Troy Mi. Mayor Janice Daniels } Trouble Waters For Anti-Gay FB Page

Troy’s new mayor Janice Daniels — a longtime activist in Michigan’s Tea Party — went on the defensive today less than two weeks into her term when Internet viewers found what many called a gay-bashing sentiment on Daniels’ Facebook page.

In a post dated June 25, Daniels shared with her Facebook followers the line: “I think I am going to throw away my I Love New York carrying bag now that queers can get married there.” Daniels’ post came a day after New York State lawmakers, on June 24, voted to have their state allow gay marriages.

Gay rights leaders in Michigan said Daniels’ words amounted to hate speech. Denise Brogan-Kator, executive director of Equality Michigan, said on her own Facebook page: “I find it discouraging that a leader of people can have such disregard for the lives of people she serves.”

By Bill Laitner

Detroit Free Press Staff 

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Troy Mayor Janice Daniels is being criticized for a comment posted on her Facebook page against gay marriage. The comment said, "I think I am going to throw away my I Love New York carrying bag now that queers can get married there." / Facebook

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Troy Mayor Janice Daniels

In a phone interview tonight, Brogan-Kator added that Daniels “didn’t say it as mayor, but it’s been pointed out to her and she’s defending it today.” Brogan-Kator cited a story on Troy Patch in which Daniels defended her right to speak against gay marriage.

Some gays use the word "queer” as way “to reclaim a word that has historically been used to hurt us,” Brogan-Kator said. But, “clearly, from the context, this is not what Mayor Daniels intended,” she said, calling Daniels’ use of the word “shameful.” Daniels’ Facebook post had been shared more than 180 times as of tonight, and has drawn many critical comments on the social media site from across the country, and across metro Detroit.

Daniels, reached Friday night, said: “I was speaking for myself. It’s my personal belief that marriage is between one man and one woman, (but) as mayor I know I represent all of the people in this city.”

Linda Kajma, 60, a 37-year Troy resident who said she voted for Daniels’ opponent in the Nov. 8 election, said she was upset by the comment. “She passed herself off as a Christian and a person of integrity during the campaign, and now the real Janice is showing her colors,” Kajma said.

Daniels was sworn in as mayor on November 14.

Robyn Lapointe, 51 of Warren, said anyone wanting to become a public official should not make such a comment.
"Her words were totally inappropriate," Lapointe said of Daniels' post. 

Contact BILL LAITNER: 586-826-7264 or blaitner@freepress.com

3 Rugby Stars Change to Red Underwear } HIV Awareness Campaign

In our opinion, there are two things you can never have enough of, firstly it’s HIV awareness and support for World Aids Day and secondly rugby players in pants. Luckily for us our two favourite things have joined together!

Harlequins rugby gods Karl Dickson, Sam Smith and Seb Stegmann are backing HIV and sexual health charity Terrence Higgins Trust’s new World AIDS Day campaign, Stand Up, Stand Out, and asking people nationwide to ‘show us their undies’ to support people living with HIV.

With 100,000 people predicted to be living with HIV by the end of this year, the sportsmen supported Terrence Higgins trust this World Aids Day to raise greater awareness about HIV and generate vital funds for prevention services and support for people living with the virus.

‘More and more people are diagnosed with HIV every year and we’re only going to tackle it if we start talking more about safer sex’ Karl Dickson explains, ’get your red pants on for World Aids Day this year and support a brilliant charity so they can be there for even more people.’

Like these sporting hunks, you too can take part in Stand Up, Stand Out throughout December by:

Standing Out in red underwear and donate £2 to Terrence Higgins Trust: Be as loud and proud as you like, showing just a hint of red over your jeans or a full ‘underwear as outerwear’ look. Get work colleagues, friends and family in on the act to raise vital funds for people living with HIV.

Wearing your red ribbon with pride: Wear yours throughout December to remember those who have died with AIDS. Sell them to friends, family and colleagues to raise funds to support Terrence Higgins Trust and people living with HIV. Phone 020 7812 1671 to order your free box of red ribbons.

Getting well ‘red’ about HIV: Separate the myths from the facts and find out more information about HIV to protect yourself and your partner- with Terrence Higgins Trust’s Stand Up, Stand Out HIV Fastfacts

Visit the THT website To get involved with Stand Up, Stand Out and find out more.    

