President Obama Condemns Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Law!

I don't know if it was because of pressure from the LGBT community or because of genuine personal conviction, and I hope it is the latter, but the White House has issued a strong statement on the Uganda law I have been railing about for the last few weeks.

"The President strongly opposes efforts, such as the draft law pending in Uganda, that would criminalize homosexuality and move against the tide of history."

More here.

Uganda Moderates - A Little - On Anti-Homosexuality Bill

The proposed law which enraged LGBT activists and just about anyone interested in human rights in Uganda has been amended. The new Anti-Homosexuality Bill still makes it a crime to be LGBT but dropped the death penalty and life in prison portions of the proposed law.

It's not much of a step, but I suppose in Uganda even that is something. Still Uganda is not about to show up in the Bob Damron's Guide any time soon.

Gay Man Injured By Bouncer In Straight Bar

What was he thinking? A gay man walked into a nightclub in Queens New York and began dancing with his partner! The bouncer grabbed him and told him to stop and when he resisted he was beaten and tossed out. What was he thinking?

Maybe, just maybe he was thinking, "hey straight people go into gay bars and dance together all the time, so why not the reverse?"

Considering he is a well known New York gay activist, that is a pretty sure bet. Now the cops might just charge the bouncer with a hate crime and good for them! Equality is a two way street, and as long as an establishment is open to the public, there is absolutely no reason two men or two women can't dance together. Especially in New York City!

I would expect and frankly hope more of this happens, the dancing that is not the beating. We might not be able to get married, but we sure as hell can dance anywhere we please. Does that sound like a "fuck you"? Take it however you wish.

Glen Beck - "Abolish Medicare"

Most mornings I stroll through the mall attached to my office building and sit at a coffee shop to read and get my morning dose of caffeine. As with many malls in America, this one has its share of "mall walkers", mostly senior citizens out to get some exercise and indulge in this new social activity.

A group is always gathered at a table nearby where they discuss everything from grand kids to politics. From the conversations I have overheard, they are conservative and must listen to Glen Beck or Limbaugh from the quotes they spout.

I have to wonder how they would react to Glen Beck's latest tirade on Medicare.

"...why don’t you just abolish Medicare, because it’s so wildly corrupt and out of control. It’s so inefficient, it is so bad and there’s $47 billion in suspected wrong payments, okay, in Medicare."

I would make a bet that every one of those folks at that table are actually beneficiaries of Medicare and so are many of Becks loyal listeners.

In reality, Medicare is actually more efficient at providing health care and costs less than private plans.
Of course that is "reality" and I keep forgetting that conservatives create their own "reality". Go figure!

Former GOP Lawmaker In S&M Scandal.

OK, when a politician says he is "leaving office to spend more time with his family", that always means caught with his hand in the cookie jar, either sexually or monetarily. Well the case of former Missouri Speaker of the House Rod Jetton ( is that a porn name or what?) gets even more fun. And did I say this loser was behind anti-gay legislative efforts in his home state?

Jetton was already facing corruption allegations, but the latest news of his sexual escapades is choice.

Seems Jetton was a bit kinky, and he and his girlfriend (not his wife, mind you) were planning an evening of rough sex. They even arranged a safe-word, "green balloon" but forgot the third part of the BDSM mantra, "Safe, Sane & Consensual". You see Rod brought along a couple of bottles of wine and after his gal pal indulged in a glass or two, she began "fading in and out".

After an evening of very rough sex which included choking and face slapping she was upset. He told her as he was leaving, you should have used your safe word. And there is the problem!

If you are drunk, or in this case perhaps drugged (there is a suspicion of that as well) you can't give consent and if your are "fading in and out" remembering "green balloons" is tantamount to calculus.
Of course that is making the assumption that Rod and his friend had any kind of education in basic BDSM safety and protocol. HAH! (Sorry that was unavoidable, fat chance a homophobic Republican would ever be out enough to get any kind of educaton in BDSM safety!)

Read all about it and let this be a lesson to any would be kinksters, you can't give consent if you are drunk!

