Posted on 12/21/2015 12:02:09 PM PST by xzins
The Food and Drug Administration has lifted the ban on blood donations from men who have engaged in sexual relations with another man. Now, in order to donate blood, a man will have had to have been abstinent for the period of one year prior to donation.
This new policy is similar to the deferral period for a woman who has engaged in sexual activity with a man who had previously sexual activity with another man, or for someone who has traveled to a country where malaria is prevalent.
The Food and Drug Administration released final rules on Monday that would allow gay and bisexual men to donate blood if they have been celibate for one year. Under previous rules, men who have had sex with men are banned from donating indefinitely.
“Ultimately, the 12-month deferral window is supported by the best available scientific evidence, at this point in time, relevant to the U.S. population. We will continue to actively conduct research in this area and further revise our policies as new data emerge," Dr. Peter Marks, deputy director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, wrote in a statement Monday.
The move partially rolls back a 1983 ban that has since been described as medically unwarranted. Efforts to eliminate that ban, which have crawled forward under the Obama administration, mark the biggest step in a decades-old debate on whether gay and bisexual men, who are at a higher risk for HIV/AIDS, can safely donate blood.
insanity
If I see Doogy Howser anywhere in the area I am gone
I understand Shep Smith has had a number of partners
From a blog by financial author Robert Ringer
http://robertringer.com/the-age-of-innocence/
There’s something about Thanksgiving that brings back memories of my childhood, more so even than Christmas. I consider myself to be blessed to have lived in America when it was a symbol of stability and freedom to people everywhere.
As the world continues its sociological supernova, I find myself increasingly saddened by the fact that none of my children will ever have the opportunity to experience the America of my youth. Make no mistake about it, computers, smartphones, and all the other space-age technology that we take for granted are wonderful tools. They make things so much more convenient and entertaining, but, as with everything in life, there’s a tradeoff.
Actually, there are many tradeoffs, but the most glaring one is the loss of innocence. I’ve long maintained that the 1950s were the pinnacle of America’s greatness — not militarily, but sociologically. And looking at it more objectively today, I believe a big part of that innocence was made possible by ignorance — blissful, mind-numbing ignorance.
Of course, there were many people who didn’t share my experience — e.g., not all minorities had the opportunities they enjoy today. But this article isn’t about minorities, justice, or politics. All these are important subjects, to be sure — and millions of articles have been written about them — but they just don’t happen to be the subject of this particular article.
This article is about life as viewed through the eyes of a semi-privileged white kid who believed that Columbus, Ohio was the center of the universe and that both life and youth were eternal. In the 1950s, everything stood still and every day was predictable. My parents, my siblings, my friends, my house, my school, Ohio State football — nothing was ever going to change. Life was static.
It would be impossible for today’s youth to imagine, or understand, the innocence of the 1950s. As far as I knew, drugs didn’t exist in my little version of Peyton Place. Nor was there such a thing as political correctness. And as to gay issues, the only time I ever recall hearing the word gay was in the verse “Don we now our gay apparel.â€
Girls? I guess there were a few who were a bit on the risqué side, but the vast majority of them could fit comfortably into a Dick Clark audience — well groomed, prim, and proper. In retrospect, they were almost like automatons — cashmere sweaters, saddle shoes, and short, sculptured hairstyles featuring soft curls and waves.
For me, going to school every day was like walking into a candy store, and I had a really bad sweet tooth.
gina-liz
A couple examples of typical Peyton Place High School girls.
I’m sorry to say that I never got very far with either of them.
Had a girl come to school with an earring attached to any part of her body other than an ear (none ever did), she would have been expelled from school. Pregnancy? The thought never occurred to me until a sophomore girl got pregnant and created one of the biggest scandals in our school’s history. Her expulsion was swift, and it was a one-time event.
Finally, along came Elvis, who unknowingly laid the foundation for the sexual and cultural revolution that was to explode onto the scene in the sixties, and things have never been the same since. But those of us who were raised in the Age of Innocence tended to ignore the steadily increasing base behavior of the sixties, seventies, and eighties, because we were focused on getting ahead in life.
Then, in the nineties, there seemed to be a slowdown in America’s cultural disintegration as the dot.com hotshots — led by Bill Gates and Steve Jobs — became the rock stars of a new generation. But in the new century, Americans and the rest of the Western world took the good life for granted and, as a result of the Internet, became so knowledgeable about their “rights†(both real and imagined) that every law, every institution, and every certitude became a protest target.
