"Extreme heart stoppage" is already an "AIDS defining illness"
in South Africa. At least in 60% of cases.

Alex

"Rich MacDonald" <rich@@clevercaboose.com> wrote in message

Then hang on to your hat

Jan 19, 1:06 PM (ET)

By ALAN SAYRE

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The Louisiana Supreme Court on Wednesday unanimously
reinstated the anti-gay marriage amendment to the state constitution that
was overwhelmingly approved by voters in September.

The high court reversed a state district judge's ruling in October striking
down the amendment on the grounds that it violated a provision of the state
constitution requiring that an amendment cover only one subject.

"Each provision of the amendment is germane to the single object of defense
of marriage and constitutes an element of the plan advanced to achieve this
object," the high court said.

The court's ruling puts the amendment in the constitution.

"We're obviously delighted," said attorney Michael Johnson, who represented
the Alliance Defense Fund, which argued for the amendment's legality before
the Supreme Court.

The Louisiana Gay and Lesbian Political Action Coalition said a statement
would be released shortly.

The amendment was sent to the ballot by the Legislature and approved by 78
percent of the voters on Sept. 18.

Legislative backers said that although gay marriages are banned by state
law, the amendment was needed to ensure that courts would not authorize the
marriages, as had happened in Massachusetts.

In striking down the "defense of marriage" amendment, Judge William Morvant
of Baton Rouge had ruled that the amendment also prevented the state from
recognizing any legal status for common-law relationships, domestic
partnerships and civil unions between both gay and heterosexual couples.

Six of the justices joined in the majority opinion authored by Justice
Jeanette Theriot Knoll. The seventh, Chief Justice Pascal Calogero, wrote a
concurring opinion.

At issue was a provision of the amendment that stated: "A legal status
identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried
individuals shall not be recognized."

Opponents had warned that the amendment went far beyond banning gay marriage
and would deny contractual rights to all unmarried couples - whether gay or
heterosexual - in such areas as owning property, willing it to heirs, and
taking legal care of an incapacitated partner. As a result, they contended,
the amendment had more than one object, and therefore could not become part
of the constitution.

But the Supreme Court said the each part of the amendment is "germane to the
object of 'defense of marriage.'"

Eleven other states adopted similar amendments in the fall elections.
President George Bush also has proposed a federal anti-gay marriage
amendment.

Is your retardation inbreeding related?

Alex

That more or less summs it up and explains the difficulties encountered in
the productuion of accurate stats.

The original assertion in this thread sounds to me like something that could
have been produced by Mbeki's spindoctors in an attempt to try and overcome
Mandela's spin. We have seen incidences of this before - esp at the time of
Mandela's 9/11 denouncement. It reminds me of the Blair Brown war in the UK,
and co-incidentally Brown is in SA paying more attention to Mandela than the
internationally renown diplomatic marvel.  - wonder if M'peki will spit his
dummy?

<<>AIDS means acquired immune deficiency syndrome. Once your immune
system

Are you the same racist that posted earlier in this thread?

Hmmm...there I thought you might have had a good heart tho while being
a fool.

Now I see you're an abject bigot. Eh. Figures.

Like anyone would make up 'weapons of mass destruction' in a world filled
with war.

You are an idiot Carter.

Not so fast...

I thought that was exactly what you were supposed to die of.

Lwt Sculler you retard,

Cancer is not an infectious disease, let alone an opportunistic infection.
Therefore, pancreatic cancer is not an AIDS indicator disease. Or even
an AIDS related illness.

Unless of course you're one of the "cancer virus" crowd, like the
inventors of HIV.

Your oldfashioned idea of "AIDS", which held sway in the 1980s,
was a pretty simple proposition. You contract HIV. Eight years
later, HIV becomes activated, starts to destroy the cells of your
immune system, and finally you succumb to any opportunistic
infection that comes  along.
The problem is that those infections were pretty specific. People
died of PCP, KS, or extreme wasting. Then, for some reason,
"opportunistic infections" were expanded to any viral or bacterial
infection. Then, it was expanded to cancer, cardiovascular disease
(strokes, etc.), dementia and what not.
In Africa, the "opportunistic infections" were never so specific as
to amount to "AIDS defining illnesses". Malaria, tuberculosis,
leprosy, etc. are immediately labeled AIDS if they coincide with
a positive HIV test. Or, if there is no money to perform these
tests, they are labeled "AIDS" without an HIV test.

Alex