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Re: [ProgSoc] Have you registered to vote yet?



On 10/10/2007, at 2:43 AM, John Elliot wrote:

Andrew Halliday wrote:
Smoking DOES cause cancer. This is not up for debate. It is regarded as fact
in the scientific and medical worlds.
Most smokers don't get cancer. Non-smokers get cancer.
Please provide evidence and I'll consider it.
I have been otherwise educated.

Smoking increases the risk of getting cancer. It doesn't 'cause' cancer. It's not "smoke therefore cancer". Not even close.
Life is all about probabilities. About 80% of people who get lung  
cancer are smokers.
Statistically the risk of developing lung cancer for people currently  
smoking is about 10-15%.
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, in  
1998-99 most deaths resulting from tobacco smoking occurred in people  
aged 65 years or more. However, around one in five deaths occurred in  
the 35–64 years age group.

'Gayness' or being a homosexual DOES NOT cause AIDS.
Incidence of aids are higher for homosexual men that for non- 
homosexual men, no?
That is a loaded question. If you look at an OECD nation such as our  
own Australia, then yes. If you look at the world at large, then no.  
The HIV/AIDS epidemic is now most definitely a predominantly  
heterosexual disease with 85% of the infected people being  
heterosexual. 60% of the infected are women or children. Not exactly  
the gay male stereotype.
So 'gayness' increases the risk of getting aids.
That's an old attitude which is often repeated and yet not true  
except in very specific small populations.
On a global scale however...
http://www.undp.org/hiv/publications/gender/adolesce.htm
...being young, in poverty, potentially uneducated and female is the highest risk demographic of all.
Also keep in mind the skewing of statistics. On average more GLBTI  
people get tested on a regular basis. 90% of people who are infected  
don't know they are. Therefore the risk of them spreading it is much  
higher.
Being gay does not increase one's risk of getting HIV/AIDS.  
Practising habits such as unprotected sex or intravenous drug usage  
does. Just like smoking increases the risk of getting cancer.
People from all backgrounds do drugs and practise unsafe sex. People  
from all backgrounds smoke. Both have severe and potentially fatal  
consequences.
Interestingly in Australia over the last decade the surge in HIV/AIDS  
infection rates has been in the heterosexual population and the rate  
of infection in the GLBTI community has been slowing.
Since HIV/AIDS came along in Australia in the 80's, up until December  
last year there were 6685 deaths resulting from AIDS. That's in  
total. Compare that to about 20000 a year due to smoking.
http://www.avert.org/ausstatg.htm
http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/ Smoking_statistics?OpenDocument
Therefore, by your own logic, gayness causes aids.
No.

If you can say that "smoking causes cancer", then I can say  
"gayness causes aids". (But... it won't happen to *you*, right?)
I don't shoot up and I play safe. In addition to that I get tested  
regularly so I *know* I'm healthy. Do you know your health status?
I would have expected you to pick up on that a little quicker.
I'm having a slow day.

-Andi.
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