Twenty years ago, you couldn’t pick up a newspaper without reading something about AIDS and HIV. I wrote my share of them. These days, almost nothing. We assume that the disease has been beaten. There are people who walk around with an HIV infection who may never get full-blown AIDS, and there are people with AIDS who are living and working amongst the rest of us, seemingly unaffected.
Today’s Journal Star article reminds up that the disease is still out there in the United States, still killing people, still causing health problems for those who are living with it. And there’s still the issues of bigotry, ignorance and misunderstanding, judging by the stories told in the article and some of the comments made by Journal Star readers.
Why in the world would someone like it their compassion to those who get sick in some ways, but not others?
Kudos to PJS reporter Clare Howard for the reminder.
Billy Dennis is a former reporter and editor at small daily and weekly newspapers in Illinois and Missouri. He comments on media, news and politics. He also owns and operates 
