Did you enter the competition to design the AIDS Memorial Park in the "upper West Village," at what they call "St. Vincent's Triangle"? Did you pay that $50 entry fee, in the hopes to win the big $5000 prize (and, you know, design a park)? Well, you did not win. And neither did anyone else who entered, because Rudin Management, the developers, hated them all, even the rather lovely design chosen by the jury. They will be sticking with their extremely dull own plans. (The memorial has a classic New York history, with lots of angry community board meetings; if you want to dive deep, start here.) Anyway, THIS IS GOING TO BE AWKWARD, but you all lost.

As we promised: Nine in Bagel Suits Are Arrested at AIDS Protest.

· AIDS Vaccine "Important Step" Against Disease (Reuters) READ MORE

The Clinton Foundation announced today they'd gotten those monsters at Pfizer and Mylan to lower the cost of some drugs for TB and HIV in the "developing world" to just, in the case of TB, $1 a dose. (That'll go over really well in countries like Haiti, where the average individual income is something like $1 or $2 a day.). But still-something that should have happened actually happened! READ MORE

You know who are actually American heroes? The 26 people arrested yesterday in support of needle exchange legalization. Obama's platform has always been pro-needle exchange, but when he submitted the budget back in May, it still included the old language banning spending on needle exchange. The White House's last statement was that they wanted to handle this legislatively and also to build public consensus on needle exchange. Since then: nada. And that is extra-stupid: public health is way outside the realm of man-on-the-street approval ratings. There are 20 years of needle exchange studies and that the White House is back-burnering this is outrageous-and way more outrageous than back-burnering Don't Ask Don't Tell. (Though it is less sexy than DADT. I mean who doesn't like seeing the hot gay soldiers on the T.V.? Except when you remember that they are all in the killing business. But whatever!)

Regarding the World Health Organization raising its pandemic level to "OMG OMG FREAK OUT" level this afternoon, Rod Townsend notes: "Can you imagine if they had reacted in such a manner to AIDS? There would be art and music and fashion in the world. And Miley Cyrus would be working at a McDonald's in Branson, Missouri."