Contagious and Infectious Diseases

David France on the Plague Years

The history and survival of ACT UP

'How to Survive a Plague': Who Saved the World?

David France on the stirring history of ACT UP

OC Health Care Agency's Veil of Vomit

Why are they still covering up an April outbreak of E. coli at a local restaurant?

A Closer Look At OC's Anti-Vaccination Cluster

South County parents are opting out of the CDC schedule altogether

Dr. Robert Sears Takes on Both Sides of the Great Vaccination Divide

The author of 'The Vaccine Book' presents his own alternatives to the CDC-recommended schedules kenneth m. ruggiano

Disneyland and AIDS Charity Sued for Darth Vader Swinging at Angry Bird But Hitting Lady

​A woman is suing Disneyland and the AIDS Services Foundation of Orange County in Superior Court because she claims her back was injured by a Disney employee dressed as Darth Vader and doing battle with a bird during the 2011 AIDS Walk Orange County at the Anaheim resort. If the incident had happe ... More >>

Rick and Kay Warren Bitch-Slap Prominent Christian Commentator about AIDS

​It's rare that we ever offer kind words about Saddleback Church's Rick Warren--scratch that, I do believe this is the first time EVER we'll ever offer kind words about Purpose-Driven® Rick. But we praise the good 'round here, and that's exactly what Warren and his wife, Kay, have done in taking ... More >>

'We Were Here': Interpreters of Maladies

Five San Franciscans remember the AIDS crisis

Help Musician Jon Alvarez Battle Lyme Disease

​Former Cypress College student Jon Alvarez is a talented bassist and has a website currently soliciting donations from supporters. It's not a Kickstarter campaign asking to raise money to fund a tour or recording project, though. It's a GiveForward page with a goal of $10,000 to help pay for ... More >>

Jennifer Veary, HIV Positive Nurse and Christian AIDS Activist, Seriously Injured When Van Clips Her Bike

​Jennifer Veary, a nurse who is HIV positive and has been described as a Christian HIV/AIDS activist "with a heart for Vietnam," was seriously injured Saturday when her head hit the pavement after her bike was clipped by a van near her Huntington Beach home.After being thrown over her handlebars, ... More >>

Taco Bell Crime of the Week: Lawsuits Allege Salmonella Poisoning!

​In 2010, the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention linked Taco Bell to a salmonella outbreak that left hundreds sick (but thankfully none dead). Two of those supposedly affected are now suing the company in Ohio courts, but I'm going to highlight the eating exploits of one of them affect ... More >>

Orange County Has First Flu-Related Death. Don't Be the Next

​Coughing, the sniffles and a fever aren't joking matters. For those of you putting off getting your flu shot, now may be the time to consider finding your nearest vaccination provider.Health officials have reported that Orange County experienced its first flu-related death this month, but they wo ... More >>

California Hospitals Must Now Report Infection Rates, Thanks To One Mother's Crusade

Carole MossNile Moss, who died in 2006 from a hospital-acquired infection​In 2006, 15-year-old Nile Moss went in for an annual series of tests at the Children's Hospital of Orange County. A few days later, he complained of a headache and fever, and his condition quickly worsened. His parents ... More >>

World AIDS Day is Marked in Orange County and Marked in Red in Downtown Long Beach

​Orange County does not go as ga-ga--Lady or otherwise--for World AIDS Day as many other municipalities (especially nearby Long Beach). But there are some commemorations today in the onetime gay mecca of Laguna Beach and Saturday in the future gay mecca of Santa Ana.

Shocker: AIDS Group Praises Dana Rohrabacher

Rohrabacher ​When it comes to healthcare reform you can count on Rep. Dana Rohrabacher to take a firm "no" stance, unless the so-called reform is sponsored by the insurance lobby.So it's a notable moment when a healthcare lobbying group enthusiastically praises Rohrabacher.It's even more notable w ... More >>

Andy Irons, Huntington Beach Surfing Walk of Fame Inductee and Legend, Dies at 32

Wikimedia CommonsAndy Irons, 1978-2010​Three-time surfing World Champ and legend Andy Irons has passed away at age 32. While the cause of death is still unconfirmed at the moment, Surfer reports that family sources say he passed during a layover flight from Puerto Rico to his home in Kauai, Hawaii ... More >>

1st OC Ride for AIDS Pushes Off Saturday

​Orange County's first Ride for AIDS event Saturday will wind riders through century (approximately 100 miles) and metric century (approximately 62 miles) courses that take in some of the region's most scenic spots in Santiago Canyon, Tustin, Corona del Mar, Laguna Beach and other areas. About 1 ... More >>

Dengue Fever Dream On

The Long Beach band blur the boundaries of language, genre and nationality

M.A.C. Gives Back

The Shops at MIssion Viejo

Swine Flu Deaths Quickly Jump 33% in OC, But Our Cats Are Safe . . . So Far

​ Eight Orange County adults died of swine flu last week, reports the Orange County Register via the county Health Care Agency. That 33 percent increase in local deaths brings the total H1N1-related fatalities in this blessed region of ours to 32. Most of those suffered pre-exis ... More >>

