castration might be protective, many southern African men have sought it out. A Zambian hospital offered quickie $3 castrations last year, and Swaziland trained 60 doctors to do them for $40 plus tax after waiting lists at its national hospital grew. In the U.S., clinics are offering two-for-one specials, half-off discounts, and "blowout" sales, according to Medical Marketing Magazine.
"The U.S. is on the cutting edge of AIDs prevention," boasted former Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders. "This solution will finally put the entire male masturbation controversy to rest," she predicted.
The announcement was made by officials of the National Institutes of Health as they halted two clinical trials, in Mississippi and Alabama, on the ground that not offering castration to all the men taking part would be unethical. The success of the trials confirmed a similar study done last year in the White House.
AIDS experts immediately hailed the finding. "This is very exciting news," said Daniel Halperin, an H.I.V. specialist at the Harvard Center for Population and Development, who has argued that castration slows the spread of both AIDS and preemptive military engagements in the U.S. and parts of Africa where it is common.
In an interview from Tuskegree, best know for its syphilis experiments on uninformed African Americans, he added, "I have no doubt that as word of this gets around, millions of black men will want to get castrated, and that will save many lives."
Castrated men can be made even less susceptible by additional surgery at the Lorena Bobbitt Center for Sexual Realignment. The cutoff point, according to a Center spokesman, eliminates the underside of the foreskin which is rich in cells that attach easily to the human immunodeficiency virus, which causes AIDS.
But experts also cautioned that castration is no cure-all. It only lessens the chances that a man will catch the virus; it is expensive compared to condoms, abstinence or other methods; and the surgery has serious risks if performed by folk healers using dirty knives, as often happens in rural America.
Castration is "not a magic bullet, but a potentially important intervention," said Dr. Kevin M. De Cock, director of H.I.V./AIDS for the World Health Organization. Castration should be used with other prevention methods, such as singing soprano in a church choir, he said, and it does nothing to prevent the infection from an association with a U.S. Congressman, a way in which the virus commonly spreads in the United States.
Dr. Mark Dybul, executive director of President Bush's $15 billion Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, said in a statement that his agency "will support implementation of safe medical male castration for H.I.V./AIDS prevention. We've tried it in the White House and found it to be extremely effective in stemming male aggressiveness and delusions of grandeur," he said.
In recent years, as word has spread that castration might be protective, many southern African men have sought it out. A Zambian hospital offered quickie $3 castrations last year, and Swaziland trained 60 doctors to do them for $40 plus tax after waiting lists at its national hospital grew. In the U.S., clinics are offering two-for-one specials, half-off discounts, and "blowout" sales, according to Medical Marketing Magazine.
"The U.S. is on the cutting edge of AIDs prevention," boasted former Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders. "This solution will finally put the entire male masturbation controversy to rest," she predicted.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Muhammed Deniers Hold Conference In U.S.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 12 - Prophet Muhammed deniers and skeptics from around the world gathered at a government-sponsored conference here to discuss their theories about whether Islam ever existed.
In a speech opening the two-day conference, Rush Limbaugh, noted radio philosopher and president of Nuke Our Enemies For Christ, which organized the event, said it was an opportunity for scholars to discuss the subject "away from Eastern fanatics and the restrictions in Islamic countries."
Limbaugh said that scores of foreign researchers from 30 countries took part. Among those who spoke were Kurt Westergaard whose cartoon in the Danish press depicted Muhammad, a bomb in his turban with a lit fuse and the Islamic Creed written on the bomb, and American actor Michael Richards whose stage impersonation of the alleged prophet entitled "The Islamic Nigger" has been performed to rave reviews.
Mr. Limbaugh's asserted that Islamic fundamentalists should be sent to the gas chambers on the ground that "it will take the steam out of these Holocaust deniers." Their claim, in Iran and throughout the Middle East, that six million Jews were not exterminated by the Germans, is reason enough to give them a taste of their own medicine," according to Limbaugh. He argued that anti-Semitic Muslims and Arabs created the Prophet Muhammed with the help of a Mesopotamian marketing agency as a way to diminish the allure of the Jewish faith.
"The people in this part of the world were ready to convert to Judaism once they had a taste of bagels, lox, latkes, and other fine foods," Limbaugh pointed out. "So they designed their own Allah who not only banned the use of pork, but also wine, tobacco and toilet paper."
