Shall the Charter of the City of Cincinnati be amended to limit the use of photo-monitoring devices to detect certain traffic law violations by adopting new Article XIV?
Shall the proposed amendment to the Charter of the City of Cincinnati to provide for a method of proportional representation for electing the members of Council whereby each voter ranks candidate choice in descending order from 1 through 9 on each ballot; to provide for the counting of ballots and the determination of results whereby the ballots that are not needed or cannot be used to elect a candidate are distributed to the next highest candidate choice on each ballot who remains eligible to be elected; to provide for the ballot language and direction to voters; to provide for the election of two candidates for mayor in a primary election who shall be eligible for the regular municipal election for mayor; to provide for the election of mayor in the general election; to provide for the choice of write-in candidates; to provide for the election of council and the mayor by ballot without designation of political party; to provide for the marking, sorting and counting of ballots and tabulating the results in a manner consistent with the charter and general election law for non-partisan ballots; to provide for the ongoing validity of Article IX should any provision of Article IX be amended or held unconstitutional or in violation of state law; to provide for the use of mechanical, electronic or other devices for vote counting; and provide other procedures to implement proportional representation by repealing existing Sections 5, 5a, 7, 8, 11 and 12 and enacting new Sections 5, 5a, 7, 8, 11, 12 and 13, be approved?I'm actually divided on this one for two reasons:
1) I am 100% in favor of instant run-off election processes, which is what proportional representation is (essentially). I think it's fair and creates more balance in the system, while opening the system and allowing for more people to run for office.
2) This process is really, really, really complicated. I'm really concerned how upcoming elections will be run for city council because we can even trust people to properly press a button for one candidate for president (ignoring arguments about voting machine difficulties, here). Asking people to rank their preference... well... I've read some on the issue and I'm still not 100% on how the Cincinnati specific program works.
Drunken College Girl to black trannie gal: Oh my god, girl you look great!
Trannie Gal: Excuse me?
Drunken College Girl: You look great!
Trannie Gal: *snaps fingers* Damn right, bitch, I always do!
Drunken College Girl: What a great Halloween costume!!!
Homeless Gal: Bitch, please, we always look like this. Halloween is for white people.
Is everything ok, Mr. Floore?
I'm not so hot on Halloween these years, even though I've had a special affinity growing up for it. After all, it happens in the same month as my birthday... of course, then, it's my holiday.
My mother loves Halloween, or, did, growing up. We were one of those families that, though lacking the spook house outside, had more kitsch inside for the holiday than any other place on the planet save a Hallmark store. I still remember the antique light up spookhouse that my mother has, complete with window pains made of what look like sugar. I still adore it and curse the fact that I broke one of the many pieces growing up. We also had a black cat, which my mother said she hated. On Halloween, she was sure to find that damn cat and bring it inside. There are sicko's out there, she would say.
These days, I don't do Halloween. So much so that last year I didn't go out; this year, I'm working. I think that should be fairly indicative about the tepidness of my feelings toward it. It's suprising because I thought, as an adult, this would be the holiday I would get into.
But it never panned out that way.
I hate horror movies, and the amount of candy consumed is almost disgusting at times. I can't get over the engorgement of chocolates and hard candies that occur from about my birthday to the end of the month and the weeks afterward where all you can think is If I see another tootsie roll, I'm going to cut someone's head off. It has become... well, boring.
My friends get into it, and the constant comparison of what they are wearing annoys me. Mainly because I have not worn a costume since I was 14 years old. I don't have that great of ideas.
There is no point to this post, except to say, I wish I was still involved. I wish I loved it the way my mother does, the way my friends do. I wish, at least, there was something more to it, in my head at least, than Elvira with a beer. It seems to have just come down to that and nothing more. There are always reasons to get drunk; I just don't see the sense in covering myself in fake blood as a reason to do just that.
And, with that depressing anecdote, I wish all of you...
Happy Halloween!!!!
Today is Write to Marry Day for bloggers across the country!!!! (Thanks to JereKeys for reminding me, and thanks to Pam's House Blend for organizing this, and don't forget to check out my previous posting on the issues.)
