Adam.Selene@f269.n107.z1.fidonet.org (Adam Selene) (11/10/89)
Nassau county was located somewhere in some distent rural setting, FAR, far away from access to AIDS information/education. + + Actually, Nassau's County Seat is 40 miles from the center of New York City ... and has a People With AIDS Coalition chapter of its own. + + A large and partially State-funded organization Long Island AIDS care has been campaigning for AIDS care in nursing facilities for the past 4 years. + + There is ONE "local" newspaper ... the award winning "Long Island Newsday" ... a serious competator for readership in the overall NY Metro area ... Many activists consider NEWSDAY's coverage MORE "pro-PWA" than either THE TIMES or THE NEWS -- though THE TIME'S *medical* reportage is considered more complete and accurate.ers + + So, how is it that county medical and government administrators are still, themselves, uneasy about the safety of admitting PWAs to nursing homes ... and are dead-certain that the voters would object sufficiently to affect the coming elections ? + + Hasn't there been enough "education" of the professions and the populace at large? Can it be that an AIDS related story EVERY DAY for THREE YEARS (that's NEWSDAY's average) PLUS the Network TV coverage, PLUS the Federal Government's information outreach, PLUS the combined efforts of LI AIDS CARE, ACT UP, and PWA Coaltion over several years isn't "enough?" + + When the Germans living within a few miles of the various death camps were asked "How did you let this happen?" ... they replied that they simply "didn't know." + Until recently, I couldn't accept that as an excuse ... "not knowing" ! How could they not know? Surely they must have noticed the late-night trains full of people coming IN but none going OUT ... surely they noticed the SMELL of the crematoria ... Even though their own goverment was involved in a day-to-day disinformation program concerning the function of the camps ... even though the Media were under strict Party/Goverment control ... HOW COULD THEY NOT KNOW??? + + Well, based on what is going on here in Nassau/Suffolk + I guess the human capacity to + " not know" + Is SO vast that it now seems reasonable that the civilian +workers and suppliers for the death camps should NOT have been blamed for their participation in the horrors ... + + It's obvious that they REALLY didn't know ... they were never even TOLD by a "valid source" that anything out of the way was going on -- + + If Guelotta and his party are returned to office in Nassau (a nearly foregone conclusion) perhaps we need to consider PAYING REPARATIONS to those good citizens of Ravensbrook and Buchenwald who were "De-Nazified" or actually punished for "not knowing". Compared to my neighbors ... they were (by comparison) just innocent little lambs who needed "more education". 382/1 -- Uucp: ...{gatech,ames,rutgers}!ncar!noao!asuvax!stjhmc!107!269!Adam.Selene Internet: Adam.Selene@f269.n107.z1.fidonet.org