Gingrich } Children of Poor Families are Lazy- Watch the video

Gingrich: Children of poor families are lazy

Australias’s Government Votes for Gay Marriage } But No Changes In Law

 Associated Press

• guardian.co.uk,   

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard attends the 46th national conference of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) in Sydney. Photograph: Torsten Blackwood/AFP/Getty Images

Australia's ruling Labor party has voted to endorse same-sex marriage, a reversal of its long-standing position on the issue, which will however have little practical effect on the chance of gay marriage being legalised in the country.

The impact of the vote at the centre-left Labor Party's annual conference was diluted by the party's endorsement of a motion by Prime MinisterJulia Gillard to allow lawmakers to make a "conscience vote" on bills attempting to legalise gay marriage. That means legislators can vote on the issue according to their personal beliefs rather than being forced to vote in line with the party's official position.

Gillard's government holds a wafer-thin majority in Parliament over the conservative Liberal Party which opposes same-sex marriage and several Labor members personally oppose gay marriage. So any bill proposing to legalise gay marriage will still face a tough battle.

Recent polls show a majority of Australians favour allowing same-sex marriage, and several Australian states already permit civil unions between gay couples. But Gillard opposes any changes to Australia's Marriage Act, which prohibits same-sex marriage.

She called the party's support of the conscience vote "the right decision," but brushed off questions about its endorsement of the policy change.

"My focus was on the conscience vote and people should be able to vote in accordance with their conscience and certainly now they will," Gillard said.

Marriage equality advocates said they were disappointed with the conscience vote, but praised the policy change as historic.

"The momentum toward achieving marriage equality is unstoppable," Australian Marriage Equality national convener Alex Greenwich said. "A major obstacle to reform has been removed and we are prepared to face the new challenge we have been given of achieving reform with a Labor conscience vote."

The vote followed a fiery debate in which gay marriage advocates pleaded for equal treatment of all couples, regardless of sexual orientation, and opponents argued for the status quo.

"This issue is one we should decide with our heads, not on the basis of emotion," said Joe de Bruyn, national secretary of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association, one of the country's largest unions. "The definition of marriage as set out in the legislation is that it is the union of one man and one woman, voluntarily entered into for life. It has always been that way since the dawn of humanity."

In a passionate speech that brought much of the audience to its feet, Labor Senator John Faulkner said it was the government's job to protect human rights.

"Human rights can never be at the mercy of individual opinions or individual prejudices. They are not privileges to be extended to one person and denied to another according to the whims of popular opinion or the whims of the government of the day," he said. "They are inherent in each and every one of us simply because we are human."

Ewan McGregor Talks } Gay Roles, Sexuality and Sex, Relationships and Love

 Talks ‘Beginners’ and gay roles: “I’m interested in sexuality and sex, relationships and love and what makes us tick.”

By Greg Hernandez  http://greginhollywood.com/

It’s great to see the terrific film Beginnersgetting some awards attention. It’s the story of a father (Christopher Plummer) and son (Ewan McGregor) and what happens when the father comes out late in life.

McGregor talked to Frontiers IN LA about the movie, his popularity with gay audiences and more. Here is an excerpt:

In Beginners, your character goes through a process that’s almost like a rediscovery of his father when Christopher Plummer’s character comes out at the age of 75. Did you personally discover anything about the gay community through the making of the film that you hadn’t known beforehand?
I learned a lot about American gay history, because I think Mike [Mills, the film’s director] really beautifully explores it in the montages where he’s looking back at his father’s life as a young gay man in the early ‘50s, with an aim to try to understand what that might be like and why his father made the choices that he made. He makes it very real, that history, and it doesn’t feel like a history lesson. It’s an exploration of his dad’s younger years. And then how not very long ago gay men were being thrown into the back of police trucks and arrested for going to gay coffee shops. That sort of stuff I found very interesting—how recently it happened, when it seems so long ago.

You’re a very popular actor among the gay community for many reasons, but primarily because you appear in films and roles that really speak to gay men. How do you choose which roles you take on?
Well, it’s just a very gut process really. I’m not very complicated about it—if I find a script I don’t want to put down and I like that it’s firing my imagination and I start to see myself in that role, and it’s about something I’m interested to talk about, then I’ll do it. It’s kinda as simple as that really. I try not to make it anymore complicated than that.

