HIV, Circumcision, and Ethical Experimentation

In a fascinating story, the BBC reports that a randomized trial of circumcision halves the rate of HIV infection among heterosexual men in Kenya and Uganda consistent with previous evidence from South Africa. The story laudably notes that circumcision should not be thought to justify sex without protection and this point should not be overlooked. What I find fascinating is the consequence of a pilot study for experimentation. In short, the US NIH had to stop the trials early because it deemed a continuation of withholding circumcision from the control group unethical. While in this case, I cannot disagree; it would be morally reprehensible to continue. That said, I fear that this creates a dangerous experimental precedent for treatments with consequences that are less well known. Were it not that circumcision is a practice that dates back centuries, but instead was a pharmaceutical, say Vioxx or some relation, might we be inclined to engage similar moral concerns and ultimately support the wide employment of a treatment that leads to forms of longer term harm that might have been known were the study to have continued. In short, in this case it makes sense. What I hope is that researchers remain skeptical because a part of the justification for rigorous trials is the hope that unintended consequences may be discovered.

Ruiz's Mexican Restaurant [901 N US 67, Florissant]

Ruiz was just a bit above average. We have only been once and it was shortly after our arrival from Texas. I have had far worse, [insert the name of every Mexican food restaurant that we tried in the Boston area with the exception of one place that I cannot remember the name of in Union Square, Somerville]. The guacamole Ruiz was quite good; the rest was nothing special. Rio was not thrilled, Ambrose complained; neither of these is a good sign. I was so desperate that I would have been happy with virtually anything that improved on Taco Bell. On this account, Ruiz did not disappoint. The one thing that was quite memorable was that they have good flour tortillas. This is an important thing to me; now that I have found Harina para Tortillas, it matters quite a bit less because I can make my own.

This review is admittedly a bit lame, but it has been a few months since I was back there. If I find myself in Florissant again, I might go back, but I would not make a special trip.

An Aside on Boxed Lunches

In theory, food offers a selective incentive to encourage attendance at the plethora of seminars that we have had this semester. But I am beginning to sense a problem -- a paltry menu. Working one's way through the menu and trying everything once was easy, now that we have come almost through round two, how I hope that something better comes along. I suspect there are structural reasons why we cannot change [indeed, I am almost certain what they are and this is a REALLY silly reason].

Looking down the game tree, I see an issue on the horizon. After almost one dozen talks that are not a part of regularly scheduled seminar series [after all, in some way or other, every talk is a job talk] and nine in the space of two weeks, another dozen are scheduled between a joint search with International and Area Studies and a search in normative political theory. Without a change in the menu, the selective incentive will, at least for me, be completely underutilized because I think I would rather fast.