In Light of Braff: Five Bizarre Internet Hoaxes

Flickr user Thor Arvid​The world thought  Scrubs actor Zach Braff was dead yesterday for a few hours--suicide, they said. Turns out, it was just a Scrubs fan that had created a faker CNN page in 2007 that somehow resurfaced. In an age where someone's Wikipedia page is edited spookily quick to ... More >>

Feds and State to Californians: Ride Out Swine Flu Alone

CNN carried a report this morning on physicians at the University of Kansas telling students to avoid coming in to the campus health clinic if they contract the H1N1 swine flu virus and that they instead ride it out in their dorm rooms. That's keeping with federal guidelines ... More >>

Barbara Coe Adds Another Jewel to Her Crown of Conspiracies

​It would take me a while to list all the vile things and views California Coalition for Immigration Reform head Barbara Coe believes, but a short list includes: Reconquista, Sikhs and Muslims deserve deportation, Obama wasn't born in the United States, Sonny Bono was murdered because he knew too ... More >>

Swine Flu Deaths Spark Debate Over Nurses' Use of Masks

​Thanks to the swine flu, it is common to see nurses and other hospital workers wearing special respirator masks. This has put hospitals and nurses at loggerheads--not over whether the masks should be worn but how often they should be changed out.Even though Sacramento-area hospitals say their nur ... More >>

Evening for Hope and Possibility

Memphis at the Santora

Map Tracks How OC, Other Counties Fare With HIV/AIDS Rates

The National Minority Quality Forum created an online map to coincide with last month's National HIV Testing Day that shows what areas of the country have the most cases of HIV/AIDS. It's available here. You first have to register, free of charge, to use the map. You can then punch in a state, coun ... More >>

Internet Shocker: Dems Blast Dana for Swine Flu Snoozing

Where would the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) be without crazy congressman Dana Rohrabacher? He can always be counted on for fun and games and it seems like every day we get a press release from them about the guy--almost as many emails as we get from the Republicans bashing Lor ... More >>

What Do Pope, Larry Flynt, Mission Viejo Shoppers Have in Common?

Media reports that as many as 16 actors and actresses in the adult entertainment industry recently tested positive for HIV have prompted new calls for legislation requiring condom use in all porn videos shot in California. Opponents to condom use include the multi-billion dollar adult entertainment ... More >>

NYC AIDS Walk Gets Hillary Duff. We Get Vickie Vargas

New York's AIDS Walk opening ceremony hostessNew York City's biggest AIDS fundraiser of the year, Sunday's AIDS Walk in Central Park, will be led by actress-singer Hillary Duff, who will serve as co-host of the opening ceremony and walk with her "Hillary Duff-Walk with Love" team.Orange County gets ... More >>

Dengue Fever

Ask the Doctor

Ask the Doctor

Ed McKie Has Been Stymied in His Efforts to Create a Safe Space for Gay Meth Addicts in Santa Ana

Speak Out

Elegies for Angels, Punks 
and Raging Queens

The Future Is Now!

Beirut is a timeless metaphor of the past

Hearts 
of Gold

Sea of Hearts

Wake Up

World Vision Experience: AIDS

Beach Break: Swimming in shit

Three months ago, Heal the Bay, a Santa Monica-based environmental group, released its 17th Annual Beach Report Card. Although the group noted an overall improvement in the quality of water at California beaches, it reported that Long Beach had suffered a “dramatic drop in water quality” during ... More >>

Got HIV/AIDS? Kick Hillary Clinton

Perhaps preoccupied by the GOP man-boy love case in the lower house, the U.S. Senate over the weekend failed to reauthorize the Ryan White CARE Act and with it about $6 million annually that helps Orange County deal with a growing HIV population and increasing number of AIDS cases, alerts the AIDS S ... More >>

25 years later

It was twenty-five years ago today, June, 5, 1981, that the first cases of what would become known as HIV/AIDS were reported in the Centers for Disease Control's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. It was by no means the beginning of the disease– a recent study has identified the earliest i ... More >>

AIDS 'n' Pagans

This Sunday (a day named to honor Egyptian sun god Ra), Orange County pagans, witches, warlocks (maybe Moorlachs?) and other so-called heathens are using their mystic powers to fight the AIDS. That's right, I said pagans. Monotheistic religions are so passe. AIDS was first noticed in America when, i ... More >>

Cognizance

AIDS Walk Orange County

Rent Scam

Musical’s success continues to film, but the question remains: Was the real author ripped off?

Not Not Guilty

Dr. K quietly settles suits involving faked AIDS drugs

No Gay Blood, Please

Crisis or not, only straights can donate to the Red Cross

Planet of the AIDS

The Gay Inferno

Fabulous Hell doesnt try to promote the upbeat living-with-AIDS story

Letters

Juvenile Justice

OC judge requires controversial public declaration of witnesses' HIV status

This Sister Oughta Be Famous

But of local publicity, this world-famous AIDS activist gets nun

AIDS Shouldn't Feel This Good

The Last Session rocks in a powerful, poignant Laguna staging