Doug posted:
< In These Times - August 22, 1999
THE REAL DRUG CRISIS by Dean Baker
AI Gore's recent campaign events have been marred by some uninvited
guests. The vice president has been heckled by protesters who object
to his efforts to pressure South Africa to enforce U.S. patents on
AIDS drugs.
>
[snip]
Egads! So that's why the NY Times ran a story today on resurgent virginity checking by the Zulus as a means of restraining the spread of AIDS.
Yep, older tribeswomen take young girls behind a curtain of blankets, and check their vaginas for maidenhood. I liked that regard to modesty, the curtain of blankets. But the article says that boys climb the nearest crest to see, and the virginity checker yells at them. Hmm.
There are all sorts of problems with this, the story eventually lets out. There is no reliable way of checking for virginity. Second, girls proclaimed virgins are marked out for rape due to a belief that sex with a virgin cures AIDS. Third, they are marked out for rape anyhow, because virginity is seen as a challenge.
I guess respecting IP means making do with what you have.
John K. Taber