Occasionally it does [get more complicated]—I suppose the more you do it, the more you start thinking about directors. You know, I’ve made a lot of films, and you start thinking, “Well OK, now I want to make really good films.” You try to narrow down the possibilities of them not being good, so I suppose nowadays I take more note about the directors. But then again, if I love a script and it’s a first-time director, I’ll probably still do it because that first-time director is probably firing at 110 percent.

In regards to the gay community and myself, I’m delighted, but I’m just interested in people and life. I’m interested in sexuality and sex, relationships and love and what makes us tick, and it doesn’t matter whether that’s heterosexual or gay romance. I don’t really mind it, I just find it interesting. I’ve never really gone out to try to play a gay person, because I don’t really believe you could do that, and if you did, it wouldn’t be a very good portrayal of anybody. So I go out to play a person, and their sexuality is a part of what makes them up—of course, it’s a very important part of what makes us up, but it’s not everything—it’s not.

When I was playing Phillip Morris [in last year’s I Love You Phillip Morris alongside Jim Carrey], I wasn’t playing gay—I was playing Phillip Morris, who is a gay man, and I wanted to get that right. Especially with that role, I wanted to make him camp and sort of light and tender—and at the same time, that can be a real stereotype for a straight man playing gay, but I still wanted him to be that way. I had to walk the line and make him camp and light but at the same time make him real.

Hungarians Have the Biggest Junk (Penis) in All Europe

 

By Jen Doll  

Blame It on the Voices

 According to what we're certain is a very well researched and methodologized scientific-based (if also self-reported) survey, the average Hungarian penis may be the biggest in all of Europe, measuring 16.51 centimeters, or 6.5 inches. Next is the French, at 16.01 centimeters. That, for us Americans, is 6.3 inches. [I was asked to insert a baguette joke here.]

The map, made by AlphaDesigner, is part of Mapping Stereotypes: The Ultimate Bigot's Calendar of Europe, which includes a bunch of maps portraying national prejudices and stereotypes about Europe. You may have seen some of them before -- Europe according to Americans, for example?

Note, in this (other) map of penis sizes around the world, the U.S. averages 5.1 inches.

This would be a good Christmas present for someone, though perhaps not for your family and friends in Ireland.

The very best thing about the map, though, is the "embiggen" link at the bottom. That means…enlarge.

blogs.villagevoice.com

The effects of war on military dogs } “PTSD"

 German shepherds and Labrador retrievers returning from war suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome — just like their human handlers

  Theweek.com

Pablo, a military working dog pictured with his handlers in Afghanistan: Dogs suffering from PTSD may withdraw completely or become unusually aggressive. Photo: Gunnery Sgt. Bryce Piper SEE ALL 68 PHOTOS

Humans aren't the only ones to bear the emotional scars of war.The New York Times reports that veterinarians are now recognizing and treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in dogs that have been deployed with combat forces. More than 5 percent of military dogs who've seen action may be affected, and roughly half of the damaged animals will have to be retired. Here, a brief guide to the"disturbing" effects of war on our loyal, four-legged soldiers:

 With PTSD in canines, as in humans, the symptoms vary but typically involve a marked change in temperament and character. Some dogs become overly vigilant, others get "unusually aggressive with their handlers," while still others become shy and needy. "Most crucially," says James Dao in The New York Times, "many stop doing the tasks they were trained to perform." It's only in the last 18 months that vets have begun recognizing and treating the concept of PTSD in dogs — which is a "bit surprising," says Margaret Hartmann atJezebel, given how long we've known that abused dogs tend to cower and act out.

 A big one. Once merely "furry sentries," military dogs have become increasingly important in modern warfare. German shepherds, Belgian Malinois, and Labrador retrievers now perform various specialized tasks, such as sniffing out improvised explosive devices (I.E.D.'s), the leading cause of casualties in Afghanistan in recent years. "If the dog is trained to find improvised explosives and it looks like [the dog is] working, but isn't, it's not just the dog that's at risk," says Dr. Walter F. Burghardt Jr., the chief of behavioral medicine at the Daniel E. Holland Military Working Dog Hospital in San Antonio, Texas. "This is a human health issue as well."

