informant38
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...But of these sophisms and elenchs of merchandise I skill not...
Milton, Areopagitica

Except he had found the
standing sea-rock that even this last
Temptation breaks on; quieter than death but lovelier; peace
that quiets the desire even of praising it.

Jeffers, Meditation On Saviors


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1.12.05

Baby you can drive my car

Bush, in a ceremony, announced a New Partners Initiative, which he said will solicit help from organizations affiliated with churches and other faith-based groups to offer health care to the developing world and make sure they have access to American assistance. "We will reach more people more effectively and save more lives," he said.
At the core of the U.S. contribution to fighting AIDS globally is a program called A-B-C, which stresses abstinence, being faithful in marriage and using condoms correctly, Bush said.
"American[sic] stands behind the ABC approach," he said.
An estimated 40.3 million people around the world are infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and 90 percent of those people live in developing countries, according to UNAIDS, an alliance of six United Nations agencies.
AIDS killed 3.1 million people last year, most of them in poor countries, according to the World Health Organization.
More than 25 million people have died worldwide since it was first recognized in 1981, making it one of the most destructive epidemics in recorded history.

Bloomberg 01.12.05
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Worldwide deaths from traffic accidents since 1981 are around a million per year, closer to 1.2 million.
So since 1981 there've been approximately 28-30 million deaths, making it even more deadly than AIDS, if you want to look at what that is as a disease.
Throw in the injury stats and there's been around a billion lives seriously damaged by current methods of transportation since 1981.
"...nearly 1.2 million people die in road traffic crashes each year, and between 20 and 50 million are injured or disabled. Ninety per cent of road traffic deaths occur in low- or middle-income countries..."
The difference is obvious in some ways, obscure in others. Sex and transportation haven't got much to do with each other.
The Puritans would say you don't have to have sex, especially unprotected sex with someone who is not your life-partner, but evidently you do have to go 80 miles an hour down the road wrapped in a hurtling ton of steel in order to have a decent life.
Also the disproportionately affected groups - third-world nations, gays - will see AIDS as more menacing than the use of cars and trucks.
The numbers are there, though.
And the one that should be most disturbing, but somehow isn't, is that in the US car wrecks are the single greatest killer of children, year after year.
I'm not suggesting AIDS is trivial, I'm saying the slaughter accomplished by the automobile is suspiciously invisible, and has been for far too long.

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