I attended the (X) meeting of the 2009 Cincinnati Pride Commitee Meeting last night at Little Bits Bar in Clifton Heights. This was the first time I had actually been to a meeting hosted by "his eminence," Joe Penno.Oh, and a spoiler: Cheryl Eagleson and John Maddox have been tapped as the Grand Marshalls. I don't think that was confidential information, I'll see what kind of response I get.1) What would you like to see at Cincinnati Pride that you've never seen before?
2) Who would you like to see at Cincinnati Pride as a performer? (the dream list included people like Margaret Cho and Kristine W. . . I'll be interested to see what they can pull off)
3) Since most of my readers are "younger folks," what would bring you and everyone you know to Pride in Cincinnati this year?
4) Why is anyone still pretending like the Greater Cincinnati GLBT News is read by this target audience? I liked how their promotional ideas were keyed around two things: Michael X. Chanak's massive email list and the GLBT News. I'm sure there are no other ways that gay people in Cincinnati get their news or information... I'm sure I don't know of any. God I miss Sam and Q-City.
Homeless Girl: Yea, I'm not going to be out for much longer.
Homeless Boy: Well, let me give you a phone number that you can call in case you get locked up or something tonight.
Homeless Girl: You are too sweet. Good looking out.
The problem came to the forefront last week with Cleveland Browns player Kellen Winslow, who recently had his second staph infection. He is reportedly the sixth player to acquire staph among the Browns in five years.They have a link on the page to the CDC's Fact Sheet on MRSA and athletes (although I think it's funny and sad that they don't actually distinguish between MRSA and staph, but you know...). What is also interesting as, earlier this year, the CDC came close (but not quite) to labeling MRSA as an STI that has started to be found in men who have sex with men:
Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts was revealed to have a staph infection, the Indianapolis Star reported Friday. University of North Carolina-Asheville fans also recently learned that Kenny George, the 7-foot-7 center on the basketball team, had a staph infection complication that led to part of his foot being amputated.
It's unclear how these high-profile athletes acquired their infections, but locker rooms have been found to habor staph bacteria in previous outbreaks. The topic is generating buzz throughout the sports world as more players' staph cases are revealed. Hospitals have long been known to be hot spots for transmitting staph, but recently cases have cropped up in other community settings. Regardless of where these players got their infections, the close quarters of a locker room raise questions about overall risks.
About 30 percent of people carry staph in their noses without exhibiting symptoms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...
Experts say Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, a form of staph resistant to common antibiotics, has become a more prevalent problem in settings such as contact sports that involve skin-to-skin touching.
Most MRSA infections acquired in community settings present themselves as sores or boils and often appear red, swollen, painful or with drainage such as pus, the CDC says. Infections often occur in cuts and abrasions but also on body parts covered in hair, such as the back of the neck, armpit or groin.
The strains of MRSA described in the recent Annals of Internal Medicine have mostly been identified in certain groups of men who have sex with men (MSM), but have also been found in some persons who are not MSM. It is important to note that the groups of MSM in which these isolates have been described are not representative of all MSM, so conclusions can not be drawn about the prevalence of these strains among all MSM. The groups studied in this report may share other characteristics or behaviors that facilitate spread of MRSA, such as frequent skin-to-skin contact.MRSA is typically transmitted through skin-to-skin contact, which occurs during a variety of activities, including sex. There is no evidence at this time to suggest that it MRSA is a sexually-transmitted infection in the classical sense.
Unlike what my family will tell you...
President/Vice President - Barack Obama/Joe Biden
U.S. Representative, 3rd District of Ohio - Jane Mitakides
U.S. Representative, 2nd District of Ohio - Victoria Wulsin
Ohio State Representative, 28th District - Connie Pillich
Ohio State Representative, 31st District - Denise Driehaus
Ohio State Representative, 33rd District - Tyrone Yates
Hamilton County Commissioner - Todd Portune & Chris Dole
Ohio Supreme Court - Peter Sikora
Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas - Jody Luebbers & Norma J.H. Davis
We are divided over our involvement in wars overseas, shaken by the collapse of financial institutions and the weakened economy, uncertain about our families' future well-being, and seemingly more polarized on partisan, cultural and regional lines than ever.
