I am re-printing the following “Call To Action” for all lovers of  Dressage who, like me, are committed to having a World-Class show grounds along with the Global Dressage Festival Series here in Wellington.  PLEASE, if you want to see the bright future so many of us have dreamed about for decades, where the world comes to us for the finest competitions on the finest facilities anywhere, come out tomorrow night (Wednesday, December 14th) and have your voice count! 

This Tuesday evening’s “Dover’s World” will be one show you truly don’t want to miss!  Tune into WBZT(AM1230.Clear Channel) in the Palm Beaches and LIVE AROUND THE WORLD from 6:05pm to 8pm EST as we celebrate America’s “National Day of the HORSE!!!  My first hour will be devoted to local, national and international news of the horse industry and I will bring you up to date on the outrageous attack by the so-called, “Wellington Equestrian Alliance” against our underway Global Dressage Festival Show Grounds.  I encourage you to tune in and call in to 561-844-6167 or toll-free from anywhere to 800-889-0267 and show that we Dressage people WILL band together to have what we have dreamed about and deserve - a World-Class Show Grounds and Series, including all the amenities present at the finest European shows!

My 2nd hour is going to be AMAZING!  My ”Special Guests” could not be more appropriate for this, The National Day of the HORSE !   The famed protagonist and activist, “Wild Horse Annie ( aka, Velma Johnston) was responsible for, 40 years ago this December 15th, the act in congress called ”The Free Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act”.  And today, the stories of three fearless women, Laura Laigh, Ginger Kathrens, and Karen Sussman are  heartwrenching and at the same time incredibly uplifting and we will tell them together from 7:05pm to 8om EST. 

In her own words, ” Laura” said it best , ” I came into this issue with the mindset that the “truth” of a story can only be revealed if it is “lived”.  So I set off and literally immersed myself in the issue and discovered that Wild Horses and Burros have an act of Congress devoted to their protection, but the U.S. government programs look much more like pest extermination.  During the 2009 Calico roundup, I found a foal that had just been rounded up.  His hooves were separating from his body 9literally falling off) from running for far too long in front of a helicopter.  I asked to adopt and care for him and was later told he had been euthanized.  I named him “Hope Springs Eternal”, and in my heart I still have “Hope”.  This is who I am and why I do what I do……”    Laura Lieghis an award winning illustrator, journalist/ photojournalist with many TV and magazine credits and is leading the fight to save our wild horses, in and out of the courts.  I urge you to tune in and call in tomorrow evening at the numbers supplied above and show your support for these 3 great women and their fantastic work on behalf of our beloved HORSES!

Cheers!

RD

First, I want to thank everyone very much for sending in so many great messages of encouragement here on DoversWorld as well as to my facebook regarding my response to the so-called “Wellington Equestrian Allinace.”  You see, they don’t care if we have some arenas out in the field which once was our Polo Stadium, c0mplete with permanent, huge grandstands as well as many stalls.  Of course, it was replaced by a far more beautiful home for polo, with not only the above but also two great restaurants, a club-house with a very large pool and room for many more excited lovers of the sport.  It is world-class though I can remember when the building of it caused a big uproar in our town, just as was the case when the Wellington Equestrian Partners produced plans to create from what my great friend, Gene Mische began many years before, a truly fantastic and once again, world-class show grounds for Jumpers and Hunters.  Gene was such a great friend who listened to some of us as well as a few big sponsors who wanted Dressage to be a part of his shows and tried to organize them for us as long as he lived and was a part of the Winter Equestrian Festival.  But so many horses on limited grounds proved to be impossible and we Dressage people kept being moved further and further away and made to feel like second class citizens that, were it not for the McPhails who own White Fences and The Gold Coast Dressage Organization which started running nice shows at the Jim Brandon Center outside of Wellington, we would literally have had nothing.  I have nothing but admiration for those two groups and all their hard work on behalf of our sport!  Still, I have spent most of my adult life representing America on international Teams from the Olympics to World Championships and in World Cups and I have competed on the finest show grounds in the world.  Clearly, up until now, we have not had, other than for the World Equestrian Games and at World Cups in Las Vegas, a venue which even closely resembled something like Rotterdam, Wiesbaden or Lingen, no less Aachen!

