Serena Williams In Men's Fitness

Serena Williams, looking sultry, in a photo appearing in Men's Fitness. They name her one of the top 25 sexiest female athletes in the world (hat/tip Black Tennis Pro's.)

Mumbai's First Gay Pride Parade

The city of Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay) had its first gay pride parade this weekend, on August 18, 2008.

Oregon's DP Law Safe From November Repeal

A 3-member panel of the 9th Circuit has upheld a ruling rejecting a lawsuit which was attempting to force a ballot measure to repeal the Oregon Family Fairness Act on November 4th.

Mad Professah has been following this case closely because I'm interested in gay rights advances generally and the political actions by heterosexual supremacists, specifically.

Also, in Oregon, their state constitution has been amended by a previous ballot measure passed in November 2004 to prohibit same-sex marriage, so strong domestic partnerships are the only legal protection gay and lesbian couples are eligible for.

The Dark Knight Becomes 2nd Highest Grossing Film Of All Time

The Dark Knight has continued its record-breaking box-office performance by hitting $471 million, eclipsing Star Wars (1977) which has grossed $461 million for the #2 position on the all-time list, behind Titantic (1997) at $600.2 million.

It is unlikely that The Dark Knight will break Titantic's total, but it has a very good chance of breaking the $500 million barrier, according to most models. In fact, Warners Bros. is so happy about its 2008 box-office prospects it has moved one of its potential big hits, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (the sixth movie in the franchise) to July 2009 from its Thanksgiving 2008 release date. The final Harry Potter book will be split into two movies that will be released in late 2010 and 2011.

The Real McCain: Old Rich White Guy

Eye Candy: Rafael Nadal Is The New #1

Thanks to MadProfessah reader carter (and New York magazine), I have this picture of brand new World #1 Rafael Nadal of Spain for your edification.

Craig Hickman has more coverage of Nadal's ascension to #1.

As for me, I wil be looking forward to Roger Federer's ascension to number one sometime in 2009.

EQCA Responds To $1M Donation From Catholic Group

Geoff Kors of Equality California sent email to the organization's members about a 1 million donation from a Catholic organization called the Knights of Columbus to Protect Marriage, the main organization behind the Yes on Prop 8 campaign. Proposition 8 is the California November ballot measure that would amend the California constitution to prohibit gay and lesbian couples from getting married.

We learned today that the right-wing groups behind Proposition 8 received a $1 million contribution from the Knights of Columbus.

The Catholic fraternal organization based in Connecticut has also adopted a resolution calling for "legal and constitutional protection ... for the definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.

"We know what we're up against. Right-wing organizations that will stop at nothing to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry. They want to target same-sex couples to be treated differently under the California Constitution, a document that was created to ensure our equality.

We need your help to stop them!

The NO on 8 campaign is about fairness. It's about equal protection under the law for all couples who wish to marry. While we have been working hard to bring in amazing contributions from many generous donors, our momentum must continue. We have to meet our opponents' contributions dollar for dollar to win in November.

That's why we need you to make a gift to NO on 8 - Equality California today. Help us stop these groups who aim to eliminate our right to marry. Contribute $1,000, $500, $200 or $50 now and help us stay one step ahead of our opposition.

Thank you for supporting the NO on 8 campaign and Equality California.

Besides, Equality California, you can also go directly to Equality for All / No on Prop 8 to help stop the campaign to deny the fundamental freedom to marry to thousands of couples in California.

Caribbean Athletes (Nearly) Sweep 100m Medals

Caribbean-born athletes are beginning to sweep the most prestigious track and field events at the Beijing Olympics. Usain Bolt of Jamaica set an Olympic and World record of 9.69s in the 100m dash, ahead of Richard Thompson of Trinidad and Tobago (9.89s) and American Walter Dix was third in a person best of 9.93 seconds. Bolt, is a 6-foot-5-inch 21-year-old (lawd have mercy!) who just started running the 100 meter dash in 2008--his speciality is the 200 m dash. Former world record holder Jamaican Asafa Powell placed 5th with 9.95, behind Churandy Martina of the Netherland Antilles with 9.93. Another Jamaican, Michael Frater was 6th with 9.97, the first time 6 of the 8 competitors ran sub-10 second times in the Olympic gold medal100m final.

