Monday, September 19, 2011

[Peckers_Pics] Male/Gay Health-Discussion-PICS Model Wars-Sep 20, 2011-Stop execution of Troy Davis (GA). Sign Petition!!!



Model Wars-PICS-Health-News-Sep 20, 2011-
"NO" Religious Discussion / Safe PICS For All Ages /
Boycott Trump-TARGET-FOX NEWS/Murdoch-Salvation Army
Support Keith Olbermann's show "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" - new on "CURRENT TV" (air's nightly @ 8 PM EST (Mon - Fri). About time - as we need progressive un-censored news with no corrupted reporting! Replays at 11 PM Eastern and 2 AM Eastern.
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"

URGENT:  NO MORE TIME! Stop execution of Troy Davis (GA). Sign the petition's at Amnesty International and NAACP Petition.  I strongly beg all members to do this now, or a innocent man will be executed in less than 2 days? How can you ignore this? I want all 15,000 members of this group to sign Petition this second. Otherwise, why do I do all this work for you guys?  Stop the apathy!

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:
Experimental Gene Therapy May Control HIV

Gene-Based Treatment Hopes to Keep HIV in Check Without Drugs

By Charlene Laino - WebMD - Reviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD - Sep 19, 2011

Chicago) -- Researchers report that they have taken a small step toward developing a gene-based treatment that aims to control HIV without drugs in some patients -- and could lead to a "functional cure."

Researchers say a functional cure may occur when the patient would still be infected with HIV, but no longer needs drugs to control it and prevent disease.

The treatment involves genetically modifying CD4 cells -- immune system cells that are the target of HIV -- so that they are resistant to the virus.

In preliminary research, the new treatment was safe and well tolerated, says researcher Ronald T. Mitsuyasu, MD. Mitsuyasu is director of the University of California, Los Angeles Center for Clinical AIDS Research & Education.

HIV dropped to undetectable levels in one patient, even though he was taken off his usual antiviral medications, he tells WebMD.

"If we can get the immune system to kick in and control the virus without drugs, that's a win," Mitsuyasu says.

However, the treatment did not work as well in five other patients.

The findings were presented here at the 51st Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.

Targeting a Key Gene

The treatment, known as SB-728-T, disrupts the CCR5 gene used by HIV to enter and infect CD4 cells. 

During the procedure, immune system cells are removed from the patient, modified, and reinfused.

The idea is to mimic naturally occurring CCR5 gene mutations that make cells resistant to HIV. The 5% of the population with two copies of the mutant CCR5 gene are basically immune to the virus. The 10% of people with one normal and one mutant CCR5 gene have a slower disease course.

Two studies presented at the meeting involved a total of 15 HIV-infected patients followed for about one year. There were no serious side effects related to the treatment, Mitsuyasu says. Still, long-term side effects are unknown.

In one study, six patients were taken off antiviral medication for 12 weeks after getting the new treatment. HIV levels dropped in three of them, and in one patient, HIV was no longer detectable.

That patient already carried a naturally occurring mutation in one copy of his CCR5 gene. That means that with the gene therapy, the patient had about twice as many gene-modified cells as other patients, Mitsuyasu says.

Indeed, the study showed that the greater the number of cells that carried modified CCR5 genes, the lower the amount of HIV in the blood.

Challenges Ahead

Sangamo Bioscience Inc., which funded the work, says it will move ahead with a strategy to maximize the number of cells that can be genetically modified. One such approach would be to target patients who already have some mutated CCR5 genes.

"It seems the number of modified cells is more important than previously reported," says Laurent Kaiser, MD, head of the virology laboratory at University Hospitals of Geneva in Switzerland. Kaiser is also a member of the committee that chose which studies to highlight at the meeting.

While there are many challenges to be overcome before gene therapy can move from lab to bedside, Kaiser tells WebMD that "he is convinced it's a way to move forward."

"When you only treat with antiviral drugs, you are just stopping replication of the virus," he says.

With gene therapy, the hope is to create a reservoir of cells that are resistant to HIV infection and continue to proliferate, Kaiser says.

If the approach pans out in larger, longer studies, the treatment would offer a "functional cure," Mitsuyasu says.

