If you look at the comments thread in the post about Kerrie Wooltorton, you’ll see that there’s been an interesting debate between me and someone who calls himself “Dr No”.  I don’t think that No and I will ever see eye-to-eye on quite a lot of stuff, but, then again, I don’t see eye-to-eye on a lot of things with the people whose offices are on the same corridor as mine, so there’s no surprise there.

Anyway - there’s a link to No’s own blog in one of the comments, and it, should you follow it, it’ll take you here.  You know the aphorism about pictures being able to represent a thousand words?  Here’s a picture: more…

This is a very strange story that’s been picked up by the Daily Telegraph: a German Aids charity has been attacked for launching an advertising campaign - and a pretty sexually explicit one at that - in which people who spread HIV are presented as Hitler.  I’m not sure whether the target is people who have unprotected sex knowing that they’re HIV+, or just the sexually careless more generally.  Whatever: UK Aids charities aren’t happy:

“This advert has absolutely nothing to do with us or World AIDS Day campaigns in the UK, which we coordinate,” a spokeswoman for the National AIDS Trust said.

“Nor does it have anything to do with World AIDS Campaign who coordinate international campaigns and this year are focusing on human rights of people living with HIV.

“Of course there are many HIV organisations that run their own campaigns, however I think the advert is incredibly stigmatising to people living with HIV who already face much stigma and discrimination due to ignorance about the virus.

“On top of this it fails to provide any kind of actual prevention message (e.g. use a condom) and may deter people to come forward for testing.

“The advert is also inaccurate because in the UK thanks to treatment HIV is a manageable condition that does not necessary lead to AIDS.”

The Telegraph story has a link to the advert, which is also available via YouTube was available on YouTube before it was taken down for a terms of use violation (because it was vaguely pornographic, maybe?). Be warned, though: it’s not safe for work (at least, not if you share an office with people you don’t know well), and probably almost certainly not safe for kids either.  The actual campaign’s site is here; it’s less sexually explicit (apart from the advert, of course, which you can watch there if you really want), but you might want to turn down the speakers if you’re not into vaguely industrial music.

For what it’s worth, I kind of agree with the National AIDS Trust on this.  The implication the people with HIV are genocidal madmen manqué doesn’t seem to be quite right.  And, while I think that HIV/ Aids is one of the (many) areas in relation to which the media ought to stop being so prissy and prudish, I’m not sure that this is much of an improvement.  I don’t have any problem with people being shocked out of HIV complacency - the “Don’t Die of Ignorance” campaign was a hell of a jolt at the time, and right on the money; and little gratuitous nudity here and there adds to the gaity of nations (anyone who denies this being either a sexless robot or a liar).  But somehow the two don’t sit together all that well.  Maybe it’s just because I kind of suspect that the ad will mostly be watched by teenage boys who’ll simply not pay any attention to the at-any-rate facile slogan.  They’ll be looking elsewhere.

Ho hum.

You may have heard last week about the Microsoft advert running in Poland that had been… um… how can I put it?… ethnically re-envisioned (and badly, too: even I could Photoshop an image more convincingly, and I’m like a blind monkey with scissors).  And Ford got into trouble a few years ago for doing something similar.

Well, it would seem that Lublin Medical School - or, at least, its web designers - has been doing the same thing, doctoring (geddit?) the ethnic makeup of its publicity bumf according to the audience.  (The link goes to Photoshop Disasters rather than the university itself, because something tells me that, even if the original page is still up as I’m writing this, it won’t be for long.)

I can see the defence here: advertising is about appealing to people, and different parts of the world will respond to appeals differently, demographics, culture, blah-di-blah-di-blah.  But - really - do you have to be so obvious in your tampering?  Y’know: at least make the buttons to switch from the Polish to English versions a bit harder to find or something…

*facepalms*

You can now buy low calorie water.

What?  You think that there’s more to say?