In the women's 100 meter final Jamaicans (Shelly-Ann Fraser, Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart) swept the top 3 positions.

Brilliant Attack Ad Links McCain and Bush

Obama Raises $51m to Mcain's $27m in July

The July fundraising numbers are out and Barack Obama continues to kick John McCain's pale white butt!

From Politico.com:

McCain revealed Friday that he raised $27 million last month, his best month of the campaign.

The summer surge pushed Obama over the $400 million mark for what he's raised over the entire campaign, to $401 million. McCain has raised about $171 million, less than half as much.

Obama finished July with $68.5 million cash on hand, versus $21 million for McCain.

And there's more good news for Democrats, for the first time in years, the DNC outraised the RNC, $27.7 million to $26 million. However, the bad news is that the RNC has $75 million in cash on hand, while the DNC only has $28.5 million.

The real money race is between the DNC+Obama and RNC+McCain, which, in cash on hand numbers is $97 million for the Democrats to $96 million for the Republicans.

In the congressional races, the DCCC and DSCC are criushing their Republican House and Senate counterparts in fundraising. On to November!

Nadal and Dementieva win Singles Gold

Spain's Rafael Nadal won the gold medal match 6-3 7-6(2) 6-3 over Chile's Fernando Gonzalez with Serbia's Novak Djokovic won the bronze medal by defeating American James Blake.

Russia swept the women singles medals with Elena Dementieva (eight years after winning the silver medal in Sydney) by defeating Dinara Safina 3-6 7-5 6-3 (who double faulted 17 times). Vera Zvonareva won the bronze by defeating Li Na 6-0 7-5.

Williams Sisters Win Doubles Gold

African American sisters Venus and Serena Williams won their second Women's doubles gold medal at the Beijing Olympics, eight years after winning in Sydney by defeating the Spanish team of Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-2 6-0 on Sunday.

Federer and Wawrinka Win Doubles Gold

Swiss tennis players Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka celebrate after winning the Beijing Olympics Men's Doubles gold medal by defeating the Swedish team 6-3 6-4 6-7(3) 6-3.

John Morgan Wilson book signing in Weho today

An annnouncement from my favorite mystery writer, John Morgan Wilson:

The first Benjamin Justice mystery, Simple Justice, is about to reissued in trade paperback by Bold Strokes Books. There will be a 7:30 p.m. reading and brief Q&A at A Different Light Books in West Hollywood.

Simple Justice launched the Benjamin Justice series, which has won three Lambda Literary Awards for best gay men's mystery. Sinple Justice also won the Edgar Allan Poe Award from Mystery Writers of America for best first novel, the first "gay mystery" by an openly gay author ever to win the prestigious Edgar. The eighth novel in the series, Spider Season, will be published by St. Martin's Minotaur in early December.

Mad Professah will try to attend the book reading and try to get all my copies of the first seven books signed.

Madonna Turns 50

Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone was born August 16, 1958.

Safina versus Li, Dementieva versus Zvonareva

Russia will win two of the three medals in Women's Singles at the Beijing Olympics.Russian Dinara Safina beat World #1 Jelena Jankovic 6-2 5-7 6-3 and will need to defeat Li Na for a chance to win the Gold Medal. In the other semi-final, Vera Zvonareva will face Elena Dementieva, insuring there will be at least one Russian (and most likely two) in the Gold Medal match.

MadProfessah's pick: Safina defeats Li, Dementieva defeats Zvonareva.

Federer Will Win Olympic Medal (in Doubles)

Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka defeated the top doubles team in the world, American brothers Bob and Mike Bryan 7-6(4) 6-4 to reach the Beijing Olympics Men's Doubles final, assuring that 12-time Grand Slam champion Federer will win his first Olympic medal, something Pete Sampras was never able to do.

The Swiss team will face the unlikely Swedish team of Thomas Johansson and Simon Aspelin in the Gold Medal match on Saturday, who defeated the excellent French team of Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra in the longest tennis match in Olympic history, 7-6 (6), 4-6, 19-17 in 4 hours, 46 minutes.