So here’s the thing.  After a lot of discussions with Mark Bellissimo, Michael Stone and the WEP partners, and with the help of some wonderful people like Kim Boyer, Tuny Page and others, we created the beginning of what I and so many other Dressage folk have dreamed about for ever - an Aachen-style show grounds for Dressage right here in the heart of Wellington.  Everyday, on my way to work, I would pass by the old Polo stadium, now dilapidated and looking useless, and I said that the size of this property was exactly the size of the Aachen Show grounds, including all the stabling and the jumping arenas!  Just think, I thought, of what we could create here for Dressage, right on the most fabulous parcel of land historically devoted to Equestrian Sport.  Aachen has it all: fabulous stadiums, great warm-up arenas, the finest of tribunes from which to watch the competition, retail areas where even the most discriminating buyer can find and purchase everything from couture clothing to furniture and antiques to everything and anything “horsey”, a multitude of restaurants where one can dine casually or like royalty (sometimes right next to “Royalty!”), and the electric atmosphere which one now feels the second one sets foot onto the Jumping show grounds during the $500,000.00 evening class here in Wellington.  Who could not absolutely LOVE that feeling and not want that for our sport of Dressage?

Well, the “Alliance” may be ultra-rich, even if they are very few and not at all a true alliance of equestrians from all the disciplines and inclusive of everyone, most definitely not me.  But even with their ability to spend enough money to send out their ridiculous posters spreading lies and hoping to scare residents into helping them to halt the progress of our world-class facility, with all the gorgeous arenas and amenities we all saw on the renderings last year, just as David slew Goliath, Dressage people will stand up for what they want and know they deserve.  Further, anyone who truly wants the best interest for Wellington will realize how much the building of The Global Dressage Festival Show Grounds will mean to the economy as Europeans and trainers, riders, owners, staff, and so many others choose to come for winter season to live the great life we have here in our town while competing in the richest Series of Dressage shows on one venue in the world!  Realtors, business owners, farm and home owners wishing to sell or rent, restaurants, hotels ( Too bad there have always been so few and not such great ones close by.) and all the show organizers in the area will flourish far beyond their present situation.

Sadly, like the words in the famous movie, “There’s been a failure to communicate”, which is obvious when one reads the “Alliance” poster saying Mark wants to build a “Shopping mall, an RV park, a high-rise condominium (5 stories is a low-rise walk-up in New York or any city.), a fairground.  Not one of those things they say Mark is planning behind his “thin viel” of producing our world-class show grounds is true.  The renderings show exactly what is planned and have been available for almost a year now.  And, of course, we lower class, “Dressage people”, by having our Aachen-style grounds in Wellington would bring with us ” increased crime, traffic congestion, noise, loss of neighbourhood green space, increased danger to horses, riders, and handlers, declining home values,  and OMG….worse than that…..CHANGE, UNCERTAINTY, ANXIETY, and INSECURITY!  I’m pretty sure those guys have been living with the last two for decades now anyway. :)   At the end of the day, we know that none of what they wrote is true or makes sense, especially since the creation of world class Jumping and Polo show gorunds did not ruin Wellington already, but rather increased people’s desire from around the world to make their homes here, just as new resident, Bill Gates, has chosen to do this season.  Out Global Dressage Festival Show Grounds  with everything it will offer is goung to take us to new heights and finally give our Dressage community what it has needed and deserved for ever.  Please continue to join me and make your statements below or under my previous post. You know, even though they are misguided, I have actually thought of most of the members of the so-called “Alliance” as friends in the past and bet, when it is all said and done and we have our fabulous show grounds for Dressage, we will once again be a family.  We may fight and be dysfunctional like most families, but we all have one thing in common as a good friend reminded me today - we all love horses!  So, Goliath, though Dressage may not be as big and tough or as rich as you, we will win this and then we  will allow you to lick your wounds and come home into the family that is the “True Wellington Equestrian Community”.

Cheers!

RD

I woke up this morning with only thoughts of taking my Mom to the Cleveland Clinic to hear the oncologist’s report on her cancer as well as concerns with having to finally place my Dad in an Alzheimer’s facility in Texas.  Life has a way of reminding us that it goes by way too fast and how important it is to have our loved ones and the friends you trust (including our wonderful 4-legged ones) around you at all times.   With the help of amazing sponsors, great horses, and a passion for the sport I love, I have had a great career including the honor of representing our great nation on the dressage team at six Olympic Games.  Life, however, is full of imposters, whose posing, scheming, and distortions have the sole intention of pursuing their own agenda regardless of truth usually at a great cost to others.   One of the keys in life is identifying, exposing, avoiding, and then overcoming their disruptions.  We all have had our experiences and stories to share!

