Today is World AIDS Day.
Not sure what to do about it besides run around screaming "AIDS!"
I mean, I'm aware of AIDS. I know that the idea of opening a Bodily Fluid Exchange is a bad idea, going around humping everything in sight without a condom on, sharing needles with others - those are bad ideas.
Am I in some kind of bubble that it's hard for me to believe there are people out there who are not aware of AIDS?
Who are these people? What kind of bubble are they in? Why the fuck aren't they being given the right information and resources so they're both aware of AIDS and can do something about it?
Perhaps if I look at it from another angle - are these people being deliberately misinformed by religious and political authorities? What crazy-assed remedies are they having their heads filled with instead of...
"Don't lick any part of Jim "Bleeding Sores" McGinty."
"Waving a chicken three times over your needles while changing is significantly less effective than bleach."
"Just because you paid a hundred zlotys for that whore, you still need to wrap your love-weasel."
South Africa had their share of these nutbars, kooks, and throwbacks in Mandela's circle of thugs posing as a transition administration. With liberation came the unwelcome tribal madness, and that raised a quick crop of ignorance.
*sigh*
And then there's the scumbags who deliberately go out trying to infect others, the rare crazy types who go out boffing anything within reach before they're picked up by confused authorities.
You can take down a rabid dog, but what do you do about these deliberate infectors?
Tolerance and compassion are important, sure, but there's a limit.
Maybe there's a cure around the corner. Maybe there isn't.
Until then, prevention and awareness are in order. (And punches in the face for the kooks.)