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Romancing Stone
I cannot agree more with Sharon Stone (“Precious Stone,” December 2007). As Stone points out, more and more Americans have no insurance, including us living with HIV/AIDS. Without insurance, access to lifesaving medications becomes very limited. Often you are placed on waiting lists to obtain free medications, and the waits can be long. In addition, more and more funds for HIV/AIDS are being cut. The lack of medical insurance is a crisis in the U.S., but nothing is being done. It appears all the major financial support is focused on Africa.

I enjoyed your article “Precious Stone” and the words of Ms. Stone. She cuts through, with chilling bravery, the reality that today’s HIV-positive status is ultimately a death sentence that needs to be recognized as such. Without that recognition, complacency will dominate and loss will touch us all.

Since all life ends with death, how we live is the challenge, the quality and the beauty of life. I thank POZ for bringing Ms. Stone’s quality and beauty to our attention and to Ms. Stone, I say thank you and bravo!

Your article on Sharon Stone’s AIDS fund-raising efforts was a rare gem. When I see a glamorous, high-profile movie star like Ms. Stone take center stage on our behalf, it makes me less afraid and less ashamed. She has chosen raising children and giving back to the community over a self-indulgent lifestyle. It’s all about making positive choices.

Gone Fishin’
Thank you for the very inspirational story “Northern Disclosure” (December 2007). I have been positive since 1991, and I was only 26 at the time of my diagnosis. Your story [about fishing in Alaska] reminded me of the times hat I went fishing with my grandfather. I hadn’t thought about that in years.

You made me smile today.

I’d like to think that one could feel “strong” without subjecting another living thing [such as a fish] to pain for sport. I think I’ll stick to photography and other creative (rather than destructive) outlets for strength, personally.

Conspiracy Theory
Why would the government or anybody want to find a cure (“Suspicious Minds,” December 2007)? There is too much money for pharmaceutical shareholders and stockholders to lose out on. Think about it. If they had cures for most illnesses, they would lose out on billions of dollars. Heck, there is no cure for the common cold, yet people spend billions of dollars on over-the-counter drugs. These people want you to be sick or they wouldn’t have a job.

Corrections: In “Hot Dates,” November 2007 POZ, we stated that 89 percent of the $250,000 in funding pledged by Bristol Myers-Squibb to the National AIDS Fund to prevent HIV and help those in need would go to the community. One hundred percent of those funds were given to support people living with HIV/AIDS.

Regarding “The South Shall Rise Again,” November 2007 POZ: The National AIDS Fund (NAF) has been supported by grants of $1.55 million from the Ford Foundation and $250,000 from the Elton John AIDS Foundation—to provide a total of $1.8 million dollars that the NAF allocated in “Southern REACH” grants to nine states in the American South.