> They don't care about your trips to AIDS infected Africa? Avian flu
> in China? Mad Cow Disease in the UK?

No, Joe. Have you ever donated blood in the U.S.? I have donated just
under 3 gallons and I have never been asked about this stuff. There are a
few yes / no questions about certain countries and certain time periods.
There is also a yes / no question about whether I have ever exchanged sex
for money. On that there is not a request for a list of transactions and/or
acts/positions, either. Just a checkbox. I'm sure you would prefer all the
sordid details, but alas, donors are expected to take about 10 minutes to
fill out the questionnaire; it is not a take-home exam with essay questions
and bonus points.

> I would first check the date of the last donation to be sure that you
> are not giving too much and too often. In the US you get recognition
> for donating over a gallon, etc. We want a history in the DB.

But Joe, different states have different organizations that collect blood...
some multiple. So, I could have donated to some blood donor trailer in
Arkansas yesterday, and for some reason want to donate again today in
Boston. Since they can't check every single blood donor organization in the
world, they ask... "have you given blood in the past 90 days?" (They don't
bother asking "have you given blood to this organization in the past 90
days?" because that is something they can verify on their own.) What you
are expecting is like going to the equivalent of the DMV in Tehran or Beirut
or Cairo and expecting them to be able to print you up a new Rhode Island
driver's license.

> Then I would ask "what countries have you visited since << insert
> date>>?"

They do ask that... "what countries have you visited in the past 36 months?"
is the one in my state. But they also want to know about your presence in
certain countries in certain periods of time, e.g. Congo between 1978 and
1982, etc. Now do you really think they are going to leave an open-ended
essay question, require a certified copy of your travel itinerary, etc.? Of
course not. They are relying on you to be honest and check yes / no. They
are going to take your blood and test it anyway, but this kind of screening
is a very simple way to prevent that blood from being taken and having to be
tested.

Does the concept of only needing a yes / no answer really escape you this
much? You are a clever person, and I have to assume this is all for show.

A