This is a time for a president with deep experience and proven character, a president who thrives in the great, good, honest middle ground in which most Americans live, a president forthright enough to tell us what we'd rather not hear, a president with the courage to follow his convictions and the grit to persevere.This is Sen. John McCain's time.
We endorse the Arizona Republican for president...
Unlike Obama, McCain isn't a smooth, effective campaigner. (emphasis mine) But his record of leadership suggests he will be a far better president than candidate...
While the campaign has focused mainly on the issues, it has brought Americans some ugly rhetoric from the extremes on both sides. Both candidates have ably risen above it. McCain has consistently rebuked those who would insinuate racial prejudice into the equation. Yet the nation remains sharply divided country on partisan, ideological, cultural and racial lines. We urge the winning candidate to invite the loser to help him advance the nation's agenda.
America needs an experienced, skilled hand in the White House, someone who can exercise a moderating influence, someone who can summon the courage to change and the consistency to stick with his convictions. That someone, we believe, is John McCain.
The gender identity or sexual preference (heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or prepubertal) is not in doubt, but the individual wishes it were different because of associated psychological and behavioural disorders, and may seek treatment in order to change it.
In the current social climate, claiming homosexuality is a mental disorder stems from efforts to discredit the growing social acceptance of homosexuality as a normal variant of human sexuality. Consequently, the issue of changing sexual orientation has become highly politicized. The integration of gays and lesbians into the mainstream of American society is opposed by those who fear that such an integration is morally wrong and harmful to the social fabric. The political and moral debates surrounding this issue have obscured the scientific data by calling into question the motives and even the character of individuals on both sides of the issue... Psychotherapeutic modalities to convert or "repair" homosexuality are based on developmental theories whose scientific validity is questionable. Furthermore, anecdotal reports of "cures" are counterbalanced by anecdotal claims of psychological harm. In the last four decades, "reparative" therapists have not produced any rigorous scientific research to substantiate their claims of cure. Until there is such research available, APA recommends that ethical practitioners refrain from attempts to change individuals' sexual orientation, keeping in mind the medical dictum to First, do no harm.
Students at a suburban St. Louis high school headed to the gymnasium for HIV testing this week after an infected person told health officials as many as 50 teenagers might have been exposed to the virus that causes AIDS.
Officials refused to give details on who the person was or how the students at Normandy High School might have been exposed, but the district is consulting with national AIDS organizations as it tries to minimize the fallout and prevent the infection -- and misinformation -- from spreading...
The St. Louis County Health Department said last week that a positive HIV test raised concern that students at Normandy might have been exposed. The department is not saying whether the infected person was a student or connected with the school, only that the person indicated as many as 50 students may have been exposed.
The Health Department also will not say how any exposure might have occurred. Health Department spokesman Craig LeFebvre has said the possibilities include sexual activity, intravenous drug use, piercings and tattoos.
"I know that GLMA members and LGBT physicians have been treated unfairly by the AMA in the past. There is simply no excuse for discriminatory actions or exclusions based on sexual orientation or gender identity -- none." He continued, "First, GLMA has opened [the AMA's] eyes to the diverse needs of LGBT patients, and second -- and just as important -- GLMA has told patients that they have the right to expect a health care system filled with openness, fairness and equality."Just a little tidbit for today. I'm working on my school's Diversity Week, which happens in November, so I'm trying to find information about culture, religion, sexuality and healthcare. This was one of the first tidbits I had found.
I'm curious about the law in North Carolina. There are some great discussions going on, at the Q-Notes site, as well as on TrevorHoppe.com and on Joe.My.God. I wanted, instead of talking myself (you can read my comments on TrevorHoppe.com), to post some other people's reactions. What do you think?A gay disc jockey in Raleigh originally convicted of violating HIV infection regulations in August has been placed on house arrest after admitting he broke probation orders in early October.
On Sept. 6, Q-Notes reported that Joshua Waldon Weaver, 23, who works in clubs in Raleigh and Wilmington, pleaded guilty to charges that he failed to disclose his HIV-positive status and engaged in unprotected sex with three people. Weaver was given a suspended jail sentence and placed on probation. The terms of his probation ordered Weaver to use protection when engaging in sexual activity.
