What to call this: P.C. fu%ks denial?

This story from Xtra! Vancouver infuriates me: AIDS groups remove ‘AIDS’ from their names. If “AIDS” still carries too much stigma, which it does, that is what to work on, not re-branding! I know, at 51 years of age, I am an old fart from the club kids’ point-of-view.  Well hang on to your brain [...]

Premier McGuinty, on sexual health this is not leadership!

I’ve had a difficult time sleeping this week which I think I can safely attribute to hypomania which, in turn, has kept me busy following the news here in Ontario of promising changes to the province’s 1998 sex education curriculum. Excuse me – Health and Physical Education Curriculum. Alas the promise was dropped like a [...]

The American health-care debate from an HIV patient’s perspective

I do not understand all the ins and outs of the American health-care system, neither that which existed before today’s vote in the House of Representatives nor the one after. Here’s what I do know. Canada has a single-payer health system for hospitalizations, doctor’s visits and related expenses such as most diagnostic tests. Coverage of [...]

On smoking, Mr. President, ‘Don’t Ask’ for a cigarette, ‘Don’t Tell’ a smoker that you want one

An Open Letter to American President Barack Obama Dear Mr. President: I know how difficult it is to quit smoking.  I would suggest that the mere fact that you can count on one hand the number of cigarettes you have each day is a great starting point. Quitting is a process, at least it has [...]

Youth for Christ partners with Winnipeg City Hall; Stephen Harper and ‘the Theo-cons’ – are we way past ‘scary’?

A dog-eared, repeatedly-read copy of The Walrus from a few years ago sits beside my comfy chair. Its cover reads “Stephen Harper and the Theo-cons: The rising clout of Canada’s religious right” (Simon, in comments, points us to news of the author’s forthcoming book The Armageddon Factor: The Rise of Christian Nationalism in Canada) I [...]

PM Harper reneges on HIV vaccine research

When Saturday’s Globe and Mail flops down on door-steps across the country Saturday, a story will be found of our government’s cynicism and disregard for Canada’s reputation on the world stage. (Finding such a report is not usually handed to us so matter-of-factly although, given the subject matter, it’s a play to the Conservative Party [...]

I read the news today…

…oh BOY! – but the most I can gather is that scientists may be closer to finding the best way to go after HIV in men. I had better luck reading this at cbc.ca. Then I read this comment – and I was off to the races! fixer1 wrote:Posted 2010/02/12 at 10:01 AM ET The [...]

An HIV/AIDS health promotion poster a few years ago from the government of Québec

Speech by Stephen Lewis, co-Director, AIDS-Free World, to the International AIDS Society Conference on Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention – Cape Town, South Africa, July 19, 2009

In my younger days, decades upon decades ago, we were consumed by the threat of nuclear annihilation. The forces of darkness, East and West, seemed in the ascendance. The Doomsday clock inched its way to midnight. And then there arose, across a spectrum ranging from the scientists and engineers writing in the Bulletin of Atomic [...]

Call it H1N1 influenza virus or swine flu – I’m staying in tonight

With the World Health Organization (WHO) listing swine flu as a 5 (on a scale of 6) – as former Toronto Mayor Mel Lastman famously barked, “Who the hell is WHO?” – this public health watch reminds some of us, and some more than others, of SARS which was ravaging Toronto six years ago. In [...]

‘Every sperm is sacred’, is it not Pope Benedict!

To His Holiness Pope Benedict: Put an extra large condom over your mouth already. In fact, why not stretch it from your chin to your nose! Meanwhile enjoy Monty Python!

Join First Nations in demanding respect for indigenous rights

I hope to see some like-minded friends at Queen’s Park Monday. I’ll be as close as I can get to the northwest corner of the gathering. The week’s tentative schedule is available here.

Earth Hour countdown

Twenty days. Twenty thousand still images. A single message. Toronto Star photographer Lucas Oleniuk captures the issue of global warming in a video created entirely by using still images. It’s part of the countdown to Earth Hour, March 29. Watch it, please. It’s amazing. –   Site Meter

World AIDS Day – Remember and then act

World AIDS Day has, for me, often been a day of reflection on the lives lost in my circle of friends – and there have been many.  A visit to Toronto’s AIDS Memorial reinforces that fact. However, it is the fact that there are fewer friends dying nowadays – fewer names being added to the [...]

Smokies, The Cigarette Cereal

My friend Bob, still a smoker and still alive, is making a good case to quit.     Site Meter