The DOJ is suing the state of Tennesssee for making it a felony to be a prostitute while HIV positive, arguing somehow that being HIV positive is just a disability (which I guess it is), and not a lethal threat to those who might have sex with an HIV positive prostitute. They are actually arguing that you need to do a complicated study to prove that HIV can be a death sentence, something I've known...oh, about since I was studying geometry in high school.
Meanwhile, the CDC reports that annual HIV infections are about 32000 in the U.S., and annual deaths with HIV are about 20,000. Interestingly, I did not see clear indications of what proportion of those deaths were significantly, or primarily, from HIV, but it's still pretty likely that for a lot of those who contract it, HIV is indeed a death sentence. I would guess that COVID hit those with immune weaknesses pretty hard, to put it mildly.
More and more, when I see the antics of our public servants, an old line from a movie whose name I forget comes to mind: "I don't like you because you're trying to get me killed."
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