Stayin ahead of the Curve and Onpoint...

What! It's Monday morning and I'm back in the big seat rapidly hitting the keyboard to meet my own self imposed deadline. It's was a hell of weekend as I tried to see just how well I could burn the candle from both ends and still make this forum come to life. Apparently, I pulled through and here I am throwing down the who, what ,when and "say what?" of area news, updates, links, and the kitchen sink. So, let me at em...!

A delegating we go: Talk about smack down politics..this last weekend was the State Democratic Convention held in Little Rock at the Robinson Auditorium. I was in attendance seeking the possibility of being a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Denver. However, I was outwitted, outplayed and outdone with the process and I wasn't alone. Even though I feel enrich for the experience, confident within my self for my effort, and proud to have taken a very public stance, the overall process is somewhat problematic. I can't even begin to detail every aspect, but here are a couple:

1. After filing, there were no"details" as to exactly what is expected of the delegate candidate or any guide book on what's acceptable and not. For instance, I didn't receive a mailing list of attendees from my district at filing nor was I advise too by anyone supposedly in charge. However, later on got a copy from a fellow contender "Yellow Dog Democrat Mel" who was trying to find her way through this maze as well. A big thanks and shout to ya, Mel.

2. I was also puzzled at the fact that even though their were several candidates from the GLBTQ community statewide. I sensed lackluster networking, support or outreach to assist those participating. Hello, somebody? Wouldn't it have been great to have a GLBT entity that could have at least sought out who was seriously participating and perhaps did at little as even announced it? Ultimately, Rep. Kathy Webb ( who I met on the fly) was elected a Clinton Committed Delegate from District 2, and I "think" there was someone else from NWA. But to my consternation he was overly and extremely concerned with being "outed" despite his demeanor which spoke volumes. Need I say more. And oh yes, there was GLBTQ support( although on the downlow) from the other side of aisle for Senator Obama. Congrats to Pat O'Brien and Miss Annie A. on their selection.

Ah yes, Democracy..., it's a strange and narry a wonderful thing that changes every four years whether we like it or not. I'm glad that I got to see it more up close and from within. It's important that more of the electorate, that means more of you and you and you find out what's really going on and take part!

AIDS in Arkansas: Last week we offered post concerning interesting factoids and the dollar flow into those agencies serving the HIV/AIDS community. Those posting were in response to clients who have a "no confidence" attitude toward some agencies both small and large charged with directing services. Adding to those post, there has been a call for a "HIV support meeting" with figure heads such as Donnie Smith, Gary Horton, Paul Halverson and other interested parties to address inconsistencies, structure, means testing and misinformation as perceived by endusers of the systems. There has been no date set, but the volly of questions and concerns are long and indepth. In the next post, I will be sharing some of those questions and more of my own as this forum continues to flesh out what's right and wrong with AIDS in Arkansas.