Thursday, April 28, 2011

[Peckers_Pics] Model Wars-PICS-Health-News-Apr 29, 2011-Boycott TARGET-Trump-NBC



Model Wars-PICS-Health-News-Apr 29, 2011-
Safe PICS For All Ages/Boycott TARGET-Trump-NBC
Support Keith Olbermann-coming to CURRENT TV

Updates on Keith Olbermann  @ ObamaBiden2008 (Update: Keith joined "CURRENT TV").  Check with your cable provider to see if you have "Current TV".  Current TV's website has option for you to request service from your cable provider.   Current TV's founder is Al Gore.  Charter Cable does not carry "Current TV".  Please Contact Charter now!  Keith is a man who stuck his neck out for progressives, as well as the LGBT community. Update:  Keith began his FOK NEWS blog. 

Alert: Target + Minnesota Forward + Tom Emmer = Support for a rather dangerous and radical political philosophy that diminishes LGBT people to pests that should be murdered. And "Target" is cool with this?   ...Now Target is suing the LGBT community for their peaceful demonstrations in front of their stores.    ....Our answer:  BOYCOTT "TARGET"

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:
It Gets Better Because We Grow Stronger: An Interview With Leading Gay Men's Health Expert Dr. Ron Stall

Jim Pickett - 4/28/2011 - Huffington Post

In 1981, severe illness in a group of young gay men caught the attention of federal public health officials who could not explain the cluster of rare, deadly cases of pneumonia. This ominous medical mystery is widely regarded as the start of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, which continues to rage on every inhabitable corner of earth.

Over the past 30 years, HIV/AIDS in the U.S. has spread to many other populations, particularly low-income women of color and injection drug users. While no longer a singularly "gay disease," gay, bisexual and transgender people remain severely impacted by HIV/AIDS in the U.S. For young gay, bi, and transgender youth of color, alarming rates of HIV rival those of some Sub-Saharan countries. What can we learn from the 30-year history of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in order to forge a better, future response?

These are just some of the questions the AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) is posing this year as it reflects on lessons learned from the past 30 years of HIV/AIDS. Chief among these questions is why, 30 years into the crisis, are rates of HIV highest among young gay men, particularly men of color? According to federal officials, rates of HIV among gay men are 50 times higher than any other group and, while new cases have plateaued for other groups, among gay/bi men and transgender, they continue to climb.

To help inform AFC's 2012 strategic plan, I interviewed Dr. Ron Stall, Professor and Chair of the Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences in the Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh, a leading HIV prevention expert. He began researching AIDS-related topics in 1984 on the AIDS Behavioral Research Project, one of the first longitudinal studies of AIDS risk-taking behaviors in the world.

Since that time he has published more than 140 peer-reviewed scientific papers on many different aspects of the AIDS epidemic, including research on determinants of risk-taking behaviors and HIV transmission, co-occurring epidemics, life-course issues important to AIDS-related risk-taking, and a portfolio of research on global AIDS issues. He is currently co-director of a certificate program in LGBT Health and is collaborating on several National Institutes of Health research projects focused on gay men's health.

Ron and I recently had the opportunity to check in and talk about the needs of gay men and youth. Only by understanding and responding to the epidemic among gay youth and adults can efforts to end the epidemic in the U.S. have any chance of success.

JIM: Your work concentrates on co-occurring health concerns that conspire to fuel the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Can you briefly describe this concept of "syndemics" and explain why it is so important to consider in terms of gay men's health and efforts to meet their HIV prevention needs?

RON: The term "syndemics" describes interacting and intertwining epidemics, or synergistic epidemics. Syndemics are found in many different human populations, but are very commonly found in populations that are at high risk for HIV. Syndemics research studies why HIV is so closely intertwined with epidemics of substance abuse, depression, violence and other psychosocial health problems. More important, syndemics research also studies how we can interrupt syndemic production by starting a larger health movement that works to lower risk for HIV by addressing multiple psychosocial health problems in a community.

I'm part of a research group that has conducted a set of investigations into syndemic production among gay men, and we were able to show that epidemics of substance use, depression, childhood sexual abuse and violence victimization are intertwining and making each other worse and in the process raising risk for HIV transmission. Our study was the first to show that this phenomena exists among gay men, but this analysis has now been replicated in several different studies, including one among MSM in Thailand. One implication of our analysis is that there is a lot more to gay men's health than a simple focus on HIV and that addressing these multiple health risks may work to lower HIV risk among gay male communities.
 
There has been a lot of talk about bullying these days, thanks to the brilliant "It Gets Better" campaign. Do you see bullying as something that feeds into syndemic production? What kind of research do we have around bullying and health outcomes for gay men, or more broadly, for LGBT people?

