Tuesday, December 21, 2010

[Peckers_Pics] Model Wars; Dec 22, 2010; Safe PICS For All Ages, Rated G



 
Model Wars; Dec 22, 2010
Safe PICS For All Ages, Rated  G
DADT is "history" now, Leonard, Rest in Peace...

Gravestone of Leonard Matlovich, civil rights icon. Note the succinct. to-the-point message:

"When I was in the military they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one".

Thank you for your service Leonard, and Rest in Peace.

Congress repealed the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy - regarding gays in the military - on December 18, 2010. President Obama will be signing it soon.

Diet & Fitness:
  • Reminder: Did you complete your Diet Journal today?  Get it done!
  • Did you do any physical activity?  If not, make a point of it by tomorrow! Own a bike?  Ride it to lunch, work, park, lake!
  • It is our hope that our male fitness photos shall inspire you!
Today's Health - Wellness / Exercise / Reflections:
Study Fuels Debate Over Widespread HIV Testing, And Its Cost

by Christopher Weaver / NPR / Dec 21, 2010

The wider use of a cheap blood test could help cut the number of new HIV infections by more than 80,000 in the United States over 20 years.

The test only costs a few dollars. But the researchers say screening everyone at least once and people more likely to get the disease, such as gay men, every year would be a cost-effective. Still, even that considerable effort would cut the expected 1.23 million new HIV infections over the next couple decades by a modest 7 percent.

The benefit would cost $27 billion, or $337,500 for each infection prevented, plus additional treatment costs. The study results appear in the latest Annals of Internal Medicine.

The study is part of a growing body of evidence that HIV advocates say should buttress national guidelines recommending that doctors screen all adults for the incurable virus. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention backed that position.

But, another panel, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a behind-the-scenes government panel that evaluates medical evidence and has a knack for arousing public outrage (see, mammography), hasn't come around to that view, advising doctors only to screen 'at-risk' people.

And, their opinions matter: Insurers would have to pay for anything they recommend under the new health law.

The debate over how often to test for HIV is just one window into the disputes that follow government plans to inject more evidence into the practice of medicine, including the requirement that insurers pay for recommendations of the preventive services panel.

The group last reviewed evidence for broad HIV screening in 2005, and it decided after the latest CDC recommendation not to update their opinion. The panel plans to release, in a year or so, a review that would include the Annals study, an official said. If they back the suggestions outlined there, "it would be a good first start," said Andrea Weddle, executive director of the HIV Medicine Association, an advocacy group that represents doctors and researchers.

Weddle's group and other HIV advocates have promoted broader recommendations to the task force, according to the federal agency that houses the panel. But, it's unclear how the group will weigh in. Dr. Ned Calonge, the panel's departing chairman, told us over the summer that "the bar for … doing something to a person who is already well needs to be really high."

Meanwhile, some states, such as Illinois, have moved to open to the door to widespread HIV screening, said John Peller, government relations director for the AIDS Foundation of Chicago. Illinois once required special consent forms for HIV screening; now doctors can add it to their usual battery of tests so long as they allow patients to opt out, he said.
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And Now, Model Wars!
This group is called "Peckers Pics."  The English -  slang definition of "pecker" is to pluck at the truth. Therefore, we peck at items such as Gay Men's Health, Male Fitness, Gay (LGBT) Politics & Issues.  In this section you may peck at each photo in order to decide the winner of the "war of the fittest!"  Whereas, who is the model that may inspire you to exercise and "get fit?"  Warning: This may stoke you!
 
Remember your participation in discussion of health / news articles - appearing in this message is greatly appreciated.
 
Sean Harley
 
VS
Quentin Elias
 
You Decide!
Paris Gay Pride; June 27, 2010
Stoked?
Paris Gay Pride; June 27, 2010
Harvard, Yale open up to ROTC plans after 'don't ask, don't tell' vote
December 21, 2010 / CNN
 
The presidents of Harvard and Yale universities have expressed interest in ROTC programs after Congress voted to repeal the military's controversial "don't ask, don't tell" policy that has banned openly gay and lesbian service members.
 
