Chongo, you might better send Cheetah over for the rest of the bottle.

Muskrat, i've had about enough of you twisting everything around to suit your dogma. And Steve, what's this about you saying "died in my arms etc." I only wish. I wish I had been there more for my friend Pat during the ten years he suffered with Aids.

I won't bore you with details about Pat. On the other hand, maybe I will. First off, he was 1000 % Irish. Not by anything he said but his entire being. Flaming red hair and freckles all over. Had a voice as soft and sweet as a whisper, eternally non-judgemental, the type of person you could open up your heart to without being afraid. Should have been a priest.

We became friends in high school when we were in the same musical and hung out after that and went off to the same Ivy League School 25 miles from home so we could back. We watched comedies. We shared everything- especially dinner. As soft and sweet as his voice was, when he laughed, it was so loud and raucous, I think it reverberated off the walls. It did.

So now, I must tell you that I also agree with Akenaton on this second point. There is no campaign too extreme to get rid of this thing. McGrath, you mentioned the situation in Africa. That just goes to show you how bad it can get without the appropriate intervention. Look at how we treat TB. Same thing without the stigma. I'll take the stigma if that's what it takes. Pat was a baby. He never even reached the age of 30. He left me behind.

What can I say? Some of us prioritize life and death over propriety. As my grandma would say, "Put that in your pipe and smoke it."