So while checking my morning email, I have to tell you how shocked I was to read the Newsletter that was sent to me stating that the “Wellington Equestrian Preservation Alliance was doing all it can to “stop controversial developer Mark Bellissimo and Wellington Equestrian Partners from destroying and ruining the equestrian preserve.” The newsletter was full of angry terms that incite. Terms like scheming, speculation, declining home values, crime, uncertainty, anxiety, insecurity, increased danger to horses, noise, traffic congestion, lack of green space, the list goes on.  Then I read about the high-rise condominiums, a mall, a fairgrounds, and an RV Park. It was a negative, intentionally inaccurate, full of exaggeration, fear mongering campaign only meant to once again to scare and disrupt this community that I call home and love. It was time to take a deep breath, reflect, and voice my opinions.           

I first thought about the project. 

The Equestrian Village is a 59 acre parcel (coincidentally exactly the same size as that of the great Aachen Show). The plans have been published for a long time (in my opinion they are gorgeous in every way!).  I am someone who has been involved in this project from the start.   There is no RV Park, there is no fairgrounds, there are some retail stores (it is not a mall), there is a 5 story condo/hotel (not a high rise as the current village limit is 3 stories, more of a low rise).  It is meant to be an architectural landmark for the community. We can agree or disagree on style but we need a landmark and a piece of architecture in the community and, no offense, the Wellington Mall isn’t it.   The vast majority of the project, (I think 42 of the 59 acres) is a world class equestrian facility that will from the start be one of the finest dressage facilities in the world.   It will host the Global Dressage Festival and it will have the most fantastic impact on dressage in the world as trainers, owners and riders come from Europe and everywhere else to compete in the top international shows and enjoy the sun and fun that is our Wellington lifestyle.  Consider that all of these newcomers will need housing for themselves and their horses as well as all the other staples of daily life that will drive our economy to new heights in our town.  Beyond that, for American Dressage, it will mean that for the first time, the top riders of the world will come to us instead of us always having to travel for extended periods of time to show against them on their show grounds.  The sport will shift from being so Euro-centric to one in which North America and Wellington in particular will be “The Place to Be” each winter season!  It was designed as a safe place for horses and residents of the entire community to enjoy our sport and a place where a visitor can stay and stable their horse.  Residents can enjoy and participate in demonstrations in the courtyard shops (again not a mall).  It is not in the “heart” of the equestrian preserve but rather at the “mouth” as a gateway to our amazing world and a connection point to the community.

Then I thought about the people. 

Lou Jacobs, son of Billionaire Jerry Jacobs whose 100 acre mansion and estate is down the street from the proposed facility, is now the President of the so-called “Wellington Equestrian Preservation Alliance”.   I found a great quote from a Google search from Nov 29th, 2006 Palm Beach Post Story. In response to a question as to where he would move the Showgrounds he responded, “We have three attractive alternatives, none in Wellington.”  In his opinion the current facility was not capable of being a world class facility. It was his family that sat on the board of Stadium Jumping for years as SJI’s inaction in purchasing the facility and investing in the facility and footing led to a rapid decline culminating in the embarrassing 2006 Global Champions Tour where because of poor footing both riders and horses actually were in danger and did get hurt. It was the threats to move the Showgrounds that created a mini-civil war in 2007 where many of their friends joined the opposition Wellington Equestrian Partners. Gene Mische, who was my dear friend, whose vision created Wellington, but never had the support behind him to realize his full dream.  Lou didn’t believe that the Palm Beach Polo Equestrian Club could be a world class facility.  Wellington Equestrian Partners did and their vision became the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) and the newly improved booming Winter Equestrian Festival.  Aside from Lou’s father owning a large property in Wellington, I am unaware of any great accomplishments or contributions that Lou Jacobs or the Alliance has made to this community.  So now the person who didn’t help Gene when he could, then tried to move the Showgrounds out of Wellington when it faltered, and to my knowledge, has really never done anything for this community, and whose first newsletter is full of negative, inaccurate, divisive, exaggerated commentary is now the self-appointed preservationist of all things equestrian.  I don’t think so.   

Mat Forrest.  Executive Director of the Alliance.  From my understanding, when asked by the mayor in a recent hearing, if he ever attended a jumping event he embarrassingly said no.  An Outsider. uninformed lobbyist.  Enough said.

Neil Hirsch.  All I can say if he wants to fight our dream for a world class dressage destination and won’t support our vision then I won’t support his restaurant the Player’s Club and I might suggest to all my Dressage/Equestrian friends that they don’t either.  The great thing about the growth of Wellington is that there are a lot of fantastic, new restaurants to enjoy.  If you’re interested, I can post a list. :) 

Jane Forbes Clark. Disappointment, but no Comment.

Michael Whitlow. An amateur with no idea of the needs or dreams of our Dressage community and just following the rest of his little “cliub”.

Mark Bellissimo and the Wellington Equestrian Partners.  I watched in horror five years ago as the same players led by Mason Phelps and his alter ego, Hildegarde Frostbite, and the Old Guard brutalized Mark Bellissimo, his family, and the motives of Wellington Equestrian Partners in blogs and in the local and national equestrian media.  In their eyes, he would destroy the event, the facility, the fabric of the community, our equestrian way of life. Through eerily similar scare tactics and attacks they declared that it was the “beginning of the end” of Wellington.  I can never remember Mark defending himself once or he or the WEP Partnership ever slinging mud or making a negative comment.  Instead of stooping to their level, he organized an amazing group of partners (many of them are my dear friends), communicated their vision, laid out an ambitious 4 year plan, executed the plan by spending over $30 million dollars during a crazy financial crisis that affected us all, and aggressively built what is arguably now one of the finest facilities in the world the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center. The Winter Equestrian Festival is now considered one of the top shows in world and is attracting new riders and families from all over the world.  He was relentless and overcame every obstacle from every individual that was protecting their back yard.  He did it with great vision, passion, enthusiasm, and determination for this community.  He and his partners actually executed Gene’s dream.  The shows are now drawing huge record crowds from across the community and county.  Wellington Equestrian Partners are truly the one’s protecting the equestrian community by doing things, not protecting the community by stopping/blocking progress.    I wrote in my blog last year that during the Nations cup I felt like I was at European Horse Show.  The Wellington equestrian hunter/jumper world has never been stronger.  Mark recently won the Palm Beach county economic leadership award for the county for doubling the annual economic impact of WEF from $59 million to $120 million over the last five years.  Mark and the WEP partnership created the Great Charity Challenge that has raised and distributed over $1.5 million dollars to 50 Palm Beach charities over the last two years. I understand they are now launching a Wellington Public school initiative to make the sport accessible to children in the community. (I would love to help).  They did what they said they were going to do - and then some!    Their most recent December 2011 Wellington Magazine has a cover story that highlights WEP’s accomplishments. http://issuu.com/floridamagazinepublishers/docs/wellingtonthemagazinedec2011?mode=embed&showFlipBtn=true

Then I thought about the future.

My sport, Dressage, deserves the same level of commitment and attention as that of the Jumpers and Polo.   Dressage has been the orphan sport of this community.   Last year I got three of the WEP Partners, Roger Smith, Bruce Duchossois, and Kim Boyer, to organize a meeting with Mark.   We collaboratively laid out a plan for the future of Dressage in Wellington. I was excited because I knew that if Mark and WEP were behind it would get done and done well.  I presented my vision. I presented my dream.

Now this group, the Wellington Equestrian Preservation Alliance, a group that has no meaningful track record in Wellington, outside of being wealthy and large land owners and it would appear are only experts at negativity, scare tactics, and obstruction through their teams of lawyers and lobbyists are launching a campaign to block this amazing opportunity for my sport and my community.   As they were wrong in 2007 about Wellington Equestrian Partners and their intent, they are wrong now and will suffer the same fate – a disappointing loss.  I am disgusted that a tiny clique of insulated, wealthy landowners and a couple of others with axes to grind are launching a class war by declaring that community families, the young, the elderly, my own friends and family, that we welcome with open arms to share our passion and our sport, whether they come from Loxahatchee, Wellington, Palm Beach County, across the country or from around the world will bring with them “crime” that will add to the “anxiety”, ”uncertainty”, and “insecurity” of my community. 