Is The Senate Selling Out? Dropping Public Option.

Carefully parsing his words, Harry Reid, Senate Majority Leader said the Senate had reached a "broad agreement". That is double speak for throwing in the towel. Other Senators leaked the details to the press and the "broad agreement" includes dropping the public option on health care in favor of "non-profit" private insurance option overseen by the federal Office of Personnel Management. That is a similar deal to what federal employees get...similar is the key word.

One bright spot is that Medicare would be extended to people 55 and older.

My suspicion is that this alleged not for profit deal insures that insurers will get at least the cash flow if not the complete profits from this bill. Cash flow can be a profit center, especially if you are skilled at bilking every dime of interest and add-ons as insurance companies are.

What a lot of people forget is that one of the biggest insurance companies in the country started as a "not for profit" alternative to private health insurance. Blue Cross & Blue Shield was started prior to my birth back in the depression. It was a product of Baylor Hospital who wanted to find a way to provide insurance for working class folks like teachers and to make sure they got paid for their hospital services. It was not for profit up until the 1980's (thanks to the Regan-Bush years) when it became the big time money maker it is today.

So don't expect that non profit thing to last. Meanwhile, the another bright spot was the defeat of an anti-abortion amendment that would have denied coverage for abortion to people covered under the bill. That little gem was another attempt by the GOP to take away a woman's rights. I suspect most Republican men would like to see women's sufferage repealed. But that is another story.

Pepsi Says They Are Appalled By Beenie Man Concert

Apparently enough people wrote Pepsi about their sponsorship of a Beenie Man concert in Uganda that they issued the following statement.

"We are appalled by the performer’s lyrics and find them repugnant. Our bottling partner in Uganda was not aware of the performer's views and never would have sponsored the concert with this knowledge.... Moving forward, we will work closely with our bottling partners to be more vigilant about the events associated with our brands."

Good for Pepsi and good for all those who write and told the soft drink giant how outraged you were. For those who didn't know, Beenie Man is a Jamaican singer whose homophobic lyrics included exhortations to "slit the throats" of gay men.

Stem Cells To Kill HIV? Hope Or Hype?

This year I have posted at least three stories on dramatic advances in the fight against HIV/AIDS only to be crestfallen by the follow up that either indicated the stories were complete hype or the results when reanalyzed were inconclusive. Now comes an announcement by UCLA that they have a "proof of concept" around using genetically engineered stem cells as a vaccine against HIV.

Until I see a patient walking around completely cured of the virus, I can only say...blah, blah, blah! This sounds like hype to secure either funding or to make a first claim on a patent. Today, medical research seems to be about getting patentable drugs and processes rather than about curing disease. The big winners find a way to make previously deadly diseases "manageable". That is medical double speak for , not a cure, but still big profits.

Skeptical? You betcha! The "Living with HIV" industry is worth billions of dollars a year. A cure though it would be wonderful would only generate income until the disease was wiped out. I suspect if polio were an emerging epidemic today, there would be no vaccine, but lots of drugs to "manage" the disease.

McDonald's To Transgender Applicant - "We Don't Hire Faggots!"

Seems like some folks just can't handle transgendered people. The manager of a McDonald's in Florida left a message for a transgendered job applicant on their answering machine. The gist of it was this:

"It doesn't matter how many times you go down there: You will not get hired. We do not hire faggots."

Nice sentiment from the house of Ronald McDonald. Pam's House Blend has the recording.

Joe Lieberman - Self-Interest Over The Public Interest

Uganda Make Me Crazy!

After being pounded by emails and comments from Ugandans defending their Middle Ages bill which makes homosexuality a capital offense, now it looks like Pepsi is in the mix. The soft drink sponsored concerts by Beenie Man, the Jamaican singer whose lyrics endorse killing gay people.

At the Pepsi sponsored concert Beenie Man is reported to have song that gay men should have their throats slit. Now that doesn't sound like the "Pepsi Generation" I remember.

Write or call Pepsi and ask them why they are sponsoring a singer who endorses murder? Or you can sign the online petition here.