The universities' statements come five months after Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, then a Supreme Court nominee, came under criticism by Republican senators who complained that she actively tried to block military recruiters from Harvard Law School when she was dean because of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

Kagan and the White House have strongly defended her actions, saying that while she opposed the military's policy, Kagan never kept recruiters off the university.

Four months after taking the job as Harvard's dean, in October 2003, Kagan offered students her thoughts in a campus-wide e-mail, saying that to give recruiters equal access to the campus "causes me deep distress. I abhor the military's discriminatory recruitment policy." She called it "a profound wrong - a moral injustice of the first order."

In a written statement, Harvard President Drew Faust called the act to repeal "don't ask, don't tell" a "historic step."

"It affirms American ideals of equal opportunity and underscores the importance of the right to military service as a fundamental dimension of citizenship," Faust said. "I look forward to pursuing discussions with military officials and others to achieve Harvard's full and formal recognition of ROTC. I am very pleased that more students will now have the opportunity to serve their country."

Yale University President Richard C. Levin said in a written statement that Yale is "eager to open discussions about expanding opportunities for students interested in military service" and will discuss the matter with the faculty of the college in the spring semester.

"Meanwhile, I have asked General Counsel Dorothy Robinson, Secretary Linda Lorimer and Yale College Dean Mary Miller to consult with officials in Washington early in the new year to determine the military¹s interest in establishing an ROTC unit at Yale," Levin said. "We are very hopeful that these discussions will enable us to begin a new chapter in the long history of Yale's support of the U.S. Armed Services."

President Barack Obama will sign the repeal on Wednesday morning, the White House has said, setting the stage to allow gay people to serve openly in the military. But the changes aren't expected to take effect for at least a few months.

The Pentagon has an 87-page implementation plan for the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell." Over the next several weeks, military officials need to examine and rewrite a series of policies, regulations and directives related to the current law.

Once that potentially lengthy process is complete, Obama, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen will each have to certify that the repeal can move ahead without negatively affecting unit cohesion and military readiness.

After the certification, another 60 days will need to pass before the repeal is officially enacted.

Even after the repeal, gay and lesbian service members will not have every right and privilege accorded to heterosexual members of the military, largely because of the federal Defense of Marriage Act.

A Pentagon study released this month concluded that allowing openly gay or lesbian troops to serve in the military would have little lasting impact on the U.S. armed forces. Opposition to the change was much higher in Army and Marine combat units than in the military as a whole.

"Every gay and lesbian person who has been lucky enough to survive the turmoil of growing up is a survivor. Survivors always have an obligation to those who will face the same challenges."

....Jake

URGENT:  Boycott Gold's Gym, Target and Best Buy for donating money towards anti-gay political candidates/organizations and to Proposition 8 (California) to prevent gay marriage. I would not purchase "Blood Diamonds," nor should a person / organization be contributing funds to both Hitler / Nazi's and the Jews at the same time!   Obviously giving money to the Jews and not Hitler/Nazi's was the right thing to do.   Hence, these companies violated my trust and well-being.   They gave money to my enemy who would terminate me from my job, deny me housing and send me to a Internment camp.  Therefore, goodbye Gold's Gym, Target and Best Buy!  The CEO's of these companies have been insensitive to our reaction and do not even comprehend their actions!  What takes so long to "fire" these Neanderthals?



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All members of "Peckers PICS" are requested to join our "Obama Biden 2008" group as it runs in conjunction to this group.  Both groups shall not repeat articles from one group to another.  However, to gain full knowledge of Gay rights, members must belong to the Obama group as well as this group.  Therefore, please accept your invitation to join. 

To join the Obama group please click (or copy and paste the link into your browser) @  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ObamaBiden2008/join

Thank you!
 

"Every gay and lesbian person who has been lucky enough to survive the turmoil of growing up is a survivor. Survivors always have an obligation to those who will face the same challenges."

...Jake (Moderator)



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