When Was the Last Time You Were Tested for HIV?

The New York Times is reporting from the 17th International AIDS Conference in Mexico City that, because of a new test that can distinguish between new and longstanding HIV infections, the Centers for Disease Control may have been under-reporting the number of new HIV infections in the US each year for the past fifteen years. The number of people living with HIV could actually be 1.3 to 1.4 million instead of the 1 to 1.1 million it was believed to be until this study was done. Up to one quarter of those infected do not know they are HIV positive. Gay and bisexual men of all skin colors make up 53% of all new infections. Regardless of sexual orientation, blacks are seven times more likely than whites and hispanics are three times more likely than whites to become infected.

Also according the the NYT, the CDC has known of these study findings since October 2007 but held off communicating them to the rest of us until they could get them published in a major medical journal, the occurrence of which was intended to coincide with a press conference and much fanfare at a high-profile international event such as the 17th International AIDS Conference in Mexico City. Two other journals refused to fast-track the article, but JAMA stepped up to the plate. However, the press conference in Mexico City was absolutely ruined when the press embargo was broken by public criticism from "a number of leading health experts" who were just hell bent on preventing as many new infections as possible.

Vote Your Job, Lobby Your Hobby

It appears as though the McCain campaign could be in big trouble in the part of Pennsylvania that James Carville once dismissively referred to as Alabama. I took these pictures on Sunday, July 27, pre-opening night at the Clearfield County Fair in the exhibition area in the main concourse underneath the grandstand where Foreigner headlined on Tuesday evening. It is one of the most prominent places to have an exhibition booth in the entire fairgrounds. The Republicans did not have a booth that I could find—not a smart move if you consider that the fair is one of the the largest annual public gatherings in the area. Clearfield County voted for Rendell and Casey in 2006 but Bush and Specter in 2004. The Democrats are making obvious inroads in this part of the commonwealth in addition to better publicized gains in the suburban counties surrounding Philadelphia. If Obama wins Clearfield County in the general election, it will be an upset but not a surprise.

I think it's worth noting that these guys are actually selling [or requesting donations for the City of Dubois Democratic Committee] Obama buttons, shirts, and lawn signs in a place where folks are accustomed to candidates who give all those things [and not infrequently food, beer, and styrofoam hats] away for free. I'm willing to excuse the cute donkey's unabashed sexism if it helps in any way to spare us another four years of a Republican administration made up of self-serving business cronies. Anyhow, they're not saying we should take away the little lady's right to vote, just that we should show her how to do it. I wonder if the "Vote your job, lobby your hobby" sign is intended as a warning not to vote Republican simply because the NRA tells you to. If you don't have a job, you won't be able to afford a gun or hunting trips, and no Democratic legislator in Pennsylvania in his or her right mind is going to vote to outlaw hunting if you call them after the election and ask them nicely not to.

Component of Crude Oil Found on Titan

According to some very clever scientists studying data and images from Cassini who have recently been published in Nature, Saturn's largest moon Titan has lakes of ethane on its surface. It is the only other planet or moon that we know of in our solar system besides Earth to have lakes of some kind of liquid on its surface. Not ones to miss major news items very frequently, especially items that involve space probes and things that didn't turn to shit during their time in office, nor ones likely to overlook the fact that ethane is a component of crude oil, which can be made into many safe and convenient petroleum products at all the clean and efficient petroleum refineries that were built to-spec in the middle of the Twentieth Century, the Bush-Cheney junta is expected to announce plans soon for building giant moon-shocking space-based oil rigs that will be paid for by our great-great-great grandchildren in order to prolong our dependence on constitutionally protected petroleum products such as Vaseline, which may not be used by more than one man and one woman at a time in 36 states, at any cost. Halliburton, Exxon-Mobile, and Northrop Grumman are expected to receive the first no-bid contracts.

Boycott the 2010 Census [Unless They Decide to Allow Their Workers to Record Data Accurately and Truthfully]!

According to this story in the Silicon Valley Mercury News [that I read about on Pam's House Blend], the US Census Bureau has announced that it plans to instruct its employees to lie when recording data about married gay and lesbian families in the upcoming 2010 census. Because of the irrational refusal of the federal government to acknowledge the existence of non-heterosexual marriage, [which those taking the red pills often attempt to excuse by uttering the magic incantation, "Well, it's because of DOMA,"] federal workers recording data for the upcoming census will be instructed to "classify" married non-heterosexual couples as "not married." The full effect of all this inaccurate data is yet to be determined, but it might have something to do with lower funding for social programs in communities with higher concentrations of gay and lesbian families.

A good way for gay and lesbian families to respond to this affront to their dignity might be to boycott the census entirely and refuse to provide any data beyond a statement such as, "Due to the federal government's pig-headed, naive, irrational, and superstition-based refusal to acknowledge the nature of reality as it pertains to the existence of non-heterosexual marriage, this household refuses to participate in the 2010 Census in any way." I think that might be technically illegal, which would make this an act of civil disobedience. You have been warned. However, I personally have refused to participate in the census and sit on federal juries since the mid-nineties for the very same reasons and have never had to face any consequences.

It's an America Sale!

Iconic landmarks in the US are once again being sold to the highest international bidders just as they were during the last Bush presidency when Japanese investors bought Rockefeller Center. One can only hope this development in the international macrobrewing business community will lead to price and distribution parity between Stella and Bud in North America.
JG8D69D

Firefox 3 Rocks

I'm running it on a 1+-year-old MacBook running 10.4.?. It loads faster and looks slicker, and I have yet to see a pop-up from a blocked site. I'm sure there are more reasons than that to upgrade, but none that were so pleasantly obvious to me. The install was a bit goosey because it asked me if I wanted to replace my existing [and working just fine] version of Firefox 2 without assuring me that it would import all my bookmarks and preferences. It did but only after I aborted the first install to rename the old version just in case the new didn't work. You can get it here.

Summer Settles Into Philadelphia

Hell's under water,
a warm wet blanket, woven
from July's first breath.