About two weeks ago Weaver was arrested after Wake County Public Health officials contacted his probation officer with information that he had possibly violated court orders by having sex without a condom. Assistant District attorney Boz Zellinger told The News & Observer that health officials became aware of the DJ’s violation after he contracted another sexually transmitted disease that could have been prevented by the use of a condom.
Weaver could have faced 40 days in jail for his most recent violation, but District Court Judge Jacqueline Brewer instead sentenced him to six months of electronically-monitored house arrest. He will not be allowed to leave his father’s house except for probation-approved employment. Brewer also ordered
Weaver to undergo a psychological evaluation.If Weaver breaks his probation again, he will face up to 25 days in jail and prosecutors will ask for a two-year quarantine in a state prison hospital.“His behavior hasn’t changed,” Zellinger told the Raleigh newspaper after the hearing. “We’re trying to address the callousness his actions have demonstrated.”
Zellinger added, “It’s not a witch hunt. It’s a desire to change his
behavior to benefit the community.”
(from Q-Notes, a gay mag from the Carolinas')
Ok, so, I found the NCLaw here. Fascinating law, actually. This is what it says about HIV-infected persons:Well Trevor,the truth is that he needs to be plastered on billboards across the nation. Don’t you want your friends and family members to know who he is when they see him? Well, I do. Maybe one of your close loved ones will bring him home for dinner after dating him a significant amount of time before meeting the family. LOL. GET REAL AND FACE REALITY!!!! He’s sick and he wants to take all of us with him. Maybe you want to join him or are you already in the group. Where’s your picture?
(from Q-Notes)
Trevor & Chris: HIV is a communicable disease, correct? So is TB, correct?
What about all those folks quaranteened for TB? Does the government have the right to tell those people to stay in their homes?
Does the government have the right to prevent the spread of a communicable disease?
(from Q-Notes)
imageofman - I have problems with quarantines but generally agree with them for airborne diseases. This is not the case with HIV. HIV can not be contracted accidentally(mother to child is an exception) . If you have sex, HIV and other std’s are part of the risk you take. If you’re worried about HIV decide for yourself how worried you are and then make your choices. To be PERFECTLY safe don’t have sex, to be safer sleep with one person you trust, to be even safer always use a condom. The cost/ benefit is up to you. I don’t care who this guy sleeps with and I don’t care if he lies to his partners - it’s not my business or yours!
(from Q-Notes)
Hideous....I agree whole-heartedly, Trevor.
I also can't get past the point that he got "caught" because "he
contracted another sexually transmitted disease that could have been prevented by the use of a condom".....first of all it's a bit presumptuous that an STD infection is immediately proof of unprotected anal sex when most every infection can also be transmitted orally....or is it the state of NC's position that HIV+ people must use condoms for oral AND anal sex? (which isn't, to my knowledge, really in keeping with safer sex messaging out there coming from most anyone who knows anything). And for that matter if STD's are included in this code they're using to convict him, then do they now do partner tracing to find the person who gave him this most recent STD and arrest that person, too? Talk about barriers to accessing testing and care? Or participating in a partner notification process to keep your sexual partners healthy?
It's also particularly problematic that a queer publication would run with the story in this way...it's bad enough that queer men and HIV+ men get defiled by the mainstream...but to have our own community legitimizing it! *barf*
We live in a scary scary country!
(from TrevorHoppe.com)Why not just make him wear an electronically-monitored chastity belt?
(from Joe.My.God.)Hmm. Two-year quarantine in a state hospital. Nice. What's "appropriate?" How about a "penis-ectomy"? Orchidectomy? Hormonal castration?LOVES me those Southern states!!!Are there normally two willing partners in any sex act, or just the "dangerous" one?
(from Joe.My.God.)This guy isn't bright enough to care that he is walking around with a loaded gun in his pocket, one that cannot be taken from him and the worst thing that can happen is that the state will clothe, feed and house him at the expense of taxpayers for two years. At the end of that time, he'll probably get out hornier than a fifteen year old and start doing damage all over again. WOW! How about making him work in a long term care facility with people dying of AIDS and/or in a home care capcity for someone who is housebound due to the disease? If re-education is the key to reform, then please put this stoopid motherfucker in a situation that promotes learning.
