A lot of people don't realize that the U.S. still doesn't allow people known to have AIDS into the country. We're now one of only 12 countries with that policy and, with the exception of South Korea, none of those nations are what you'd call a very stable and free place. Anyway, today, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon condemned the practice (see Prospect alum Mark Goldberg at UN Dispatch for more).
The U.S. is a member of way too many such exclusive clubs, we're one of the few countries to use cluster bombs, refuse to join the International Criminal Court, practice the death penalty and on and on. These kinds of things aren't just bad in and of themselves, they're also a big but overlooked part of the reason we're so unpopular around the world.
--Sam Boyd