 Treatment can be challenging since dogs can't tell vets and handlers what's bothering them. Mild cases of PTSD can often be treated by giving the dog a break, some extra playtime, and a gentle brush-up on obedience training. Dogs with more serious cases require "desensitization counterconditioning," wherein a dog is exposed to sights and sounds, like an explosion or a loud vehicle, from a comfortable distance. If the dog doesn't react, he's given a treat, and then progressively moved nearer to the action. Controversially, some dogs also receive the sort of anti-anxiety medications humans rely on (e.g. Xanax). "There's a disturbing undertone" here, says Hartmann. These "dogs are all forced into service, and in addition to risking their lives, they're suffering from psychological trauma they can't explain [and which] we don't quite know how to treat."

It can. Gina, a five-year-old German shepherd with the 21st Security Force Squadron, made news last year after she returned from a five-month-tour in Southwest Asia and wasn't herself.  "She was so messed up, she didn't want to see anybody," says one of her handlers. "She didn't want to go inside buildings. She was terrified of everything." After a successful desensitization treatment, Gina's been cleared to deploy again. A Labrador that was left scared and cowering after witnessing a firefight was given Xanax and cleared to work again within days. Still, vets stress that PTSD can likely only be managed and treated, not cured. "Dogs never forget,"says Dr. Nicholas H. Dodman, director of the animal behavior clinic at Tufts University.

Styx Legend Chuck Panozzo with 20 Yrs of HIV Under His Belt

 BY RAEF HARRISON

OUT.com/

Styx legend Chuck Panozzo, AIDS research advocate who's been positive for the past 20 years, has become a spokesman for the A Day With HIV in America campaign, hoping to change the climate in the US about living with HIV.

On September 21, 2011 people across the US living with HIV took a moment out of their day to take a photo of their everyday lives for the project A Day With HIV in America. The images from that day, which was World AIDS Day, are now in a recently released photo essay by the magazine Positively Aware.

Chuck Panozzo, the legendary and openly gay guitarist from Styx, who himself marked his 20th year living with HIV, has been actively involved in the project for the past two years. “It’s a statement of who we are,” says Panozzo. “We’re your brothers, your sisters, and friends. You might not think you know anyone with aids, but chances are you do.”

Now an advocate for AIDS research, Panozzo, 63, has a story like many closeted people of his generation. Worried about reactions not only from his family and band mates, but also fans across the globe, he struggled not only with coming to terms with his sexuality but also having to announce that he had become HIV positive. “We didn’t have any kind of role models back then,” he says. “It was not that easy to be open about AIDS. We couldn’t even tell how many people passed away from it because you couldn’t let anyone know you had been tested.”

It’s the hope and the goal of projects like A Day With HIV in America to change the stigma of the disease. “The face of AIDS is changing. It’s not all gay guys, now it’s women, men, black, white, hispanic. This project represents the lives and hopes of all of us with HIV."

Herman Cain Starts A Women Site for Cain

wonkette.com
 By KIRSTEN BOYD JOHNSON

Oh look! Herman Cain has launched an adorable purply website for the ladies where they can write in and say flattering things about their favorite sex creep. Don’t forget to include your picture, where you live and your email address while you’re at it, ladies! (Yes, the site actually asks for these things.) Herman Cain’s little black book has been getting a little thin these days!

We really have no idea what this website is supposed to prove, other than there appear to be a roughly equal number of women out there who still mysteriously think Herman Cain is not creepy compared to the “thousands” of women Herman Cain says might come forward to accuse him of sexual harassment or affairs.

But let us together randomly sift through the hilarious pick-up lines from some of his supporters!

Oh here right away we have a nice message from “Adele,” can you guess where she is from?

The moral compass in this country really scares me too. It wasn’t until I heard you speak that I felt we can get this country back on a path of respect from the world.

Correct answer: she is from Arizona! Imagine that.

“Angela” is not even convinced that Herman Cain was trying to hit on females!

I believe these “women” are looking for money and attention and have been groomed by the “Demonacrats” to be a bunch of bad actress’.

“Kim” has air-tight proof that Herman Cain could not have sexually harassed any women, because she herself has never been sexually harassed:

I am so turned off by these women who get their 5 minutes of fame – they set women back a century. They are an insult to sucessful working women. I have been successfully self employed in a male dominated industry, commercial real estate, and never once did I have a problem with any male counterpart.

And perhaps the most sage advice of all, from “Vivian”:

Remember Clarence Thomas and hang in there.

And ON AND ON AND ON. A hundred points to the first Wonketteer who gets a submission past the moderators. [Women for Herman Cain]

And here’s an improvement, via joost5 on the Tumblr: