In last week's newsletter from the Irish Heritage Club, I read about a survey of Irish-born residents of Washington state.

SEATTLE-NEWS@IRISHCLUB.ORG, FRIDAY, JANUARY 26, 2007, PART-1

IRISH SURVEY - Irish-born residents of Washington State are being asked to complete a 32-question survey in connection with a PhD. research project sponsored by Seattle's Irish Im­mi­gra­tion Support Group. The goal is to take a snapshot of Irish-born people living in the Seattle area who left Ireland in the 1900s, mostly those who left Ireland after WW-II. If you or someone you know is willing to par­tic­i­pate, please contact Melissa at 206-229-8512 or melissae@irishclub.org.

I filled it out and emailed it back to …continue.

As I mentioned last month, I par­tic­i­pat­ed in this year's AIDS Walk on Saturday.

I raised over $1300 online, handily exceeding my goal of $1,000. I also raised another $300 in cash and checks at the fundrais­ing barbecue that we threw on September 1st.

I've lost count, but I believe that in the last 15 years, I've raised about $10,000 for charity. Most of it has been for the Northwest AIDS Walk. The last few years that I was at Microsoft, I raised $2,000-$3,000 each year, thanks to the power of Microsoft matching, which doubled the amount of money that I raised. I've also raised money two years running for Ugandan orphans sponsored by …continue.

This year is the 20th an­niver­sary of the Northwest AIDS Walk. A whole generation has passed. Twenty years ago, AIDS was considered a gay man's disease and a death sentence. The U.S. government was just beginning to ac­knowl­edge the existence of AIDS, half a decade after it had first been recognized by health au­thor­i­ties, and thousands had died.

AIDS is still a serious problem, but the de­vel­op­ment of an­ti­retro­vi­ral drugs a decade ago means that people with HIV are living longer, healthier lives than before. More than 1 million Americans are now living with HIV/AIDS: 9,000 of them in King County. 40,000 people are infected every year in the U.S., and most new …continue.

I blogged last month on Jim Mc­Der­mot­t's long-running First Amendment legal battle with John Boehner, the new Republican Majority Leader. The Stranger has a cover story giving a lot of detail on the case.

President Clinton will be appearing at the Seattle Center on June-3rd in a fundraiser for McDermott.

Update: The We The People event will be held from 5:30-7:30pm at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall. Tickets can be ordered here. I just ordered tickets for Emma and me. See you there.

I'm a lot happier in my U.S. con­gress­man, Jim McDermott, than I am in my senators, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell. (Especially Cantwell.)

Jim has been a strong pro­gres­sive voice in Congress for years. His early opposition to the Iraq War led to him being dubbed 'Baghdad Jim' by infuriated Re­pub­li­cans. He was one of the first national politi­cians to support Howard Dean's bid for the presidency. He had a big role in Fahrenheit 9/11. And he reads the role of Leopold Bloom for the Wild Geese Players of Seattle's readings of *Ulysses*.

For a decade, Jim has been fighting a legal battle …continue.

I mentioned recently that I would be walking in this year's AIDS Walk. And so I did.

After months of dry, sunny weather in Seattle, I have grown un­ac­cus­tomed to rain. It was an unpleasant morning and an unpleasant shock. The skies opened and I stood in an endless line waiting to register. I raised $1180, which entitled me to huddle in the VIP tent, as the rain continued. The rain finally let up about halfway along the route, as we debouched onto Broadway.

Thanks to my fellow Team BiNet Seattle fundrais­ers, Emily and Meghan, who raised a few hundred more between them. Double thanks to Emily for giving …continue.

My good friend Frank Maloney turned 60 the other day. A few months ago, he invited Emma and me to join him and his partner, Lyndol, at The Herbfarm. The Herbfarm is one of the very best restau­rants in the Seattle area. Certainly one of the most expensive.

Frank brought us to The Herbfarm, but not at his own expense. One of Frank's college roommates was Ron Zimmerman, the owner of The Herbfarm, and Ron had invited Frank to bring Lyndol and two guests over for his 60th birthday. Ron semi-seriously credits Frank with in­tro­duc­ing him to good wine, when Frank was a sommelier in the Seventies.

We had a marvelous time. This was …continue.

On Saturday 10th September 2005, over 8,000 people will par­tic­i­pate in the Northwest AIDS Foundation Walk. I will be one of them, as I have been every year since 1992.

To sponsor me, please visit my Donation Page.

I had originally signed up to march with Team Microsoft. Then we in BiNet Seattle decided to form a team. Please join Team BiNet Seattle: we'd love to have you.

It's been more than 20 years since AIDS was first recognized. AIDS is still wreaking dev­as­ta­tion in Africa and Asia, and affecting many in the U.S. Although the new protease inhibitors are helping many people in the West, the AIDS epidemic …continue.