I’ve just been pointed in the direction of this YouTube gem, which ostensibly demonstrates why condoms don’t offer protection against Aids.  It’s a little experiment involving a glass, a tea-strainer, and some out-of-date soya milk.  The rest you can work out for yourselves.  It has to be a piss-take, doesn’t it?  (Actually, I’m not so sure.  I’ve watched a couple of the poster’s other videos…  I think he means it.  Have a look at his film on why homosexuality is wrong: heterosexual sex within marriage gives you children, while homosexual sex gives you - yep - AIDS!)

Anyway: as is the way with these things, the OP has generated a response.  It’s puerile, of course… but funny all the same.  And it’s much more intelligent than the OP.

UPDATE: Naaaah.  I’ve changed my mind.  The OP must be a spoof - have a look at this, specifically from about 2:20.

Enough with one child per family, already - let the kids smoke themselves into population control…

Apologies for having to link it: I can’t seem to get LiveLeak to embed.  I fail at computer.

(Thanks to Garen FD for the pointer.)

PZ Meyers has picked up a strange story: apparently, there’s an organisation called Homeopaths Without Borders - clearly picking up on MSF’s name - that intends to send crack teams of homeopaths to disaster areas.  Their site’s mainly in German at the moment - they promise updates - but here’s a taste of what they have to say about themselves so far:

It is our main aim to transfer homeopathy to those countries, [sic] where public health care and medical supply of [sic]the people is sub-standard, for whatever reasons. Homeopathy also proves very effective in healing physical and mental injury in situations of war or political crisis.

My understanding of homeopathy is limited - culled from reading Ben Goldacre and (for the other side) working on the same bar as a vegan hippie for 15 years - but I believe that one of its principles is that it is possible to get big improvements in a state of affairs from vanishingly small interventions.  Now, I’m sure I’m being unfair - in which case, please forgive me, and certainly don’t sue - but does that mean that HWB will do the most good by largely doing nothing in impoverished countries?  For once, that’s something about which homeopaths and real mainstream doctors ought to be able to agree.  Homeopathic interventions, both will admit, ought to be imperceptible.

For my part - one day I plan not to open my own homeopathic clinic.  I’m sure it’ll be wonderful.

A man who donated his kidney to his wife, who subsequently cheated on him and filed for divorce, says he wants it back.  His chances are described as slim.

Ronseal.

I don’t usually get to post these sorts of stories, usually Iain  spots the salacious ones a mile off before I do…

It turns out according to the BMJ that a US study has shown that abstinence pledges are ineffective at preventing sex among teenagers, those who vow not to end up having sex at comparable rates to those who don’t take the pledge. However the same research appears to have shown that abstinence pledges are effective at combating the absence of teenage pregnancies and STDs, since those who take the pledge are much less likely to use appropriate contraception when they have the sex they promised not to have…

Of course this comes as little surprise to many of us who lack an ideological bent towards abstinence only sex education. I mean really? It turns out asking teenagers to promise not to have sex is ineffective at preventing teenagers having sex, how surprising.

What is research going to show us next? Something really crazy like actually a vaccine that might prevent cervical cancer in later life doesn’t actually increase the rate of sexual activity in young girls?

If only we could manage to avoid the STD issue then perhaps putting funding into absence only sex education is what developed nation governments should do to combat falling birth rates!

Not speaking German - we Brits don’t really believe in learning other languages when speaking English LOUDLY AND SLOWLY to non-limeys is clearly enough - I can’t be sure what this is about.  But it would appear that someone has invented a spray-on condom.  Or maybe it’s some process whereby you can shape your own.  Or something.  Hell, I don’t know.

But it looks quite silly and messy.  I’d apreciate it if someone could deciper it for me.  Meanwhile, I’ll continue to hold on to my stereotypes about those crazy and oh-so liberated people on the mainland.

EDIT: And on a related theme…  You’d think she’d've noticed at the time, wouldn’t you?