2010 World AIDS Day

It's December 1, and that means we have reached another observance of World AIDS Day    

Since the first observance of it in 1988 as a method of raising awareness of HIV and AIDS the disease has killed more than 25 million people worldwide since 1981, and it's estimated that 33.2 million people worldwide live with HIV.

It's also an issue in the trans community, which is why I'm writing about World AIDS Day.    Various needs assessments have documented infection rates in trans populations of up to 25%.    Some trans people contracted it through sharing needles due to silicone pumping party injections with an infected person, engaging in unprotected sex either with an infected partner or while performing sex work.   


The 2010 theme for World AIDS day is Universal Access and Human Rights.   In this current climate in which people with privilege arrogantly think they can run roughshod over the rights of others, it's even more important to stand up for folks who are fighting to live with HIV/AIDS and say 'hell no you can't'.


I have dear freind who are living with HIV, and have lost dear friends, classmates and family members  to AIDS.   So on this day I take a moment to think about the people we've lost, the folks struggling to live a quality life while battling HIV, and pray that a cure is found for it as expeditiously as possible.

2011 Women's World Cup Draw

On Monday the draw to put together the groups for the initial phase of the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was held in Frankfurt.

The only thing we knew going into the draw that happened at 12:00 PM CST my time yesterday was that two time defending FIFA women's world champion and host nation Germany was in Group A.

That's a nice segue into who the other members of that group will be.  Canada, Nigeria and France are the other three nations in what has turned out by some soccer analysts reckoning as the 2011 FIFA women's tournament's 'Group of Death'.   

Group B is comprised of Japan, New Zealand,  our southern neighbors Mexico and England

Group C is consider by some analysts to be the other tournament 'Group of Death' and is made up of the United States, North Korea, Colombia and Sweden

Group D will have Marta-led Brazil, Australia, Equatorial Guinea and Norway

To break down what this all means, check out the analysis from the Women's Professional Soccer website


The 2011 Women's World Cup will kick off June 26 with the two time defending champion Germans playing in Berlin's Olympic Stadium against Canada.

Our Canadian neighbors are pissed because they didn't get a top seed despite winning five straight matches to take the CONCACAF title.

Send your attack beavers to FIFA headquarters, people.   They made the decision to go by world ranking, which is how the number one ranked Team USA got one of the group seeds despite having to do the two leg playoff with the Italians to get in. .


After that opening match in Berlin with the Germans, Canada's Group A tournament road doesn't get any easier.  They take on France in Bochum on June 30 and finish July 5 with the Super Falcons of Nigeria in Dresden.   

Mexico takes on England in Wolfsburg on June 27, Japan in Leverkusen on July 1 and closes Group B play with their math against New Zealand in Sinsheim on July 5  

The first Group C match for FIFA number one ranked Team USA will be on June 28 in Dresden against North Korea.   They'll then face off July 2 in Sinsheim against Colombia and finish group play in Wolfsburg on July 6 against Sweden

Top two teams in each group go to the knockout  round and we'll need to be paying very close attention to what's going on in Groups A and D.  

If Team USA wins Group C, they'll be matched up against the Group D runner up on July 10 in Augsburg.    However, it would also be in the upper half of the bracket with the Group A winner.  If Team USA is the runner up, they would play the Group D champ in Dresden on July 10

If things break right for Team USA and they keep winning, the defending 2008 Olympic champs will hopefully find themselves in Frankfurt on July 17 playing for their third world championship. 

15 other teams have that same dream, and we''ll see in a few months how this all plays out.