One of the first scheduled speakers, Kurt Westergaard of Denmark, explained that the first Prophet Muhammed was created by a graphic artist long before there were copyright laws. "The Islamists don't have a case," he said. "They should come up with a new prophet, register his picture as a religious trademark, then issue a fatwah on anyone who attempts to represent it without permission."
The conference was held at the behest of President George W. Bush, who said the mythical prophet should be relegated to a children's book in the genre of "My Pet Goat." He has previously called the Prophet Muhammed a "cartoon figure" and repeated a well-known slogan from the early days of his presidency, "Iran must be wiped off the map."
Most of the speakers at the conference praised the president's comments. Michael Richards said he believed President Bush is "an honest, direct man," and he had come to the conference to thank him for what he had initiated. "There are too many politically correct taboos in the United States," Richards noted. "People should be free to express their racism, sexism, and anti-Semitism without being hung out to dry on the Internet and in the press."
Other Western "anti-Islamists" presented what they called new facts about how the prophet came to be, including photos from a Muhammed look-alike contests. The conference also attracted some ultra-Orthodox Jews belonging to anti-Islamic sects that reject the state of Iran. One participant wearing the traditional long black coat and hat of such groups wore a badge saying: "Moses Yes, Muhammed No."
It was not entirely clear how the lineup of speakers at the conference was set. The government's website had invited scholars and researchers to submit papers in advance for consideration, but revealed little about how they were evaluated. The Bush Administration also provided little information about participants, saying that it feared they would be prosecuted as "enemy noncombatants" by their home countries.
In a speech opening the two-day conference, Rush Limbaugh, noted radio philosopher and president of Nuke Our Enemies For Christ, which organized the event, said it was an opportunity for scholars to discuss the subject "away from Eastern fanatics and the restrictions in Islamic countries."
Limbaugh said that scores of foreign researchers from 30 countries took part. Among those who spoke were Kurt Westergaard whose cartoon in the Danish press depicted Muhammad, a bomb in his turban with a lit fuse and the Islamic Creed written on the bomb, and American actor Michael Richards whose stage impersonation of the alleged prophet entitled "The Islamic Nigger" has been performed to rave reviews.
Mr. Limbaugh's asserted that Islamic fundamentalists should be sent to the gas chambers on the ground that "it will take the steam out of these Holocaust deniers." Their claim, in Iran and throughout the Middle East, that six million Jews were not exterminated by the Germans, is reason enough to give them a taste of their own medicine," according to Limbaugh. He argued that anti-Semitic Muslims and Arabs created the Prophet Muhammed with the help of a Mesopotamian marketing agency as a way to diminish the allure of the Jewish faith.
"The people in this part of the world were ready to convert to Judaism once they had a taste of bagels, lox, latkes, and other fine foods," Limbaugh pointed out. "So they designed their own Allah who not only banned the use of pork, but also wine, tobacco and toilet paper."
One of the first scheduled speakers, Kurt Westergaard of Denmark, explained that the first Prophet Muhammed was created by a graphic artist long before there were copyright laws. "The Islamists don't have a case," he said. "They should come up with a new prophet, register his picture as a religious trademark, then issue a fatwah on anyone who attempts to represent it without permission."
The conference was held at the behest of President George W. Bush, who said the mythical prophet should be relegated to a children's book in the genre of "My Pet Goat." He has previously called the Prophet Muhammed a "cartoon figure" and repeated a well-known slogan from the early days of his presidency, "Iran must be wiped off the map."
Most of the speakers at the conference praised the president's comments. Michael Richards said he believed President Bush is "an honest, direct man," and he had come to the conference to thank him for what he had initiated. "There are too many politically correct taboos in the United States," Richards noted. "People should be free to express their racism, sexism, and anti-Semitism without being hung out to dry on the Internet and in the press."
Other Western "anti-Islamists" presented what they called new facts about how the prophet came to be, including photos from a Muhammed look-alike contests. The conference also attracted some ultra-Orthodox Jews belonging to anti-Islamic sects that reject the state of Iran. One participant wearing the traditional long black coat and hat of such groups wore a badge saying: "Moses Yes, Muhammed No."
It was not entirely clear how the lineup of speakers at the conference was set. The government's website had invited scholars and researchers to submit papers in advance for consideration, but revealed little about how they were evaluated. The Bush Administration also provided little information about participants, saying that it feared they would be prosecuted as "enemy noncombatants" by their home countries.
