$684,000,000: The amount of money that could be raised in one year for AIDS if legislation for a proposed European Union tax of 1 euro for domestic flights or 2 euros for international flights is enacted.

“The jury is still out as to whether crystal meth is leading to riskier behavior than other drugs.” —Rita Shahin, MD, Toronto’s associate medical officer of health, in the Toronto Star.

A 2004 LA study found that one-third of gay men testing positive for HIV had used crystal, up from one in 10 three years ago. Similar trends have been spotted across the U.S.

One vs. Two
Average time for the adoption of an Ethiopian child vs. how long it took starlet Angelina Jolie to adopt her Ethiopian AIDS orphan.

Headline of the Month
 “People With Dementia Can Be Dangerous.”
—The State, South Carolina’s largest newspaper, for a story on how the condition morphed family members into assailants and killers. It advised, “Never lock a demented person in a room alone.” As many as 13% of PWAs suffer from dementia each year.

“Mariah...was absolutely devastated.”
—An unnamed friend in the UK’s Daily Mirror on the second arrest of Mariah Carey’s HIV positive sister, Alison Carey, who was charged with prostitution. Mariah was said to have “put on a brave face at Live 8,” having just heard the news.

www.women-alive.org = “premier [U.S.] treatment-focused nonprofit by and for women living with HIV.”
womenalive.org = “empowering [Canadian] women to impact their sphere of influence with the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Ina recent South African study of circumcised and uncircumcised men, those who were circumcised appeared to have a reduced risk of female-to-male HIV infection by 70%

9.3—Percentage of U.S. women who most fear getting HIV of all illnesses in 2005
11.3—Percentage of U.S. women who most fear getting HIV of all illnesses in 2005
15—Percent by which female U.S. AIDS cases increased between 1999 and 2003

Want fries with that McDonald’s payout?

  • $10 million to vegetarian and religious groups, for failing to publicize that its french fries and hash browns contained beef flavoring
  • $4 million to the U.S. government, for failing to report more than 400 restaurant-playground injuries
  • $490,000 to HIVer  Russell Rich, for allegedly forcing him to resign because of his status. “I just want to get my meds,” says Rich, who’ll spend the money on his $145,000-a-year pill burden