RON: Once you buy the idea that syndemics exist among gay men, the next question would be why is that so? We think that a very important piece to this puzzle is that gay men not only suffer far greater rates of violence victimization as adolescents, but that nearly all young gay men watch schoolmates being publicly victimized for having the same sexual orientation that they do. This sets gay men up early on to have a sense of being different, of being less than, of not being deserving, of being alone -- in short, for internalized homophobia at a very early age. And these experiences predispose young gay men to be more depressed, to have greater substance abuse profiles at a very early age, to have higher rates of having sex under the influence of alcohol or drugs and to suffer greater rates of violence victimization, each of which raise HIV risk profiles among young MSM. Dr. Mark Friedman in our group published an analysis to show the associations between the experience of violence victimization and bullying during adolescence and poorer health profiles -- including HIV seropositivity -- among adult gay men. We are conducting additional analyses from a separate cohort study to measure how the experiences of violence victimization at a young age predict syndemic production among middle-aged gay men.

"It Gets Better" speaks to the transience of being harassed and bullied -- that we won't be in that situation all of our lives, so we basically just need to hang on. You just explained how bullying can have negative health outcomes for people, so while the bullying may end, the consequences can continue. But there is another side to this story -- yes, it gets better, but you also get stronger. And coming out the other side of bullying can make people stronger, and more able to address challenges in their lives. This speaks to strength and resilience, which I know you have been thinking about. Tell us what we know about resilience and strength in terms of gay men's health and HIV prevention.

RON: While it is true that there are important health disparities that cluster and make each other worse among gay men, once you start looking for resilience to fight health problems among gay men, you start seeing it everywhere. For example, gay men may use more drugs than straight men, but for all of that drug use, we don't have comparable increased rates of behaviors that look like addiction. This suggests that there is an important, but unstudied, self-regulation process at work that men use to monitor their drug use and avoid addiction. And when gay men do get addicted to dangerous drugs such as tobacco and stimulants, we have very high rates of being able to resolve these addictions on our own.

And, of course, there are many, many men who've enjoyed full sex lives for decades on end and have not become HIV seropositive, not to mention the large numbers of seropositive men who've led full, healthy and productive lives even while battling a serious viral infection. We also exhibit important strengths in the way that we've always managed to build families, communities and political movements in very unfriendly contexts. Once you start looking at the data this way, you could be excused for concluding that resilience and strength in the face of adversity may be the two most important characteristics that distinguish gay and heterosexual men.

Why do you think we have focused so singularly on weaknesses and deficits? Why haven't we flipped this script and focused efforts on building the resilience of gay men, particularly toward improve their health? Why haven't we taken the collective wisdom of men -- young and old -- who have successfully avoided HIV infection to inform better HIV prevention responses?

RON: I think that our focus on deficits among gay men has to do with the long term effects of the shock of the discovery of the AIDS epidemic among gay men. We had this terrible new epidemic that seemed to miss most other populations. The questions of why we were so vulnerable to AIDS, and the study of our unique risk factors for this disease naturally followed. And, to be fair, this research frame has resulted in some important insights around HIV prevention and care.

That said, over time, it has also become clear that there are lots of men -- indeed the majority of gay men -- who've exhibited significant resiliencies when it has come to dealing with the HIV epidemic. The time has come to understand more about these resiliencies so that we can learn how better to respond to the many health problems affecting our community. Put another way, if we are interested in finding effective ways to treat substance abuse among gay men, are we better off studying men who became addicted or men who became addicted and quit on their own? Or men who use and don't become addicted? Each group is important, but it may be that the men who resolved substance abuse on their own are the experts from whom we can learn the most valuable lessons.

What are you currently doing to change the deficit dynamic, what can we look forward to?

