The real threat to human life on this planet

And I'm NOT talking about Saddam Hussein. If the Bush admin didn't have their heads up their... noses, they'd spend at least $10 billion on fighting AIDS instead of building bombs. According to this cheery Globe article:

HIV and AIDS are on the verge of exploding in five of the most populous nations in the world and could produce an estimated 50 million to 75 million cases by the end of the decade in those countries alone, according to a National Intelligence Council report released last night.

"Cases" of course refers to people living with AIDS, not those dead of it. Accordingly the article goes on to note that: "A UNAIDS report, released in July, predicted that the pandemic could kill 70 million people around the world over the next 20 years."

So what might actually get the US to do something about this? Predictably enough, the answer is not "compassion" but "oil":

Of the five nations cited in the study, the greatest impact in coming years could be in Nigeria and Ethiopia - two countries considered strategically important by the administration. In particular, Nigeria is looked to provide stability in the region as well as a growing source of oil for US markets... . The report concluded that the impact of the disease could mean the countries will become ''seriously weakened states and is likely to reduce their ability to continue to play a regional leadership role.' OK, that's enough for this morning, or I'm going to end up with carpal tunnel again.