The AIDS Boomerang

Articles — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 20:26:00 -0400

TORONTO -- Remember the 60s song, I fought the law and the law won? Forty years after the tune came out, people are still humming it, at least I am -- although I’ve changed the lyrics a bit to sum up the political consequences of this AIDS conference. I’m not sure that the 24,000 delegates would like the new lyric I’ve thought up for them, but here goes, anyway: I fought AIDS and the Right won.

What does that mean? Well, let’s consider three true statements about the last 25 years:

First, AIDS has skyrocketed, from zero to 28 million… more

Hope Glimmers in AIDS Fight

Articles — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 01:14:00 -0400

TORONTO -- You definitely see and hear it all at an international AIDS conference. But amidst the cacophony, some constructive voices can still be identified.

The 24,000 conferees all want to be visible and vocal -- as do some who aren’t even here. On Sunday, for example, Robert Gallo, co-discoverer of the AIDS virus back in the ‘80s, was quoted on the front page of The Toronto Star as saying that the conference was "irrelevant" and "silly." He added that if it takes celebrity star power (Richard Gere, Alicia Keys) to get people to come to such a conference, "then you’ve… more