RON: I'm working with a group of very smart colleagues to propose a theory of resilience among gay men, and to propose a research agenda to study strengths among gay men. There is an old saying that the most practical thing that one can do is to come up with a good theory. The time for a good theory to explain resiliencies among gay men -- and make use of these strengths to promote health in our communities -- is long overdue.
Take Action:
  • Update: DADT has been repealed. President Obama has kept his promise!
  • 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 be Al-Qaida friendly as well?  Imagine - Bill O'Reilly compares Gays to Al-Qaida!
  • Boycott Arizona the home of  "hater" - U.S. Senator John McCain. Arizona's Hateful anti-Immigration Law - encourages racial profiling and increases hatred towards minorities.  A remedy: Demand Republicans to  support Immigration Reform (The Dream Act). Further, Senator McCain voted against ending DADT and Blocked Immigration reform! 
  • Boycott Target, Best Buy, Gold's Gym - for donating money towards anti-gay political candidates/organizations. Update: (12/26/2010): Target is continuing to donate to anti-gay groups/causes/politicians. Update 03/08/11 - Lady Gaga Ends Target Partnership, Reportedly Over Target's Poor LGBT Stance. Update 3/25/2010 - Target displays their hypocrisy and Sues California Gay Rights Group for Lobbying Outside Stores.  Target is attempting to block the LGBT right of free speech!  STOP SHOPPING AT TARGET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Update 4/8/2011: Target lost it's case to stop the LGBT from canvassing in front of their stores.  A huge PR Disaster for TARGET!  Perhaps Target should go out of business as they betrayed their investers and customers. Target contributed massive funds to a politician who would like to exterminate gays.  Now, Target can not stop us from Boycotting them, nor picketing, nor talking to customers near their stores; although, Target allows a anti-gay company such as the Salvation Army to stand outside their door and speak with customers and raise money. Isn't this a double standard? Perhaps TARGET would better understand the issue if they cared about David Kato - Uganda, who was slain because he is gay! That is because Uganda wants to kill gay people.  Again, TARGET invested in a political candidate that would Kill the Gays! 
  • End DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act).  Prevents Federal employees and Gays in the Military from gaining equal benefits. Prevents Gay Partners from gaining equal benefits.    
  • Pass ENDA (Employee Non-Discrimination Act).  ENDA would prevent employment discrimination of  LGBT workforce.
  • Boycott Salvation Army as they will not hire Gays! "DO NOT DONATE TO THEM."
  • BOYCOTT "Chick-fil-a" for donating to anti-gay marriage groups.
  • BOYCOTT KOCH INDUSTRIES PRODUCTS- to include their products: Angel Soft toilet paper / Brawny paper towels / Dixie plates, bowls, napkins & cups / Mardi Gras napkins and towels / Quilted Northern toilet paper / Soft 'n Gentle toilet paper / Sparkle napkins / Vanity fair napkins / Zee napkins / Georgia-Pacific paper products & envelopes / All Georgia-Pacific lumber & building products (INVISTA Products) / Lycra / Stainmaster Carpet.   The billionaire - Koch brothers are ultra republican - tea bag founders/supporters that do not support causes of the LGBT community.
  • Boycott WALMART - The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, force criticized Wal-Mart for denying employee benefits to same-s-x partners and for failing to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity. By comparison, the group said two other chain stores with a strong presence in New York, Costco and Walgreens, did much better.
  • NEW: Boycott Donald Trump [Tune Out TRUMP], The Apprentice and NBC Network! At CPAC, Trump said he is considering a run for president as a Republican. In a interview with the Des Moines Register, Trump added that he opposes all forms of legal recognition for gay couples, not just marriage. "They should not be able to marry," he said. So why does NBC keep the Apprentice when Donald Trump has stated he may run for president? Boycott NBC, CNBC! Boycott advertisers of The Apprentice and his other business's. Don't shop at any bullding with Donald Trump's name to include Trump Hotels, Casinos, Condo's, Offices, Shops!  The Donald has expressed extreme Hatred. He is a birther as well and bring out all the Bigets!  Remember how poorly Trump treated Rosie O'Donnel?  Now we know why he did that!  It was hate against a lesbian as we now know he is hater.  Unforgiveable!  Ready to dump NBC because they air Donald Trump's "The Apprentice"?  Start Watching CBS Evening News with Katie Couric (Real News that is Fair).
  • NEW: Boycott "APPLE." For the current owners and the aspiring owners of the I-phone,  Apple allows an application, "The Gay App", which is supposed to help gay individuals turn straight.  This is a step in the wrong direction.  Apple needs to know that the decision to allow this App on their products is a fallacious idea! Update: March 23, 2011:  Apple removed this app from USA stores; but, rumored to have them remain in some foreign stores.  This is offensive not just towards the LGBT community in the USA; but, offensive to  the entire LGBT community around the world.  How does anyone approve such a hateful, despicable app towards the LGBT community? Especially when Gay Teens are killing themselves after being harrassed by their church, parents, as well as  by bully's and teachers at school. The idea that this app was used, solicited is disgusting.  Still "no comment" from APPLE!

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.
 
Justin Deeley
 
VS
Michele Rotters
 
You Decide!
Miami Beach Pride; Apr 16, 2011
Stoked?
Miami Beach Pride; Apr 16, 2011
What Does the Religious Right Stand For?
Wayne Besen - 4/28/2011 - Huffington Post

When I first started fighting for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality in 1989, the mission seemed quite clear. We were working to educate and change the minds of traditionalists who had virtually no experience with LGBT people or issues. These individuals had grown up with stereotypes and misconceptions that could be proven false by the coming out of friends, co-workers, neighbors, or family members.

Today, defining our opponents is not so easy, and sometimes vexing, because their values are so vacant and vacuous. Back in the day, a true conservative was defined by how one lived -- not necessarily how one voted. But today's soulless, corporate conservatism has nothing to do with the way one lives and everything to do with lazy political labels and one-size-fits-all prefab positions.