(from Joe.My.God.)here we go again with the long slide down the slippery slope. You could sneeze in an elevator and pass along the influenza virus which can have lethal (albeit rare) complications. People aren't likely to give up breathing (and coughing) anytime soon, nor is it realistic to imagine that sex will go away. As this trend goes, along with the fear-mongering 'media-terrorism' of the hourly news cycle, there is no goal in the culture wars more sacred that criminalizing HIV. We are the victims of this dread disease. Our civil rights are not up for grabs. The irresponsible behavior of one individual does not reflect the values of our community as a whole. This must be made emphatically clear. For me I think it's much more useful to focus on near goals that are real and attainable - serosorting, for example. Advocating among all my poz friends to stay up on the latest treatment info and help them out of the debilitating depression that is so common among us long-termers would be another. I walk the walk every fucking day - and I'm not about to let some looser (no matter how cute) from Carolina define the terms my fight. I can be just as creative in name-calling as the next queen - but don't think for a moment that I am unaware of my responsibilities and good fortune.Just to wonder out loud, how many of those who excoriate poz guys with such venom have bareback videos in their porn collections? I mean, we could totally put Treasure Island out of business if we really got together and tried to. That would be do-able; turning the tide of public opinion, well, maybe someday if we survive that long.You may not see the courageous around you, nor understand the burdens carried - Whitman said it best - 'he who walks a mile without sympathy surely walks to his grave alone, dressed in his shroud.'
(from Joe.My.God.)
Infected persons shall:That's right kids, unlike Ohio House Bill 100 which makes it illegal to have sex without disclosure (and humorously has commentary about inserting "an instrument, apparatus, or other object that is not a part of the body into the vaginal or anal cavity of another" -- that's actually really unexpected in an Ohio law), North Carolina has made it illegal for someone with HIV to ever have sex without a condom as well as notification of partners, current, past, and future.
(a) refrain from sexual intercourse unless condoms are used; exercise caution when using condoms due to possible condom failure;
(b) not share needles or syringes, or any other drug-related equipment, paraphernalia, or works that may be contaminated with blood through previous use;
(c) not donate or sell blood, plasma, platelets, other blood products, semen, ova, tissues, organs, or breast milk;
(d) have a skin test for tuberculosis;
(e) notify future sexual intercourse partners of the infection;
(f) if the time of initial infection is known, notify persons who have been sexual intercourse and needle partners since the date of infection; and,
(g) if the date of initial infection is unknown, notify persons who have been sexual intercourse and needle partners for the previous year.
What's wrong with universal healthcare?
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. -- Marianne Williamson, A Return to LoveJackie Danicki... I think we had a discussion about this very issue once.
"Only time can heal your broken heart, just as only time can heal his arms and legs."
This is probably one of the more pressing issues on our ballot this time around, excepting the actual representative elections.
A trial concerning a bizarre crime - now known in the Netherlands as ‘the HIV case' - started in the northern Dutch city of Groningen today. Three homosexual men are alleged to have drugged and then deliberately infected at least 14 other men with HIV, the virus that can lead to AIDS.
A man facing first-degree murder charges for allegedly spreading the virus that causes AIDS will see his case go before a jury Monday in what's believed to be the first prosecution of its kind in Canada.
Johnson Aziga, 52, has spent five years in pre-trial custody while cycling through several legal teams.
Two women died after allegedly having unprotected sex with him.
"It's going to be a landmark case," Aziga's lawyer, Davies agambiire, said in an interview.
"This is the first time that a Canadian is prosecuted for alleged murder through the alleged dissemination or transmission of the HIV virus."
In this largely rural corner of the state, it's hard not to go through Longview, a town of 78,000 residents, four Dairy Queens and two high schools—and the birthplace of Virginity Rules, which sponsored these roadside praises of teen abstinence and hosted kid-led virginity campaigns. They represented a small slice of the more than $1 billion George W. Bush has bestowed on abstinence education. But even without a looming budget crisis, the next chief executive may not be so dedicated to the cause. Barack Obama supports comprehensive sex ed. And while Sarah Palin said she opposed "explicit sex-ed programs" in 2006, aides now say both Palin and her running mate, John McCain, back federal funding for programs that "promote abstinence as the best option" but also include "information on contraception." For true believers in the wait-for-marriage camp, that's hardly comforting.
