48% of African American Women have Genital Herpes

More from LA Times

CDC MMWR reporting findings

It is shocking to think that half the African American women one may see walking down the street are infected with HSV 2, genital herpes. HSV 2 infection makes one more susceptible to HIV infection. And these days, STDs do not necessarily travel alone. Syphilis, gonorrhea, and other STDs are much more common among American blacks as well.

Given the 70% illegitimacy rate of childbirth among African Americans, it is clear that family and monogamy are not highly prized. Other symptoms of social pathology such as high poverty rates, high crime rates, high rates of drug and alcohol abuse, and high rates of domestic violence, combine with behavioural diseases such as STDs to add to the misery index of the community.

It is not an American phenomenon, since one sees the same things in Haiti, Jamaica, South Africa, and almost everywhere that persons of African descent live in appreciable numbers and proportions.

More attention needs to be given to these social pathologies which tend to concentrate among persons of African heritage -- that is if we wish to do something to lessen the morbidity, mortality, and misery.

1001 Uses for Vinegar, and Other Cheap Everyday Things

In a prolonged recession, it sometimes becomes necessary to learn to do more with less. That's why it is good to know several uses for common, cheap, household items such as vinegar, bleach, rubbing alcohol, baking soda, and vaseline.

Here are 1001 uses for white distilled vinegar. Some of them might get you out of embarrassing situations, or help you get over an ailment when no doctor can be found.

12 extraordinary uses for bleach. Mostly having to do with sanitation, of course. Here's an extra: 5 drops of liquid bleach in 1/2 gallon water can keep stored water potable long term.

13 ways to use rubbing alcohol.

75 extraordinary uses for baking soda -- not all of them for cooking! It can even help clean your stuck drains!

60 uses for table salt. A mixture of salt and baking soda in your Neti Pot can help tremendously in cold and allergy seasons.

30 uses for Vaseline petroleum jelly. The one about getting bubble gum out of your child's hair was a new one for me.

Becoming an expert in the use of cheap, common household products could make you the hero of the hour -- more than once. I won't tell you that such knowledge will save your life someday, but in some circumstances it might.

They call it being resourceful, or being broadly competent, or just being prepared. The best time to learn these simple things is childhood, of course. But who had parent willing to teach them these things? Not many.

Try being your own parent now.

3 Meals from Anarchy

Things can fall apart for many reasons, and at astoundingly rapid speeds. Whether you are 3 meals from anarchy or 9, the distance between you and deadly threat is alarmingly small. Natural disaster, epidemic disease, power failure, terror attack, or outright warfare -- potential triggers are more numerous than you can imagine.

You won't be able to leave the city by freeway -- they will all be jammed by wrecked, abandoned, and burning vehicles. Better have several alternate routes and fallback plans. Is your bugout kit packed and ready? Does your bugout vehicle have a full tank of fuel and is it well maintained? Do you have a bugout destination?

I recommend the links and the postings at PreparednessPro.com. A good site for daily browsing is SurvivalBlog. Unfortunately, membership in the Society for Creative Apocalyptology is currently closed, but several online forums of a similar nature are available.

You have a much better chance of surviving a short, medium, and long-term catastrophe if you are a member of a cooperating group of survival-oriented individuals and families with complementary skills.

First published at Al Fin