(212)   Thu 20 Nov 97  0:41
By: Joe Seatter
To: All
Re: This is just too stupid.
St:
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Found this in the paper this morning...

"Town bans birth control

  Brasilia (Reuters) - The Mayor of a town in southern Brazil said yesterday
he had banned the sale of contraceptives in an attempt to increase the local
population and maintain funding from the central government.

  "I have no alternative other than to seek a bigger population," said Elico
Berti, Mayor of Bocaiuva do Sul in the southern state of Parana.

  Berti said he signed the decree Monday which prohibited the sale of
contraceptive pills and condoms in the town.

  Under government funding rules, Bocaiuva do Sul stands to see its grant
from Brasilia fall from about $110,000 a year to $70,000 because of a recent
drop in the number of inhabitants.  However, if the population rises to
12,000, up from about 8,600 now, funding would remain at its current levels,
Berti said."


Now, this seems more than a little idiotic to me.  First, I doubt the town
is ever going to have a growth rate from births of around 50% in a year.
Second, Brasil is one of the worst hit countries when it comes to AIDS.
It's in the top 16, or was in 1994.  It's projected growth rate dropped
from 0.9% without AIDS, to 0.6% with AIDS(The Coming Plague, by Laurie
Garrett p.696.)




... If a fundy knew 9 more things, he'd be an idiot.
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