Although the world has recently preoccupied itself with sex education in Alaska, it is here, in my home state of Texas, where the battle over abstinence is most pitched. This is the ground where then governor Bush first became abstinence education's most powerful champion. The state draws the biggest share of federal abstinence funds by far, and nearly 95 percent of public school districts teach only abstinence, according to research from the Texas Freedom Network. If the policy fails, no state stands to lose more of its infrastructure for sex education.
Circumcision doesn't seem to protect gay men from HIV infection, casting doubt on the benefits of the procedure in men who have sex with men.
The conclusion comes from a review of 15 studies that each examined whether circumcision affects the spread of HIV between gay men.
"We found insufficient evidence it offers protection to men who have sex with men," says Gregorio Millett of the US Centers for Disease Control, who led the study.
But researchers say that the findings don't diminish the value ofcircumcision as a protective measure in Africa, where studies showed that circumcision cut the risk of infection in heterosexual men by up to 60%.
"We must be very clear that male circumcision maybe be much more effective where there's a very high general prevalence of HIV – as with 20% infected in Africa – and where the virus spreads mainly through heterosexual contact," says Willett.
He suggests that the procedure may be less effective in gays because unlike heterosexual men, they engage in receptive as well as insertive sex. This echoes findings in other studies that circumcision only lowers the risk for men, not women "receivers".
Willett did find limited but statistically insignificant evidence that gay men were at lower risk if they only engaged in insertive sex. He also found that circumcision did have a protective effect before 1996 when highly effective antiviral therapies became available. He speculates that the effect disappeared because the protection afforded by the drugs encouraged men to resume riskier sexual practices.
In the wake of three studies showing a protective effect in African men, the WHO last year announced a new policy encouraging African countries where HIV is most prevalent to consider circumcision programmes.
Thanks for clearing that up, now let's go back to our lives and continue to remind people that condoms work better than circumcision any day.
(Thanks, TY)
Hispanic/Latino community leaders, Health department officials and elected representatives gathered today in Congress to urge Federal Agencies and Congress to recognize and adequately address the disproportionate toll HIV/AIDS is having on Hispanic communities nationwide. To date, the Federal response has not met the diverse and complex needs of the Latino communities.
“We recognize the need for increased awareness of HIV/AIDS in our communities of color,” said Congresswoman Hilda L. Solis, Chairwoman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Health and the Environment Task Force Priorities and longtime leader in the fight to eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities. “We also support increased funding for the Minority HIV/AIDS Initiative and its focus on HIV/AIDS prevention, research and treatment, the prevention of tuberculosis and Hepatitis C infections among HIV/AIDS patients and encouraging international HIV/AIDS organizations to expand efforts in Mexico, Latin America and the Caribbean.”
Searching google for gay history quizzes -- you know me, I love to prove to the world how smart I am -- I stumbled on one of the more unexpected websites and quizzes ever.
BET has a Black & Proud page dealing specifically with LGBT persons of color. (The quiz is really easy -- I got a 100.)
And actually, the coverage is not that bad, and actually has a whole section on black actors who took on gay roles and did not suffer because of it. On the list: Forest Whitaker, Will Smith, Wesley Snipes, Queen Latifah (who is also on all of our list of "needs to come out of the closet and get over herself"), Isaiah Washington, Ving Rhames, and Taye Diggs.
Mmmm... Taye Diggs.
Why is it unexpected? I don't know. I guess, well, I guess that's something wrong with me and my perception of black America, isn't it?
This one (just HTML) is from Out for Equity... I am "Fine!" (No, really, that's the rating)
And, of course, one from PlanetOut. I got a 60 :-(.
And lots of ones from Avert regarding sex, HIV, and all that jazz!!! (Thanks to the hottest gay blogger in the world -- MileHighGayGuy -- isn't that the guy from all the HIV med advertisements???)
And six great ones over at FunTrivia!!!
