This group and mailing list is ONLY for those who are HIV+ or have AIDS. It is, in a way, similar to the HIV/AIDS Support Group Larry and I have been doing on AOL once a week however this will be available to you 24 hours/day. By keeping this a closed group I hope to prevent problems that I have seen occur in the past.
I require an e-mail sent to me at:
supportgroup@marty-howard.com
with ONLY the words:
Support-Group
in the subject line of your e-mail.
Please send a copy (CC:) of your e-mail to Annie, padden@mcttelecom.com, as she helps me with the group and is the only other person who has copies of these files.
In this e-mail you must include your Full Real Name (first and last names) and you must state that your are indeed HIV+ or have AIDS (eg."I am HIV+"). I will not accept "living with AIDS" or any other such reference as that could imply that your partner, lover, husband, wife, etc. has HIV or AIDS but not you yourself. We will, in return, put you on the mailing list and you must use the e-mail account that you sign up with to post.
In addition, the following information is required:
1. Home Phone number including area code or country code if outside the US or Canada. I use this in the event that your mail server is down or for some reason your mail is bouncing back to me.
If I can contact you by phone I might be able to refrain from removing you from the mailing list when mail starts bouncing as often these problems can be cleared up quickly as long as you know about them. I currently have all members' phone numbers and they are highly confidential and I give them to _NOBODY_ except for Annie who helps me maintain the group.
2. ICQ # - Many members use ICQ to Chat Online. If you have an ICQ # please include it in your e-mail.
Please Note: If you use a service such as HotMail, Yahoo Mail, Juno, etc. we must have an e-mail from you from Both your regular ISP Account And the account where you wish to receive the mailing list. Your ISP account is necessary in the event we need it to reach you privately. I have found that it is too easy for users to simply change, abandon, etc. the "Service" type of e-mail accounts creating a lot of hassle and bounced mail for me. You will need to send me the e-mail with your Full Real Name and the HIV/AIDS Statement from BOTH accounts cross referencing each other. I have no problem with your using a "service" type e-mail account as long as I have an alternate way of reaching you. If you do not have a regular ISP account and only access your e-mail via a friends computer, library computer, etc. and use only the Web type e-mail services, tell me this and we will settle for the phone number as an alternate means of contact.
The reason I am requiring the statement "I am HIV+" or "I have AIDS" is that "IF" we get a member who has come in only to cause trouble it should be easy to eliminate him/her by deleting his ID AND I can also send a copy of the original e-mail and a cut/paste of what that person said that was offensive to his/her ISP. The ISP will not look kindly at this.
Since Annie and I will be the only persons with the member information confidentiality should be maintained without problems. While many of us don't give a hoot about condifentiality many do, and they need to be assured that this list will go nowhere. If you choose to participate in the mailing list only other members of the group also participating in the mailing list will be receiving the distribution so again there is a high degree of confidentiality. Nobody will be on the mailing list that is not a member of the group. All of the group data is stored in a protected Lotus 123 SpreadSheet.
1. HIV is the causitive factor for AIDS.
2. HIV/AIDS is an equal opportunity infection, it is NOT a gay disease, a white disease, a druggie's disease, etc. No bashing of any group, lifestyle, or member of this group will be tolerated.
3. Blood products were contaminated with HIV in the 70ies and 80ies and it was that contamination that caused the bulk of the HIV in the Hemophilia (and other bleeding disorders) Community. I have seen far to much Hemophilia bashing recently in misc.health.aids and I don't appreciate bashing of any kind.
4. There is NO "CURE" for HIV/AIDS. There are treatments both conventional and alternative to help with the infection's rate of progress, help with opportunistic infections, help with general health and energy levels, etc. but there is NO "CURE." Please keep in mind that man has not cured a virus yet and this probably won't be the first. There will be, soon I hope, treatment to make it chronic but manageable...yes, and a therapy/vaccine/etc. for prevention of future infections...yes, but NO "CURE." There are a lot of opportunists out there trying to get very large fees to "CURE" us....they get rich, we still have the infection.
5. Just to be clear...there will be NO bashing of any kind. This includes "chewing out" other group members or calling of names. Differences of opinions for discussion is one thing, lack of tolerance for another member's opinion or situation is another. I will NOT HESITATE to remove a member from the group if their sole intent of a post to the Mailing List or comments in the Chat Room is meant to hurt another member.
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