A little more than a week ago, news broke that at least three percent of District residents have AIDS or HIV. This provoked Shannon L. Hader, director of the city's HIV/AIDS Administration to now-famously compare D.C. to West Africa. When pressed by Loose Lips at a press conference, Hader stated that our rates of infection were twice as high as New York City and five times that of Detroit.

As LL pointed out, the bigwigs at the press conference---Mayor Adrian Fenty, Councilmember David Catania, et al.---defensively argued that the part of the reason for the high infection rates is that the city is just testing more people. Case in point: testing is now routine at the D.C. Jail.

But this epidemic is not a new epidemic. In fact, it's been called an epidemic too many times to count. Perhaps the reason this story didn't provoke serious outrage and more press conferences and men in white coats discussing infection trend patterns is that this is an old story.

"This is the number one [public health] priority of this government," Fenty told the Washington Post. That quote was from an April 5, 2007, story headlined: "Fenty Renews Fight Against HIV-AIDS; Mayor Promises Strong Effort, Plans To Pick New Agency Chief." In the story's first graph, the mayor "pledged" to "put an end to this crisis."

Read More "Remember the Mustard-Yellow Condoms? A Look at the District’s Tortured Response to the AIDS Crisis" »

Thanks to the Washington Post's preview yesterday of the city's latest HIV/AIDS numbers, we know know that, with 3 percent of the population diagnosed, D.C.'s rates are "higher than West Africa" and "on par with Uganda and some parts of Kenya."

Those comparisons came from Dr. Shannon Hader, head of the city's HIV/AIDS Administration and a former public health officer who did extensive work in Africa. But LL and LL's boss had the thought: Is this just another example of the District suffering in an apples-to-oranges comparison---you know, where the District is compared to a state or country encompassing both urban, rural, and suburban areas rather than to its peer cities?

So after today's press conference on the numbers, LL asked Hader to put the numbers in context of American cities: "Our rates are twice as high as New York City and five times as high as Detroit," she said, adding she wasn't aware of a city with a higher infection rate.

Read More "How Does D.C.’s HIV Rate Compare to Other Cities?" »

It's 9:30 a.m. at Whitman Walker's Max Robinson Center in Anacostia. In the HIV testing area, a woman and a man are filling out their sexual histories on a piece of paper. Some of the questions:

Have you used IV drugs in the last 12 months?
Have you had sex while intoxicated?
When having anal receptive sex (was penetrated), I practice safe sex always/sometimes/never/doesn't apply.

A sign in the lobby tells patients to stay put until they're called.

The man goes upstairs for the test. Once he's up there, the woman cranes her neck around the staircase, in full eavesdropping mode. "That's my husband," she says. "He better not be telling any lies."

After ten minutes, the man comes downstairs with a Band-Aid wrapped around his middle finger. "Ain't nothing wrong with that," he says. "I know I'm all right."

The woman heads up for her test. The man, meanwhile, has been told he has to wait 20 minutes for his results, so he heads out to get something to drink. He tells me, "Tell my fiancee I'll be right back."

The man returns moments later carrying a paper bag. Then the buzzer rings three times; the man's test is ready. He goes upstairs, while I wait with his wife/fiancee/whatever. "We need an 'N,' not a 'P,' "she tells me. "Or I'm going to kill him."

Then he comes back downstairs with his head in his hands. He looks crushed. "I'm going to kill somebody," he whispers. "Let's go," the woman says. The man laughs and lifts his head. "Now you gotta buy me breakfast--salmon cakes," he says.

But the woman still has to await her results, which gives the man a moment for commentary. "You know, a lot of African Americans don't want to know. You know, she told me all the five ways you can catch it," he says. Those five ways are via blood, semen, pre-cum, breastmilk, and vaginal fluid. "All the info I've been getting here is A+."

The man and woman make plans to get high later. "You like to get high?" the man asks me. "There's nothing wrong with it. You ever get high?"

I tell him I have.

"What's your drug of choice?" he asks.

"Not crack," I tell him.

"Needles? Needles can give you HIV, too. That's how my mother passed--took a needle from someone else"

--By Amanda Hess