Gonzalez Clips Blake, Djokovic Chokes Against Nadal

Fernando Gonzalez of Chile defeated American James Blake 4-6 7-5 11-9 in a controversial match and Spaniard Rafael Nadal defeated Serbian Novak Djokovic 6-4 1-6 6-4. Blake missed three match points but was most upset about the first point in the game where Gonzalez was serving 8-9 in the third set and a ball flew past the Chilean at the net and (in the television slow-motion replay) appears to clip his racquet before flying outof bounds. Blake lost the point, even after appealing to the umpire. In his post match press conference, Blake ripped into Gonzalez:

“Playing in the Olympics, in what’s supposed to be considered a gentleman’s sport, that’s a time to call it on yourself,” Blake said. “Fernando looked me square in the eye and didn’t call it.”

Gonzalez said he was uncertain whether the ball hit his racket.

“I didn’t feel anything,” Gonzalez said. “I mean, it’s just one point. There is an umpire. If I’m 100 percent sure about it, I mean, I will give it. But I’m not sure.”

Blake described Gonzalez as a great player who does everything in his power to win, “usually” within the rules.

Wowsa. I sort of am with Gonzalez on this one. There's lots of times when you're playing that you honestly can not tell if the ball has bounced twice, or even if the ball is in or out, which is why one needs external arbiters to make those calls. The umpire made the wrong call, but that happens. Even with that being said, I do think it is quite unusual for a player not to realize that a ball hit their racquet, though.

The Djokovic-Nadal match was excellent quality, with Nadal retreating to his circa 2006-2007 mega-spin style of play, which Djokovic handled easily and demolished him in the 6-1 middle set. In the third set, Djokovic started making more unforced errors, it was really a case of him losing the match, not Nadal winning it. Regardless, Nadal now is assured of winning his first Olympic medal, and for the second Olympics in a row, Fernando Gonzalez will win a medal in tennis. (He an partner Nicolas Massu won the doubles gold medal in Athens in 2004).

Obama Ad on McCain Economics

Venus, Serena, Safina, Dementieva, Jankovic All Reach Olympics Quarters

The following Women's Singles quarterfinal matches are all scheduled at the Beijing Olympics.

(7) WILLIAMS Venus (USA) vs LI Na (CHN)

(6) SAFINA Dinara (RUS) vs (2) JANKOVIC Jelena (SRB)

(4) WILLIAMS Serena (USA) vs (5) DEMENTIEVA Elena (RUS)

BAMMER Sybille (AUT) vs (9) ZVONAREVA Vera (RUS)

VOW TO VOTE NO ON PROP 8!

The following email is being circulated by the NO ON PROP 8 campaign:

Friends,

WE NEED 100,000 SUPPORTERS BY FRIDAY NIGHT.

Poll numbers tell us that millions of people oppose this measure
that would eliminate freedom and equality for same sex couples. We need
100,000 of them to stand up for freedom today.

Please click http://noonprop8.com/home right now on and sign the Vow
to Vote No. And then please forward this e-mail to your address
book. And ask your friends, family and colleagues to do the same.

WE CAN DO THIS! Don't let us down.

With 83 days to go, we need every voice for fairness and freedom to be counted.

Please take some time to add your email address to the list of those who Vow To Vote NO on Proposition 8.

Federer, Blake, Nadal and Djokovic Reach Olympic Quarterfinals

Roger Federer, James Blake, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic all have reached the quarterfinals of the Olympic Tennis event in Men's Singles. Federer and Blake will meet in the quarterfinals, while Nadal and Djokovic could meet in the semifinals. Federer defeated Tomas Berdych 6-3 7-6(4), getting revenge for his 2004 loss to the Czech player, while the American defeated hot French player Gilles Simon 6-4 6-2. The other four players of the final eight quarterfinalists are Paul-Henri Mathieu and Fernando Gonzalez (in Blake and Federer's half) and Jurgen Melzer and Gael Monfils (in Nadal and Djokovic's half).

Smells like a Gold Medal showdown between Rafa and Raja on August 16th, to me.

CO-2: Openly Gay Man Wins Congressional Primary Election

Jared Polis (right) with partner Marlon Reis

What is going on in Colorado? They have selected a 33-year-old openly gay man to be the first non-incumbent openly gay person elected to Congress.


