World News and Trends- Sex and the City: Life imitates art

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Sex and the City was a U.S. cable TV mainstay for several seasons as it tracked the life and loves (numerous sexual encounters) of four fictional single New York women. No sooner had the series gone off the air than plans started for a feature-length movie sequel.

Sex and the City was a U.S. cable TV mainstay for several seasons as it tracked the life and loves (numerous sexual encounters) of four fictional single New York women. No sooner had the series gone off the air than plans started for a feature-length movie sequel.

It's ironic timing that the week after the movie hit U.S. theaters, a city health department study found that more than one in four adult New Yorkers (26 percent) are infected with the sexually transmissible disease genital herpes. That's considerably higher than the already-high national rate of about 19 percent (nearly 1 in 5).

Herpes causes painful sores in some of those infected by it, although most show no recognizable symptoms. In New York the herpes rate is higher among women, blacks and homosexual men. Those infected by genital herpes have double the risk of contracting HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. (Source: Associated Press, June 9, 2008.)

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Jerold Aust

Jerold Aust has served in the ministry for 52 years, as a public speaker for 58 years, a published writer for 38 years, and is employed by UCG’s Media and Communications Services. He is a Senior Writer, interviewer, and editor for Beyond Today Magazine and has taught Speech Communication for UCG’s ministerial online program and the Book of Revelation for ABC.  

Jerold holds a BA in theology from Ambassador College, Pasadena (1968), an MA in Communication from California State University, Fullerton (1995), a distance-learning Ph.D (2006), and a Famous Writers School diploma in non-fiction writing (1973). Additionally, he studied post-grad communication at University of Southern California (1995), radio, TV, voice-overs, and Public Relations at Fullerton College (1995-1996), and graduate communication at Wichita State University (1978).  Jerold has taught communication at the University of South Alabama (7 years) and ABC (17 years). His published works include, Ronald Reagan’s Rhetoric: Metaphor as Persuasion and EZSpeakers: Public Speaking Made Easy in 7 Steps.  Jerold's overarching goal is to share with humankind its incredible destiny!

John Ross Schroeder

John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.

Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.

John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.

In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.

John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.