- 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:HIV researchers share state data with NWl
December 3, 2010 /BY MARK TAYLOR, POST-TRIBUNE CORRESPONDENT
The day after World AIDS Day a group of 25 HIV researchers, community planners, state health officials and gay men gathered Thursday in Merrillville to learn the results of a statewide survey and focus group of men who have sex with men.The Indiana State Department of Health study, which was funded by a 2008 grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, surveyed 393 gay men in five Hoosier counties with the highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS, including Lake County.
Tony Gillespie, executive director of the Merrillville-based HIV/AIDS services organization, Brothers Uplifting Brothers, said the study was important because in Indiana and around the country gay men are still disproportionately affected by HIV.
"Prevention efforts aren't working for men who have sex with men," Gillespie said. "There is prevention fatigue in hearing the same messages over and over and as attention on the disease has shifted to a more international focus, gay men are no longer the top priority, thought they still comprise by far the largest numbers of people with HIV/AIDS."
Joshua Thompson, a contributing researcher on the project, said the study indicated that 65 percent of the Lake County gay men surveyed reported testing positive for HIV and nearly 60 percent hadn't been tested in more than two years.
Thompson said 64 percent of Lake County survey participants earned less than $10,000 and more than 80 percent identified themselves as African-Americans.
He said 30 percent of the HIV positive men surveyed in Lake County are engaging in high risk sexual practices where the likelihood of transmission is high.
Thompson said far more frankness is needed to reach gay men of color in Lake County, whom he said have less access to health and financial resources.
He said local gay men of color are less likely to get tested for HIV and are at higher risk of spreading and contracting the virus.
"We learned that Lake County people aren't getting tested as much and aren't as comfortable getting tested locally and many don't know where to get tested. It's a public health issue."
He said many ethnic and racial subgroups comprise men who have sex with men, each with unique cultural and language differences.
"But we continue to use very generic prevention strategies," Thompson said. He said conveying information in culturally relevant ways to reach the appropriate audience is vital. "We are not thinking about our own people."
Andrea Peres, program manager for HIV Prevention for the Indiana State Department of Health, said Indiana reported 544 new cases of HIV/AIDS in 2009.
"Thirty-six percent of those had AIDS at first diagnosis. It was the first time they were tested and they had AIDS. Most were likely feeling sick already," Peres said.
"The earlier you get tested, the better your future and quality of life."
The Indiana Department of Health estimates that nearly 10,000 Hoosiers are living with HIV/AIDS, which has killed 5,444 Indiana residents over the past 30 years.
Consider joining:
- Members of Peckers Pics should join our President Barack Obama group . (Health Care, Gay Rights, Gay Marriage, Repeal DOMA & Don't Ask Don't Tell
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ObamaBiden2008/join - Bearhug Submission - Roommates (Wrestling fiction)(Your Yahoo Profile must have Age, Gender, Location before you apply for membership!). http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BearhugSubmission_/join
Take Action:
- Boycott advertisers of Glenn Beck on Fox News as well as all of FOX NEWS! Glenn has lied about Health-care, called our President a racist, and is anti-gay rights.
- We demand immediate end of DADT. It is out-right discrimination.
- Boycott Bill O'Reilly and FOX News and their advertisers. Bill discussed a French commercial by McDonalds that was meant to show that McDonalds is Gay Friendly. Bill said what is next? Is McDonalds going to get be Al-Qaida friendly as well? Further, Bill said that McDonalds would never show a gay friendly commercial in the USA. Imagine, Bill is comparing Gays to Al-Qaida!
- Boycott Arizona the home of senile - Sen. John McCain: because of their Hateful anti-Immigration Law that encourages racial profiling and increases hatred towards minorities. A remedy: Demand Republicans to support Immigration Reform. Further, Their Senator McCain voted against ending DADT and blocked Immigration reform! We shall hold the voters of Arizona responsible!
- NEW: Boycott Target and Best Buy for donating money towards anti-gay political candidates/organizations.
- NEW: Boycott Gold's Gym for donating loads of money to anti-gay candidates.
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, you should select the guy 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.
1
1b
2
3
4
5
5a
5b
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17C. Jimenez
18
19
20
21Thom
You Decide!
Stoked?
Gay Pride; December 4, 2010 in Murphy, Quezon City, NCR, PH.
Harry Reid Rips John McCain Over 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' Likens GOP Senator To Peanuts Character Lucy
Gay Pride; Springfield, Missouri; June 13, 2010
Huffington Post / Dec 5, 2010
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid took aim at Sen. John McCain's faltering stance on repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" on Saturday, Politico reports.
Despite once voicing support for eliminating the Pentagon policy that prohibits gay individuals from serving openly in the military, the Republican senator more recently has signaled opposition to repealing the ban.
Politico reports:
McCain, his party's 2008 presidential nominee, has defended "an obsolete, embarrassing, discriminatory policy that weakens our military and offends our values," Reid said on the Senate floor before a series of votes on extending tax cuts.
The majority leader likened McCain and other Republicans to the Peanuts cartoon character Lucy, who continues to pull the football away at the last second as Charlie Brown runs to kick it.
"First, Sen. McCain said he would seriously consider repealing it if the military leadership thought we should, and [when] the military leadership said it should be repealed, he pulled away the football," said Reid, according to Politico. "Then Sen. McCain said he would need to see a study from the Pentagon. When the Pentagon produced the study saying repeal would have no negative effect at all, he pulled away the football again."
The ranking Democrat continued, "And his latest trick, he said yesterday that he opposed repealing 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' ... because of the economy. ... I repeat, the senior senator from Arizona said he couldn't support repealing 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' because of the economy."
To make his case last week, McCain expressed skepticism over a newly-released Department of Defense report on the issue, directly challenging top Pentagon officials.
HuffPost's Mark Blumenthal reported at the time on the longtime senator's criticism:
Does this criticism have merit? Not according to the standards of modern survey research and the detailed description of the methodology included in the Defense Department's survey report.
In targeting McCain, Reid reportedly called "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" an "obsolete, embarrassing, discriminatory policy that weakens our military and offends our values," adding that repealing the measure "would be a great stride forward for both equality and military readiness."
Brooke Buchanan, spokeswoman for the Arizona senator, e-mailed a statement to Politico reacting to Reid's critical comments. She wrote, "Perhaps someone should inform the majority leader the election is over."
....Jake
__._,_.___
No comments:
Post a Comment