So my friends, this is a call to action, much like the one which I made last winter when well over 100 Dressage enthusiasts piled into the Equestrian Club and were so excited by the news of a permanent, world-class dressage facility and series for our sport,  Now, I am calling all lovers of Dressage, and equestrian sport in general, to make your voices heard to these few naysayers with personal motives and agendas and tell them….’We are a major part of this community and have been here as long as there have been horse shows.  We spend millions of dollars in Wellington for our homes, farms and businesses and we deserve and shall have our Global Dressage Festival and the world-class facilities as described in detail for the past year.  We will raise the bar for International Dressage shows with our series which will inevitably bring more riders and horses to all the Dressage competitions held in the Wellington area.  I have spoken with a large number of people from across this community who have reacted to the Alliance newsletter and are extremely disappointed that these people with no track record are attempting to create another civil war in Wellington and attempting to hi-jack the Wellington Equestrian Partners success. They are misjudging this community.  Given the opportunity to place a bet on Lou Jacobs and the Alliance versus Mark Bellissimo and WEP, my money and my dream is on Mark and his partnership. I am sure that this is true for many in the community.  Lou and the Alliance had their opportunity to guide this community and they failed.  The Wellington Equestrian Preservation Alliance should take all of the money they are spending on lawyers, lobbyists, and media and spend it productively on a local charity (Equestrian Aid Foundation would gladly accept the money) or contributing to this community not breaking it down through scare tactics and class warfare. Alternatively stay in your enormous gated properties with tall hedges surrounding yourselves and continue your rants and distortions in private.  Either way the community will benefit.   This you can be sure, Wellington will be home to the very best Jumping, Polo and DRESSAGE!  YES, Dressage!  

Who are the imposters?  You be the judge!

RD

As you all know, I have been reporting on and giving my opinion regarding the latest craziness in which a bill has been signed once again allowing for horses to be slaughtered in the United States.  No one I know has spent more time and energy working to stop the transportation of and slaughter of horses by killers in America and abroad then my friend, Victoria McCullough.  I asked her what she thought of the situation and her reply is below.  My sentiments exactly!

Congressman Moran who led our fight to defund the inspections is outraged ,He created and leads The Animal Welfare Caucus in Congress and we will fight this as soon as the session begins in January .I will travel to Tallahassee with Rep Abruzzo D Wellington who is opening the session of The House allowing the two of us to remind our State Legislators that we will remain committed to our equine protection . Joseph is truly dedicated to ending all animal abuse ,a new NO Kill Bill is slated for passage in june to try to force The State to foul the cycle of senseless euthanasia of our canine and feline pets 

Join me for a very diverse show tomorrow evening from 6:05pm to 8pm EST on WBZT (AM1230, Clear Channel) in the Palm Beaches and LIVE AROUND THE WORLD right here at DoversWorld.com.  My first guest and I go back over 20 years and has had a true impact on my life and the lives of many of my friends and colleagues.  Dr. Vinny is most definitely “The Dentist to the Equestrian Stars!”  he not only corrected my teeth , giving me for the first time as an adult aa smile I am proud of, but by doing so changed my self-image and gave me more confidence when speaking in public.  Your teeth are way more connected to your physical and mental health than you can imagine and in ways you wouldn’t know if it were not for great Dentists like Dr. Vinny.  Join me by calling in to speak to ”The Doctor” at 561-844-6167 or toll-free from anywhere to 1-800-889-0267.  He and I would love to hear from YOU!

 And my Special Guest in the second hour of “Dover’s World is Alexander Zilo, Vice-President of the USPREA. We will discuss his recent trip to Spain’s largest competition and festival for the Pure Spanish Horse.  This comes just as HGF Grandioso has once again shown his talent at the CDI 4* in Salzburg, Austria, by placing 4th in the very strong Grand Prix with over 68% in his first season at this level!  And his son, HGF Fiero, which happens to be my 3 year old stallion, will compete in his first class of his life on December 10th in the 3 year old division under his rider, Nicholas Fyffe.  Very exciting!

I will also be speaking out again against the recent bill that reinstated the law allowing for horses to be slaughtered in America.  This travesty comes just as, on December 13th, we are about to commemorate The National Day of the HORSE!  What’s more, on December 15th, it will be the 40th anniversary of the “Free Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act” of congress.  And on Christmas Day, Steven Spielberg’s movie adaptation of the amazing play, War Horse, will spectacularly remind all of us again just how much horses have done for mankind throughout civilization.  And this is how we treat them?  Can you F#*%ING believe it?!

I hope you will tune in from 6:05pm to 8pm EST to WBZT (AM1230, Clear Channel) in the Palm Beaches and LIVE AROUND THE WORLD right here at DoversWorld.com and call in with your comments and questions for me and my guests to 561-844-6167 or toll-free from anywhere to 1-800-889-0267.  Remember,  I want to hear from YOU!

Cheers!

