As an engineer, I am trained not to treat a symptom of something that has gone wrong – the real job is to find and correct the root problem, that ‘disease’ that causes the symptom to show up in the first place. Often, in what can be complicated systems, the symptoms show up in a place in which one goes “huh?” and only when debugging has led to the source of destruction (not an easy task, given the many layers of software from multiple vendors each ‘not quite lining up’ with agreed upon protocols and) can one go “THAT was interesting”. That latter word, interesting, has an “engineer’s definition”: intellectually stimulating, but boy, this is going to hurt for a while. Interesting problems are fun to work on (if you can stand the stress and heat of “why isn’t this fixed YET!”) because they are interesting. But when you are told to eliminate a major area of investigation and you know that order is “other than for technical reasons”, it gets real hard to satisfy “why isn’t this fixed YET!”.
It is the same problem in Politics, when a real source must never be discussed because it is Politically Incorrect (emphasis mine, reformatted):
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – After fresh criticism of his record on combating HIV/AIDS, President Barack Obama on Monday ordered a stepped up effort to deal with the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States. An executive order from the White House, which follows renewed criticism of Obama’s AIDS strategy during his visit to Africa in late June and early July, called for better coordination of the national effort. Obama’s order said that recent studies had shown that aggressive testing and early treatment can have a significant impact in preventing transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS.
Well, they have two out of the three sources named. But just like with the ill-named War on Terror (a war on a tactic? No, but politically correct hacks can’t say Islamists) where the truth can’t be publicly stated, it can’t be done in this issue (for fear of hacking off other special interest groups):
“In light of these data, we must further clarify and focus our national efforts to prevent and treat HIV infection,” it said. “This acceleration will enable us to meet the goals of the Strategy and move closer to an AIDS-free generation.”…The new order follows recommendations this year from the U.S. Preventive Service Task Force that all 15 to 65 year olds be screened for HIV infection, something that will be covered under Obama’s signature heath reform, the Affordable Care Act. Nearly one in five of the estimated 1.1 million people with HIV in the United States are undiagnosed, and a third are still not receiving medical care, even though antiretroviral drugs can forestall long-term health risks of the disease and cut the risk of transmission by as much as 96 percent.
So, the AIDS infection rate is 0.348% overall (estimating a US population of 316 Million). Really, is testing the VAST majority of Americans really a useful process (as opposed to testing the the populations actually at risk? And at this point, all that has to happen to add millions (if not billions) of cost to Obamacare is to have some bureaucrat looking to make points to make an AIDS test a mandatory part of some testing – no discussion between you and your Doctor needed (or for political reasons, wanted). After all, Progressive tactics are ALWAYS to eliminate “stigma” and there’s no stigma if everyone you know is being tested too.
Which also brings up the idea (morphing the American legal idea of innocence first) that you’re already guilty of having AIDS regardless of what you’ve done.
A study published last July by a team at Atlanta’s Emory University found that overall infection rates among U.S. black, gay and bisexual men rival those seen in sub-Saharan African countries that are hardest hit by HIV. The 2010 AIDS strategy aims to slow the spread of HIV by 25 percent over five years. It focuses especially on African Americans, gay and bisexual men, Latinos, and substance abusers, groups most at-risk of infection.
Well, getting closer to a root cause, anyways. But WAIT!
Critics have said that Obama has not shown the same level of commitment to fighting AIDS as his predecessor, former President George W. Bush. Bush poured $15 billion into the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR, to combat AIDS worldwide. “It’s no coincidence this is happening after all the bad publicity about AIDS during Obama’s trip to Africa,” Weinstein said.
And you thought that Obama would simply follow the science – “You Lie!” NOTHING in this Administration is free from a political angle – NOTHING!
You know, there is a solution that would cut costs, cut fear and anxiety – but politically incorrect. It is also a solution to the increasing rates of other sexually transmitted diseases – like gnorrhea and syphillis that are increasingly becoming untreatable. Conservatives and Nancy Reagan have taken a lot of heat and derision for the answer that works every time it is tried. The problem in this hypersexualized culture in which Progressives have worked overtime in cutting off traditional mores of morality to “free” those newly created Libertines is that it is Politically Incorrect. Simply “say no” is denigrated as being impossible – and it certainly isn’t once people are taught that self-control, self-responsiblity and REAL self-esteem are no longer necessary; Nanny Govt will fix what ails you (or at least tell you that). Waiting until marriage and then staying faithful? Impossible for those that believe that we Humans are no better than rutting animals, that “urges and desires” are something to be embraced and acted upon instead of saying “I am better than this”.
That is, unless you get one of those incurable diseases and Nature takes her normal course.
