I joined this livejournal community because I am interested in alternative ways of treating minor complaints. I knew when I joined it that there were a lot of people in it who didn’t trust doctors and Evil Western Medicine for whatever reason. That doesn’t bother me, maybe they had lousy doctors or something. Most of what goes on in this community is along the lines of “what are the uses of tea tree oil” or “what is a natural way to control my acne?” These are minor complaints, not because they are trivial but because they deal with non-life-threatening diseases. Then cameth thou…*
I am flabbergasted. I cannot think of a way to correct you without using the words “moron” “fucking idiot” “asshat” and other profanity-riddled comments. As a person whose life was saved by the very industry you decry, I am also highly offended. It is a mark of your discrimination that you also did not know the difference between an immune deficiency and an autoimmune disease until I pointed it out.
Let me tell you a few things missy. I had an autoimmune disease. It is now in remission, but it could come back. It falls under the category of Serious Disease, as in the type that you do not fuck with. AIDS is another Serious Disease. You do not mess around with AIDS or you could end up very very Dead. You obviously have not had any Serious health problem in your entire sheltered little life, so you would not know about that. This is proven also by the fact that you hate Western medicine. Those of us who have had Serious Diseases know how much we owe to that particular institution. You insult all of us with your ignorance.
I will try to be a better person than you and hope you never do get a Serious Disease. If you ever do, then you will understand what I am talking about. If someone you love does, then you’d best not start trying to talk them out of getting treatment, or heavens forbid, actually succeed in that enterprise or I will beat you with a mallet.
Stop trying to spread your ignorance. Do some research. Go to a hospital and talk to the people who have Serious Diseases. Try reading an actual medical journal instead of this crap. Or are the big words too much trouble for you?
Hell, I can’t decide. My jaw’s still lying on the floor where I dropped it after she admitted she didn’t know the difference between an immune deficiency and an autoimmune disease. If I did reply it would be so barely civil as to be a low-burning flame. Plus, I don’t want to get banned from the community, although the moderator seems to be nonexistent.
Did anyone else do a double-take when they read the entries being posted under the username manhattan?
What scares me about posts like the one you linked to is that there’s often just enough truth in them for people to accept all the assertions made as being accurate.
AIDS is a misnomer because it should be considered Auto Immune Defficiency Syndrome? That’s what it has always stood for to begin with. Right there I know this person isn’t thinking this through, and has already made up his/her mind.
He/she cites no studies but instead insists that there is conclusive evidence that AIDS is not caused by HIV, but rather that HIV merely takes advantage of the immunal suppresion associated with AIDS. Talk about the cart before the horse. Idiot.
I don’t know what it is about the “HIV does not cause AIDS” thing, but it seems similar to the “we never landed on the moon” mindset. Sadly, fighting ignorance is a never ending battle.
"Did anyone else do a double-take when they read the entries being posted under the username manhattan? "
I did.
“What scares me about posts like the one you linked to is that there’s often just enough truth in them for people to accept all the assertions made as being accurate.”
Yup. It’s just that it’s surely been proven that those who are HIV positive will eventually get AIDS. It’s only a matter of time. These people think that because some may have had HIV longer than average, that they’ll either never end up with AIDS or that HIV does not cause AIDS.
I think assertions like hers are dangerous myself.
Welcome to Livejournal, where the discussion forums will make you run screaming back to the Straight Dope.
In all seriousness, I understand why you’re so angry, SpazCat, and if I were in your shoes, I would make an attempt to reply. Just don’t get too angry if this person refuses to listen to you–she does kinda seem like she has an agenda, posting so much in the past few days.
A few months ago, one of the main activists in the “HIV-doesn’t-cause-AIDS” movement spoke at the University of Pittsburgh, just down the street from where I go to school. I was tempted to see her, to see what she has to say. IIRC, she’s HIV-positive and encourages HIV-positive people to flush their medicine down the toilet and proudly breasfed her child. :eek:
A great deal of the danger lies in them being “published” somewhere where they are unlikely to be challenged. I can’t wait to see what “scientific” citations she finally produces. My guess is it will just be the Duesberg theory rehashed.
Come on, someone who starts by saying doctors are “murderous criminals who evoke disturbing images of the scientists of the Nazi regime” must know what she is talking about.
And just because Galileo called the Pope a Nazi didn’t mean he wasn’t right.