RD

Dover’s World has now been on the air just over 1 year and I cannot tell you how much I appreciate all of you who have truly made the show take off  not only in America but around the world!  Last week we had a record number of listeners as well as people calling in from every corner of the country to give their opinions on the travesty of a newly signed bill allowing once again the slaughter of horses in the United States.  If this were happening to dogs, the only other animal to have given so much to human civilization, there would be such a unified  uprising as to make “Occupy Wall Street” look like a picnic! 

It is especially ironic that all this is happening  just ahead of  Tuesday, December 13th, The National Day Of  The Horse!  I am honored to be having Wild Horse activist, Laura Leigh, on my show that evening to tell of her amazing life in the pursuit of saving the wild Mustangs throughout America.  It comes directly on the heels of the 40 year anniversary of the “Free-Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act” of Congress (Dec. 15th) made possible by a woman called “Wild Horse Annie” ( Velma Johnston) who made it, like Laura does now, her life’s work to protect the wild horses from inhumane slaughter by man.  It also comes at a time when, the Christmas Day, Steven Spielberg, who I am also honored to call a friend along with his wife, Kate Kapshaw, and their family, is bringing “War Horse” to the big screen.  When you see this movie, if you haven’t had the great fortune already to see the play on Broadway or in London, it will once again hit home just what the horse has meant to mankind throughout the centuries.  How we, in turn, could treat them like this is an affront to everything we should be standing for.  I hope you will all tune in and call in on December 13th to show your support for Laura Leigh and her great work as well as for our beloved horses!  If you don’t have all the information about the show by now, it is on WBZT (AM1230, Clear Channel) in the Palm Beaches and LIVE AROUND THE WORLD right here at DoversWorld.com by clicking my picture in the top left corner of my home-page.  And PLEASE call in to 561-844-6167 or toll-free from anywhere to 1-800-889-0267!

I will be talking about this issue as well this Tuesday evening, December 6th from 6:05 to 8pm EST and also catching up with my very busy friend, Alexander Zilo, the Vice President of the USPREA, the organization here in America devoted to the Pure Spanish Horse.  He is just back from Spain where he attended one of the biggest shows anywhere and will fill us in on all that went on there.  I am excited and a little biased since my own, HGF Fiero, is growing to be such a wonderful star with his rider, Nicholas Fyffe, who will be taking him to his first show in the 3 year old class in Wellington on December 10th.  Of  course, Fiero’s Dad, HGF Grandioso, is continuing to show his talents in his first year of Grand Prix with a fourth place finish in the Grand Prix yesterday in the CDI 4* in Salzburg, Austria, with 68.21%!  He will easily begin going over 70% in the near future and I predict HGF Fiero will, God willing, follow directly in his father’s footsteps to the 2016 Olympics in Brazil. 

Once again, I hope you will join me this Tuesday evening and all Tuesdays for ongoing conversations about ‘Everything Horsey and Everything Else!”  I promise to keep working to make the shows about all that is important in all of our lives, because ALL OF YOU ARE A PART OF DOVER’S WORLD!!

Cheers!

RD

Today was World AIDS DAY and I wrote earlier on my Facebook page that I hope very soon for such a day to be obsolete!  In the meantime, there are 1.2 million people with HIV in the United States alone and 50,000 new cases each year.  FIFTY THOUSAND NEW CASES EACH YEAR of a disease which we know exactly how to keep from being transmitted from person to person.  This is not a cold, people, which can travel through the air or by touching something with the virus on it and then touching your nose or mouth.  And you aren’t going to get it from kissing someone who is positive or most probably even from all kinds of sex.  But one thing is for sure, if you are going to have sex without a condom, you are doing so with every partner that your partner has been with as well…… and that is just plain stupid!  There are websites out there which show sex parties where unsafe sex is of the order, and I say they should be shut down ahead of Occupy Wall Street demonstrators.  Kids out there have stopped receiving the clear message that AIDS is still a life-threatening and absolutely life-altering disease.  It will most probably  have a very negative effect on your quality of life; from your digestive system, to your sleep habits, to your ability to keep muscle and fat how and where you want it.  In other words, HIV is not like having a chronic rash that you just take a couple of pills for and go on your way with your perfect life.  Not to mention that every intimate relationship you will ever have again with have new and life-long restrictions on, regardless of whether your partner is negative or positive.

So, on World AIDS Day, as our President reaffirms his commitment to stopping this pandemic by adding $2,000,000.00 more  to what is already millions going toward the fight against AIDS, I think it is time to scream out the message at everyone, especially are youth, that HIV is most definitely still out there, is still a killer, and is preventable by each and every one of us making the right choice to play safe if we are going to play at all!  Period!

RD