Blood Donor Stain...

[fulltitle]

Originally Posted by Shoonra

One reason for the "secret mark" is that, back when blood banks were paying people for their blood donations (and it's possible some still are, at least for rare types), some unscrupulous types (frequently, but not exclusively, skid row residents) would try to get a bit extra drinking money by selling more blood than was safe. They were willing to take the risk to themselves for becoming anemic, but there was also a risk to the recipient of a transfusion because the second pint in such a short time would be less nutritive.

Additionally, nowadays especially, there are concerns that some people might be tapped, and then a lab test shows their blood is tainted in some way (hep, hiv, etc.) so it must be thrown out ... and this mark is an attempt to inhibit such a person (there was a very shortlived, very much condemned, suggestion many years ago from one - only one - gay activist that an effort should be made to spread AIDS far and wide throughout the straight population in order to stimulate public money for finding an AIDS cure - nobody would second the suggestion but it was enough to make everybody worry).

If you are donating blood, you get a (temporary) needle mark, a sticker for your coat, and expressions of gratitude. Why begrudge a (washable) dab of invisible paint?

WITHOUT PREJUDICE
So are you suggesting that secretly marking someone without their consent allows them to stop the spread of AIDS? So if they see no UV mark then that means no "AIDS"? C'mon. Quit being apologetic for half-ass theory. Ought not the blood be tested? Does UV blood donor stain excuse a blood clinic from testing for pathogens? Does UV blood donor stain cure AIDS?

If you are donating blood, you get a (temporary) needle mark, a sticker for your coat, and expressions of gratitude. Why begrudge a (washable) dab of invisible paint?

If its done with full disclosure and consent then thats one thing. So what if someone invited to their house, fed you a nice meal, put a happ sticker on your coat and injected you with a pet RFID chip while you slept? The thing is that its not that we cannot conceive of their perspective its that we can see things in a balanced way and are capable of filtering out the sophistry.

there was a very shortlived, very much condemned, suggestion many years ago from one - only one - gay activist that an effort should be made to spread AIDS far and wide throughout the straight population in order to stimulate public money for finding an AIDS cure

There are "Aryan Supremacists" who send girls into mostly Latin and/oor "Afro American" clubs to infect unwitting victims with AIDS. Do you see those you seem to be an apologist for giving a rat's hind? What's your point?

[Shoonra]

Donated blood is always tested. Using the mark helps eliminate some repeat donors, thereby eliminating some expense, wasted effort, wasted motion, wasted equipment, etc.

I don't know for a fact that the mark is kept secret from the donors themselves - that is, whether they are told they are being marked. But marking some part of their visible body like this, in a way that can only be spotted by someone equipped with blacklight and in a way that washes off within a day or so, provides an extra level of protection all around.