World AIDS Day

Today, December 1st is World AIDS Day. [Google] [website] [Studentsfight]
HIV/AIDS is something that I feel very strongly about. My uncle Scott died of AIDS in 1994. I think of him constantly.
We need to do more as a society, as a country, as humans, to spread awareness of this deadly virus. I heard a statistic today that 70% of 18-year olds have had sex at least once. The Bush Administration has not only stopped all efforts to try to teach safe sex to our students, but has thwarted any attempts to educate our children about safe sex. They preach abstinence, which is good...but it can't be the only option (and well, try to tell a horny teenager to keep it in his pants). We need to teach everyone about safe sex: condoms, protection, selecting partners carefully, etc, and yes, abstinence. [Advocatesforyouth]

Tom Brokaw retires tonight. I'll actually be sad to see him go. He's one of the few with integrity. Brokaw coined the term "The Greatest Generation" referring to the World War II veterans. His swan song airs tonight on NBC at 5:30-6 PM Central time. [MSNBC] [CNN]

Kristof on China. Sounds more like the US all the time. We don't even protect our journalists or their sources anymore. Well, not the right ones anyways. [NYT]