So here we are, well into the 21st century, and the number-one product America produces is grievance. And it’s greatest collective demand is for more and more “diversity.†These are the two phenomena that most separate the protected little fantasy world I grew up in from today’s unstable, angry, entitlement-based world.
Diversity is a commodity that was in short supply in the fifties, and, as a result, America was a pretty peaceful place. Whether someone was born in Italy, Ireland, China, or India, he assimilated into American culture because he loved the idea of becoming a true American.
I remember one kid in our school who was of Egyptian descent, and he was as American as I was. Ditto with a Chinese classmate of mine who was culturally in synch with everyone else in the class. It was a true melting pot, not a diversity pot.
Now, I can just “hear†some readers thinking, “But doesn’t a lack of diversity make life boring? Why would you want everyone to think alike?†I’m not advocating that people think alike. I’m just saying that when a large majority of a population believes in a generally accepted code of conduct, it results in a more peaceful, more civilized, happier society. That’s a self-evident reality.
By the same token, within a society’s generally accepted code of conduct, it’s fine for everyone to think their own thoughts and have their own opinions — but back in the day, the foundation of most thoughts and opinions was a broad consensus on American values.
That said, as much as I love the life-saving benefits of modern medicine, as much as I love computers and cellphones, as much as I love the instant knowledge at my fingertips via the Internet, I am obliged to admit that I’d give it all up if I could climb into a time capsule and go back to the fifties ─ and most people I’ve talked to from that era have expressed similar sentiments.
The people I feel sorry for are those who never had the opportunity to experience America’s Age of Innocence. Perhaps someday the United States will rise from the ashes and make a comeback that will take it through a similar period all over again. And perhaps our children and grandchildren will be the beneficiaries.
In the meantime, Thanksgiving is still a very special day, so let’s enjoy every minute of it.
This should be grounds for a class action suit against the FDA.
LOL! Wasn’t that the advertising blitz in the 80’s and 90’s?
I don’t even claim an HIV “status.” It’s like the question, “do you still beat your wife?”
Plethysmographic testing. They can't lie on that one.
'Course they'll just scream discrimination (of course it is) and get any test banned, just like they did back in 1981, when they got so ugly about how the straight community was killing them by refusing to drop a mint on medical research for their malady..... which they were telling us at the same time was everyone's problem ..... which was going on at the same time they were suppressing claims by forensic health workers down in the Rio Grande Valley who thought certain AIDS cases among ag workers had to have been propagated by mosquitoes. That claim was instantly suppressed on grounds it "might start a panic" ..... showing that the 2% minority were already busily at work modulating concern levels among the bovine crowd of straights, to get the right political response. Like milking a cow.
That is disgusting.
Actually, no. Arkansas (and Louisiana) prison blood got shipped out of the U.S., mostly to Canada, but also to Germany and Japan. 6000+ Canadian died as a result. I believe more from hepatitis than HIV.
The blood money didn’t stop until 1994. In late 1982, all states were told not to have any prisoners donate blood, due to HIV risks. 48 states and the District of Columbia complied immediately. Louisiana and Arkansas, under then-governor Clinton, did not.
What happened to the Arkansas governor who stopped selling prisoners’ blood? Jim Guy Tucker went to prison. What happened to the Canadian Red Cross? When it was found that the CBC was invoolved, they could no longer be involved in blood donations in any way. “The Canadian Red Cross no longer conducts operations for blood donations. For information about giving blood, contact ...” http://www.redcross.ca/donate/donation-frequently-asked-questions
How does it work?
Plus they’re going to Hell sadly enough.
From a purely scientific point of view, does this make any sense?
No it does not. What makes sense is rejecting any donor with any potential blood borne pathogen. This is about politics and not science.
“...does this make any sense...”
Well, they’re, umm, “normal” now, dontcha know...
No it doesn’t.
So now Obama can donate blood.
Well... the photo is from TEAM AMERICA(2004).
A nation going to Hell
“A nation going to Hell”
Yet to be determined. Either it is, or the left and the globalists are going well before we as a nation do! Many individuals will never get there.
Merry Christmas to you all.
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