From: kludge@panix.com   
      
   Cryptoengineer   wrote:   
   >   
   >When I got married nearly 40 years ago, the blood test I had to take   
   >was explicitly for syphilis, and it had been implemented decades   
   >earlier.   
      
   Yes, "getting tested" was about syphillis.  It was discontinued in most   
   states in the seventies.  The problem with syphillis in this regard is   
   that it was assumed that people got married to have children, and this   
   is a disease that gets passed along to children (and then to the children's   
   children sometimes).  As tertiary syphillis has become much less common   
   in the US, the need for testing was reduced.  So now you can get married   
   with only a few hours notice.  Possibly by an Elvis impersonator.   
      
   >There was no coordination between the tests for me and my fiance,   
   >so testing for consanguinity was out.   
      
   There are a lot of tests that I'd like to see someone take before marriage,   
   for example assuring that one is not about to marry an ax murderer.  But   
   these are not likely to be performed.   
   --scott   
   --   
   "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)