… but did not have the time to…
I would like to have blogged about this thought provoking excerpt from Russell Banks’ The Darling on the difference between empathy and sympathy.
“What was ethically and even practically wrong with having empathy towards the other? For a long time, I answered, Nothing. Nothing at all. It’s good politics. I see a blind man about to cross a street and think, He can’t see the whizzing traffic, he needs me to see it for him, to take his arm and escort him over to …

Ok. This is going viral, but I can’t resist reposting!

Rating 3.00 out of 5

Another incursion into wonderland from the Catholic Bishops in The Philippines following the decision by health Secretary Esperanza Cabral to reinvigorate campaigns promoting condom in a bid to stop the spread of a looming HIV and AIDS epidemic.
The Bishop requested from the government that manufacturers place warnings on condom like those in cigarettes, alcoholic drinks and herbal medicines. The suggested warning was
“Condoms may fail to protect from AIDS and other sexually-transmitted diseases.”
Cabral response was that it was a good idea and suggested the following warning
“Correct and consistent use of condom …

Several clinical trials have demonstrated the benefit of circumcision in reducing the risk of HIV infection. One of the explanations put forward is that the foreskin is rich in a particular type of cell the HIV virus likes to infect. By getting rid of the foreskin, the risk of HIV infection is reduced.
If this is true then the size of the foreskin should matter too, with a higher risk of HIV infection for those with a larger foreskin than those with a smaller one. This is exactly what a new …

Children playing in the centre of Phnom Penh. Prohibitive school fees are one of the reasons children do not attend school, notwithstanding the bribe requested by corrupt teachers to let pupils in.
Photo (c) peripheries

Prostitution and sex work are particularly difficult subjects to comment on. They are heavily loaded with emotional and often irrational charge especially when trafficking and children are taken into consideration. I would usually leave these topics to more qualified commentators such as Laura Agustin, but I’ll make an exception when HIV is involved.
What prompted this posting is …