These findings were presented at a medical conference. They should be considered preliminary as they have not yet undergone the "peer review" process, in which outside experts scrutinize the data prior to publication in a medical journal.
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! In conclusion, O'Reilly expressed out-right Hatrad of the LGBT Community.
  • 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 its 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 over 1 mIllion dollars to anti-gay marriage groups + serious history of employment discrimination of LGBT community.
  • 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: "Tune Out Trump", Boycott all Trump Hotel, casinos, holdings, 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? After making racist remarks about Obama and recv'g public backlash, Trump decided not to run for president after NBC renewed his awful TV Show. How can NBC renew the clown's show after he pulled all such low-class shenanigans? Boycott NBC! Boycott advertisers of The Apprentice and Trump's 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 towards gays and blacks with his birther remarks and anti-gay rhetoric. 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 biget. Unforgiveable! Dump NBC because they re-newed Donald Trump's "The Apprentice"! NBC, Really? Update June 1, 2011: Trump now claims that Obama's long form, original birth certificate is fake. And NBC keeps this hater? NBC, You Kidding Us?

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.
 
Fraser Barke
 
VS
Chuck Strogish
 
You Decide!
Dallas Pride; Sep 18, 2011
Stoked?
Dallas Pride; Sep 18, 2011
'Don't ask, don't tell' fades away Tuesday, Sep 20, 2011
Politico - Sep 19, 2011 - By Mackenzie Weinger

More than 17 years after a tortured political compromise that left no one happy, "don't ask, don't tell" is done.
 
On Tuesday, President Bill Clinton's 1993 directive that allowed gays and lesbians to serve in the military without discrimination as long as they stayed in the closet will be formally repealed. The measure had mandated that applicants weren't to be asked about their sexuality, and it barred military brass from investigating a service member's sexual orientation without credible evidence.

The repeal of DADT -- which stirred anger among conservatives and liberals alike, touching off a nearly two-decades-long debate -- was approved by Congress last year, signed by President Barack Obama, who had made it a campaign pledge in 2008, and given final authorization by military leaders this summer.

"As of Sept. 20, service members will no longer be forced to hide who they are in order to serve our country," Obama said in a statement in July.

The day will be marked by an afternoon news conference at the Pentagon by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen, celebrations around the country by those who had worked nearly a generation to abolish DADT and disappointment from critics who had pressed right up until the last moment for the repeal to be delayed or turned back altogether.

With the death of DADT at hand, POLITICO asked some key Clinton-era players on the Hill, in the trenches at the Defense Department, and at advocacy groups on both sides of the issue to reflect on then and now.

Ron Dellums, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee at the time, recalled how he was surprised to hear Clinton on the other end of the phone in 1993, seeking advice about how to handle his campaign promise to lift the long-standing ban on gays and lesbians serving in the military. "Mr. President, keep your promise," Dellums told Clinton.

"You lift the ban," the 75-year-old California Democrat remembers telling the president. "There's going be a fight, but let us handle the fight in the Congress. I'm more than willing to be part of that fight. You've got other issues to deal with. Lift the ban, and we'll take it from there."

But Clinton ignored Dellums's advice, instead signing a controversial order that didn't eliminate the strict ban on homosexuals serving but modified it a way that soon came to be known as "don't ask, don't tell."  Clinton's hair-splitting move touched off years of court battles, streams of reports and studies, and, far from ending the public debate, ratcheted up the volume.

Earlier, when Clinton had moved unilaterally to repeal the absolute ban by executive order after he took office, Congress, backed by support from the military and the public, fought back and included language preserving it in a defense spending bill passed in November 1993. As a compromise, Clinton issued a Defense Department directive on Dec. 21, 1993, mandating that gays and lesbians could serve, but not openly.

More than 14,000 service members had been discharged from the military under the Clinton policy. DADT's days were numbered after the House approved a repeal bill, 250-175, on Dec. 15, 2010, and the Senate quickly followed on Dec. 18, voting 65-31 in favor of the legislation. Obama signed the measure on Dec. 22, 2010, setting off the certification review required before official repeal. Obama, Panetta and Mullen gave the final word on July 22, 2011, that the military would be ready for repeal in 60 days.

In Congress, veterans of the 17-year battle said Tuesday was a long time coming.

