Wednesday, February 23, 2011

[Peckers_Pics] Model Wars, PICS; Feb 24, 2011-Safe PICS For All Ages



Model Wars, PICS; Feb 24, 2011
Safe PICS For All Ages / Support Keith Olbermann who will be on "Current TV"

Updates on Keith Olbermann  @ ObamaBiden2008 (Update: Keith has joined "CURRENT TV"). Please check with your cable provider to see if you have "Current TV".  If enough people ask, you shall get service.  Expect Keith to begin this summer.  "Current TV's" founder is Al Gore.  Charter Cable does not carry "Current TV".  Keith is a man who stuck his neck out for progressives, as well as the LGBT community.

Updates on slain gay activist - David Kato of Uganda @ ObamaBiden2008

Boycott: "Chick-fil-a" as they are against gay marriage and donate to anti-gay causes.

Consider joining:

Diet & Fitness:

  • Reminder: Did you complete your Diet Journal today?
  • Did you do any physical activity?  If not, make a point of it by tomorrow! 
  • Perhaps our male fitness photos shall inspire you to get Fit!
Health - Wellness - Exercise - Reflections:
Can't Fall Asleep? Try This Trick

By Jorge Cruise / Diet and Fitness Expert / February 23, 2011

I regularly preach the benefits of a good night's sleep for helping your muscles repair themselves. But did you know that a solid night's rest can also sharpen your mind and lift your spirits? Getting enough zzz's helps you concentrate during the day and even improves your ability to learn. This is because the more sleep you get, the more minutes your brain spends in the rapid eye movement (REM) phase. And REM sleep is crucial for cementing new information into long- and short-term memory. According to research, it's during REM sleep that we file away everything we learn.

A good night's sleep is as important to your overall health as regular exercise and a healthy diet. But what if you have trouble falling asleep at night, tossing and turning with worrisome thoughts that keep you awake? Try this little trick: Lie on your back and concentrate on breathing deeply 10 times, slowing each breath you take. Then lie on your right side and breathe deeply 15 times. Finally, move to your left side and breathe deeply 20 times… if you don't fall asleep before then, that is!
Take Action:

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!
 
Your participation in discussion of health / news articles - appearing in this message is greatly appreciated.
Darrell Holloman
 
VS
Luke Guldan
 
You Decide!
Manchester, UK Pride; Aug 28, 2010
Stoked?
Barcelona, Spain  Pride; June 28, 2010
What the Gay Marriage News Means for You
February 23, 2011 / New York Times / By TARA SIEGEL BERNARD

On Wednesday, President Obama directed the Justice Department to stop defending the law that bans federal recognition of same-sex marriages. And while the decision will -- and should -- be celebrated by gay couples across the country, practically speaking, their lives won't change much for some time.

After all, the move doesn't actually repeal the so-called Defense of Marriage Act. So  same-sex couples will still remain strangers, for the most part, in the eyes of the federal government. Couples will still be unable to jointly file their federal tax returns, and they won't be eligible to receive Social Security benefits based on their spouse's earnings record.

Individuals will still owe extra income taxes on the value of their partner's domestic health benefits. Perhaps most frightening, many individuals could still find themselves in a situation where they are not recognized as the legal spouse of their ailing husband or wife in a hospital emergency room. And the list of inequalities goes on.

But what did happen Wednesday, gay advocacy and legal experts agree, is a big step toward eventually putting same-sex couples on equal financial footing with heterosexual married couples.

"They have concluded that laws that discriminate based on sexual orientation should be presumed to be unconstitutional and those laws should be struck down by the courts unless the government can prove that those laws are necessary to advance an important and legitimate government interest," said Jon Davidson, legal director at Lambda Legal. "That, in and of itself, is something we have been fighting for since we opened our doors. The executive branch is now saying that the courts should treat those laws as suspect."

So given the latest development, what will it take for same-sex marriage to be recognized at the federal level -- and thus eliminate many of the barriers to financial equality? "The federal government will continue to enforce the Defense of Marriage Act, and it will remain in effect until the law is either repealed by Congress or finally declared unconstitutional in court," said Mary Bonauto, the civil rights project director at Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, known as GLAD.

Currently, there are six lawsuits winding their way through the courts where the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act is at issue, Mr. Davidson said. The Justice Department said it would not defend the law in the two challenges pending in the courts within the jurisdiction of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

So ultimately, it is up to the courts to decide. Only then will it become possible for, say, a legally married same-sex couple to get health insurance through their spouse's employer without having to pay extra taxes that a heterosexual spouse does not have to pay.

Some experts said that they would expect more same-sex couples to come forward with challenges of their own. "The government has set up a situation in which many more same-sex married couples may challenge the enforcement" of the act,  said Nan D. Hunter, an associate dean at Georgetown Law School and legal scholarship director of the Williams Institute. "In the short term, this situation may lead to considerable confusion. There may be different rulings in the different circuits. The administration will have to decide at what point to say, 'Look, this is sufficiently clear now, we will stop enforcing the law.' "

"From the point of view of the individual couple, the most beneficial thing that could happen is an appellate court ruling in the region where the couple lives because that would be binding on the administration in terms of dealing with couples living in that region," she added. "For a period, there could be some geographic unevenness in how this issue progresses. Ultimately, the Supreme Court will likely resolve the constitutionality" of the Defense of Marriage Act.

Meanwhile, the prospects of a Congressional repeal of the act seem dim for now. Two members of Congress have started work on legislation that would repeal the act. But both measures are unlikely to survive in the near term, experts say, given the Republican majority in the House.

There are currently about 50,000 same-sex couples who have married in the United States, according to estimates calculated by the Williams Institute, a research group that studies sexual orientation policy issues. They estimate that as many as 30,000 additional couples may have married in other countries like Canada, which would bring the total to about 80,000. Another 85,000 same-sex couples have entered civil unions or domestic partnerships in states that recognize those legal relationships.

Taken together, the Williams Institute said that these figures suggest that 9 percent of same-sex couples have married in the United States, along with as many as 5 percent more in other countries, and 15 percent are in civil union-like legal relationships.

"Today was a tremendously important moral turning point, but the work of making it a legal reality in the lives of couples still remains ahead of us," said Evan Wolfson, president of Freedom to Marry, an advocacy group.
"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
 
 

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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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