Friday, February 4, 2011

[Peckers_Pics] Model Wars, PICS; Feb 5, 2011 - Safe PICS For All Ages, Rated G



Model Wars, PICS; Feb 5, 2011
Safe PICS For All Ages, Rated  G / "We Support Keith Olbermann"

Updates on Keith Olbermann  @ ObamaBiden2008

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

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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:
CDC Issues Guidance on Daily Pill to Prevent Infection With HIV

THURSDAY, Jan. 27 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. health authorities on Thursday issued an "interim guidance" to help doctors and patients using Truvada, the once-a-day combination pill that was shown in November to help prevent the spread of HIV in high-risk individuals.

The guidance, from experts at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, stresses that only gay and bisexual men at high risk for contracting the virus -- the same population included in the study -- should use the pill.

When used as a preventive agent, the medication should only be given to men who are currently HIV-negative and only as part of a larger prevention plan that includes testing for other sexually transmitted diseases, counseling and using condoms faithfully.

"While we think this is really a very important new tool in HIV prevention, it has only been proven safe and effective with men who have sex with men, so at this point we don't feel we have the information to discuss its use for anyone other than [this group]," said Dr. Dawn Smith, lead author of the new guidance, which appears in the Jan. 28 issue of the CDC journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Even for highly sexually active gay and bisexual men, "it's not the first line of prevention," Smith said. "It's meant for men who are unable to successfully, consistently use standard methods of reducing their risk of acquiring HIV."

In essence, Truvada is "meant to function as a safety net in addition to those methods. So if a man can't use condoms consistently then maybe [Truvada] would be helpful while they improve condom use," Smith said.

Truvada is a combination of two anti-HIV drugs, emtricitabine (Emtriva) and tenofovir (Viread), included in a once-a-day pill. The pill is already available by prescription as a treatment for HIV infection.

A study published Nov. 25 in the New England Journal of Medicine found that it cut the risk of HIV infection by almost 44 percent in those at highest risk for contracting the virus, namely sexually active gay and bisexual men.

The risk reduction climbed to nearly 73 percent among study participants who took the pill 90 percent of the time, the researchers added.

Both the treatment and the control group in the study also received intensive counseling on safe sex practices and were given condoms (about 500,000 condoms were distributed throughout the course of the trial).

Men in the study reported having had an average of 18 sexual partners in the previous 12 weeks.

Another expert agreed, however, that Truvada is not meant to supplant the condom.

"There has always been a concern that people will see this as an either/or proposition [pill or condom] but it's clearly 'and,'" said Dr. Michael Horberg, director of HIV/AIDS at Kaiser Permanente Health Plan.

"A lot of organizations such as ours have strategized how best to interpret the study results and we totally agree with the considerations of the CDC," he said.

At the time the study was released, the CDC issued "immediate cautions" with similar but less specific recommendations.

This interim report includes more specific information, including getting tested and receiving safe-sex counseling every two to three months while on the medication.

The guidance is intended to fill a gap until formal U.S. Public Health Service guidelines are issued hopefully later this year, Smith said.

"We're working on the first draft of the formal guidelines but, because they involve other Health & Human Services agencies and a public comment process, we don't expect them until later this year," said Smith, who is a biomedical intervention implementation officer at the U.S. National Center for HIV/AIDS Prevention, part of the CDC.
 
One cloud in the silver lining: A year's worth of Truvada totals more than $10,000 a year, and that is the discounted rate. Generic versions are available in some countries (not the United States) for as low as $500 a year.
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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!
 
Your participation in discussion of health / news articles - appearing in this message is greatly appreciated.
 
Corey Kirk
 
VS
Vinicius Lemos
 
You Decide!
Mumbai, India - Gay Pride Parade; Jan 29, 2011
Stoked?
Jan 26, 2011 / Wednesday nights at CLASH gay club are a blast! 106 N Military Trail,
West Palm Beach, FL 33406. Starting February 4th, the party expands to 5 days a
week at the BRAND NEW club Karma 3097 Forest Hill Blvd, West Palm Beach, FL
33406
Vigil Held in New York for Slain Ugandan Gay Rights Activist
February 04, 2011 / Voice of America

Dozens of people turned out in freezing temperatures in New York City  Thursday  to pay tribute to a Ugandan gay rights activist who was brutally slain last week. 

The vigil began near the United Nations and then moved to outside the Ugandan mission.

Attendees expressed anger and pain over David Kato's death and called for his killer to be brought to justice.  Kato, a well known and outspoken advocacy officer for the gay rights group Sexual Minorities Uganda was brutally beaten to death with a hammer.

At the vigil, Vitto Carmine said he wants answers about Kato's killing and feels the anti-gay sentiment has roots in the United States.

"Hate kills.  And we as Americans need to wake up to the fact that the radical conservatism that is infecting Uganda is our fault," Carmine said. "It is the Christian Right's fault for feeding this kind of hatred in Uganda."

Before his murder, Kato told reporters that he had received death threats and had sued a local paper after it published his photo and home address under a banner that read "hang them", referring to gay activists.

Homosexuality is illegal in Uganda and Parliament is considering a bill proposing the death penalty for some homosexual acts.

Thursday, the Ugandan authorities said Kato was killed by a male prostitute after reneging on an agreement to pay for sex.

One speaker told the vigil Kato's slaying should be a call to action by  the international community.

"To our LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender] family in Uganda we say right now that we will stand with you," the speaker said.

After the vigil, the demonstrators delivered a letter to the Ugandan Permanent Representative at the United Nations calling for Kampala to "immediately denounce David's murder."  The letter was signed by groups such as Amnesty International and the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission.
"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. 

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"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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