Conservatism has now become a country club that offers membership to those who support a handful of policy issues. To join, one has to repudiate (or refudiate) abortion, marriage equality for same-sex couples, and the idea that global warming is man made. One also has to irrationally hate Barack Obama and favor tax cuts for millionaires.

If you deviate from the "conservatively correct" prefab platform -- you are out. However, if you pass the standard "issue test" you are in -- no matter how libertine your actual lifestyle is. This creed of "it's about what you say, not how you live" is becoming rather evident as the GOP presidential nomination process heats up.

For example, Franklin Graham -- the son of famed evangelist Billy Graham -- offered his glowing approval on Sunday of Donald Trump's campaign.

"When I first saw that he was getting in, I thought, 'Well, this has got to be a joke,'" Graham told ABC's Christiane Amanpour. "But the more you listen to him, the more you say to yourself, 'You know? Maybe the guy's right.'"

As Truth Wins Out's Evan Hurst pointed out, Trump is known for his "revolving door of trophy wives." Whether it is conspicuous consumption or sexual morals, no one can reasonably claim that Trump is genuinely "conservative."

Yet, under the contemporary definition, Trump can join the club because he is suddenly questioning whether Barack Obama was born in the United States and posing as a great defender of "traditional" marriage.

"I'm not in favor of gay marriage," Trump cynically said, just in time for his GOP presidential bid. "They should not be able to marry...I just don't feel good about it. I don't feel right about it. I'm against it... I'm opposed to gay marriage."

Equally mystifying is the traction serial adulterer Newt Gingrich is getting from social conservatives. In a recent presidential straw poll taken by attendees at the religious right's Awakening 2011 conference, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich placed third with 21% of the votes. Maybe I'm missing something, but how is Gingrich dumping his first wife while she was recovering in the hospital from cancer "conservative"? How do these "traditionalists" rationalize Gingrich leaving his second wife for a young staffer while leading the charge to impeach Bill Clinton?

Help me figure this out. My parents have been happily married for 41 years, yet are considered liberals because they are pro-choice, pro-gay Democrats. Barack Obama and Bill Clinton are still with their first wives, but are portrayed as anathema to the "family values" crowd. Yet, these moral scolds champion sleazy candidates like Gingrich and Trump who played musical wives.

In my view, you are not socially conservative unless you truly live that way. Where you stand on social or sexual issues during the day is less important than where you actually lie down at night. Candidates not practicing what they preach are phonies, while conservative pastors who endorse sordid candidates are puritanical poseurs who only care about political power.

It is also time for the media to stop calling crazy people conservatives. When Maryland-based anti-gay activist Bishop Harry Jackson recently said that attempts to win LGBT marriage equality were "a satanic plot to destroy our seed," it's just paranoia, not a political philosophy.

When televangelist Pat Robertson claimed this week that liberals support reproductive health rights in order to make lesbians feel better about not being able to have children (they actually can and often do), he's unbalanced, not simply right of center.

And how about Democratic Jacksonville City Council candidate Kimberly Daniels? Here is what she said about Halloween:

The danger of Halloween is not in the scary things we see but in the secret, wicked, cruel activities that go on behind the scenes. These activities include:

* Sex with demons
* Orgies between animals and humans
* Animal and human sacrifices

Daniels belongs in a butterfly net, not on a butterfly ballot. Unfortunately, she represents a strain of acceptable modern conservatism that has overtaken the GOP and has even found its way into a few conservative Democratic circles.

I've never been a conservative, but at least I understood it before it transformed from "fuddy-duddy" to "nutty buddy."
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
 
   
Important Notice: Our ObamaBiden2008 Group works hand - in - hand with Peckers PICS (Both groups were co-created to work with each-other).  To prevent duplication of articles and questions, all members of this group are expected  to join ObamaBiden2008. It is unfair for members that belong to both groups to hear members of just Peckers PICS (only) to make statements when the ObamaBiden2008 has covered such topics in detail.  Therefore, members need to join ObamaBiden2008  immediately.  This shall clear up communications and confusion.  The LGBT cause is too important and beyond 1 person's need to just look at pictures.   Therefore, please join ObamaBiden2008 now.  No you don't have to read every article! But, it covers the LGBT community and includes updates on Health insurance; LGBT boycott list; Westboro Church; and the end of DADT, etc...Also, updates with the multi - state govt's war against LGBT rights and people with disabilities. The group is created for you!  There are gay teen suicides going on. There are Hate crimes against gay people. There are gays who are fired over their sexual identity.  There are gay people who died for our cause! You always reserve the right to remove yourself from all my groups if you do not appreciate this request.  I have done everything I can and now it is time for you to step up!  My Yahoo Groups are formulated towards individuals who sincerely care about LGBT rights and Gay Mens Health!   Please Join Now!
 
 

 



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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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