Rep. Barney Frank, the openly gay Massachusetts Democrat who has been leading the fight against the ban since 1993, told POLITICO the "important thing about this date [Tuesday] is two or three years from now when none of the negative predictions come true" about the impact of gays and lesbians serving openly in the military.

Only with time, Frank predicted, will supporters of DADT see how the policy was based on prejudice and "unfounded" claims.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, one of only a handful of senators to vote against enforcing the existing ban in 1993, said in a statement, "All these years later, it is a relief to see the end of a bad law that has been with us for far too long."
 
Along with the lawmakers at DADT's front lines, several senior aides working at the Pentagon in the 1990s said Tuesday's repeal will bring their own battle full circle.
 
When attorney Jamie Gorelick was tapped to be Pentagon general counsel in 1993, she quickly found herself in an unexpected role -- she became one of the chief architects of implementing "don't ask." "It fell to me and others to try to put it in a form that was usable by the military, which meant translating what was a two-page outline to thousands of pages of regulations," Gorelick told POLITICO.
 
From figuring out the nitty-gritty of how DADT would work in recruitment to digging into questions of what constituted homosexual actions -- for example, one fiercely debated point was whether a soldier placing a picture of another man beside his bunk constituted "telling" -- Gorelick helped painstakingly develop the military's plan for putting Clinton's directive into effect.

"At the time, many of us did see it as a way station" to gays and lesbians eventually being able to serve openly, she recalled.

Years later, Gorelick ended up on the other side of the issue at the liberal Center for American Progress, where she worked to undo DADT, along with another ex-DoD staffer, Rudy DeLeon.

DeLeon, who was serving as the senior assistant to Secretary of Defense Les Aspin in 1993, had been part of the working group looking at how to allow gays to serve in the military "consistent with what at the time was referred to as 'good order and discipline.'"

He, like many others in the Clinton administration, saw DADT is a temporary policy at the time it was enacted.

"It was interesting in ways that in 1993, the military services were ready to open up more billets to women members of the armed forces, but they had really never had a discussion on gays and lesbians serving," DeLeon told POLITICO.

"So just in terms of the reference points they used, this became a big issue with the press very much in watching the back and forth between a president who wanted to allow everyone to serve and a Congress that had a restricted view on who could serve. I think the debate in 1993 was nowhere near to the sophistication of the debate in 2009 and 2010," he added.

Last year, Gorelick and DeLeon were among those successfully attempting to persuade Congress to repeal DADT by advocating the legislative language that gave wavering members a final push to vote yes: "Don't ask" would be gone only after the military formally certified its end.

Today, advocacy groups on both sides are more concerned about what comes next.

Andrea Lafferty, president of the Traditional Values Coalition, which opposed the repeal of DADT, said the Obama administration must address concerns raised by some in Congress that the military still isn't prepared for the impact of ending "don't ask."

"What the average person doesn't understand is that the president has attacked an institution that cannot defend itself," she said, referring to political correctness inhibiting a frank discussion about homosexuals in the armed services. "We have these wonderful men and women serving this country … and these people have to keep their mouths shut and they can't defend themselves from gays in the military."

Elaine Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness, which also opposes repeal, said, "The military is in peril -- there is a lot of disruption that they really don't deserve. A burden has been placed on the military because of a promise the president made to LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender] activist groups."

Meanwhile, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network Executive Director Aubrey Sarvis called the end of DADT a "remarkable achievement."

The group, formed in 1993 to offer legal assistance to those impacted by the policy, will be hosting "Freedom to Serve" events around the country on Tuesday to celebrate the end of "don't ask." Then, Sarvis said, the work turns to helping reinstate service members discharged under the policy and advocating for equal benefits for gay and lesbian married couples who are serving in the military.

"It's not the end," Sarvis said.
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 gov't's war against unions 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 Groups are for Yahoo members who sincerely care about LGBT rights and Gay Mens Health! Please Join Now!
 
PASS THIS BILL!
Read @ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ObamaBiden2008/join
Put Americans back to work!
 
Stop the September 21st execution of Troy Davis!
Sign Petition's at Amnesty International and NAACP Petition. I strongly beg all members to do this now, or a innocent man will be executed in less than 2 days? How can you ignore this? I want all 15,000 members of this group to sign Petition this second.

 



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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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