Milllionaire online card entrepeneur Jared Polis placed first in the Democratic primary of the 2nd Congressional district to replace U.S. Representative Mark Udall, who is likely to become the next U.S. Senator from Colorado. Polis spent upwards of $5.3 million to outspend multiple primary opponents, such as Joan Fitz-Gerald, a former Colorado State Senate president who was a strong straight legislative ally, and Will Shafroth, who had been endorsed by Denver's two major newspapers. Most of Colorado's LGBT activists (including its most famous Tim Gill) had previously endorsed Fitz-Gerald.

Polis is almost certain to be elected in a district that includes Boulder and has twice as many registered Democrats than Republicans (both of whom are outnumbered by Independents). He will become the first openly gay Congressperson in Colorado and the third openly gay member of Congress, joining Massachusetts' Barney Frank and Wisconsin's Tammy Baldwin.

Venus and Serena Winning in Beijing

Venus and Serena Williams of the United States are on a roll in Beijing. They teamed together to beat Iveta Benesova and Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic at 4-6 7-5 6-1. Individually they have both won two singles matches. Venus beat Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland 6-3 6-2 in the first round and Benesova 6-1 6-4 in the second. Her sister Serena beat Olga Govortsova of Belarus 6-3 6-1 and then Samantha Stosur of Australia 6-2 6-0.

Venus and Serena are in opposite sides of the draw.

Themes of the Democratic National Convention

The themes of the four days of the Democratic National Convention were released on Monday August 11:

Monday, August 25 -- One Nation

Monday's headline prime-time speaker will be Michelle Obama.

Tuesday, August 26 - Renewing America's Promise
Senator Hillary Clinton will be the headline prime-time speaker on Tuesday night.

Wednesday, August 27 -- Securing America's Future
The Vice Presidential Acceptance Speech

The headline prime-time speaker on Wednesday will be Barack Obama's Vice Presidential Nominee.

Thursday, August 28 - Change You Can Believe In

Barack Obama's Acceptance Speech
On Thursday night, the DNCC will throw open the doors of the Convention and move to INVESCO Field at Mile High so that more Americans can be a part of the fourth night of the Convention as Barack Obama accepts the Democratic nomination. Obama will communicate the urgency of the moment, highlight the struggles Americans are facing and call on Americans to come together to change the course of our nation.

Hat tip Pam's House Blend.

African American Cullen Jones Wins Swimming Gold

Cullen Jones was part of the U.S. 4x100m freestyle relay swimming team that won a Gold medal yesterday in Beijing coming from behind to clip the French team in world record time. Also on the team were Michael Phelps, Jason Lezak and Garrett Weber-Gale. Jones, 24, became the second African American to ever win an Olympic gold medal in swimming, and Phelps won his second (of a possible 8) in the Beijing Olympics. At the Athens Olympics, the U.S. team had placed third and Phelps had won 6 Gold and 2 Bronze. He is attempting to break Mark Spitz record of seven golds in a single Olympics.

Jones has a multiple-year deal with Nike and devotes his time trying to educate minorities about the importance of learning to swim. He himself nearly drowned at age 5 and nearly 6 out of 10 Blacks do not know how to swim. African American children ages 5-14 are nearly three times as likely to drown as their white counterparts.

(hat/tip to Rod 2.0 and Craig Hickman.)

Chabon Wins Hugo Award For Best Novel

The 2008 Hugo Awards have been announced in Denver. MadProfessah had previously previewed the nominees and had hoped that John Scalzi's The Last Colony would win the Hugo for Best Novel (although this was before I had read the book. I have since read the third in Scalzi's Old Man's War series and will have a review up, hopefully this week.) Scalzi ended up winning a lesser Hugo award, for Best Fan Writer.

Well, Michael Chabon's The Yiddish Policemen’s Union has followed up its recent win of the 2008 Nebula Award by winning the 2008 Hugo Award, becoming one of the rare books to win both major science fiction/fantasy awards, and the first since Lois McMaster Bujold's Paladin Of Souls. As loyal readers of this blog would know, I am currently making my way through the list of winners, which includes some of the all-time classics of the genre.

I suppose this win means I will try to read it, but I have previously found Chabon's work almost unreadable (including his Pullitzer prize-winning The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay) after loving his debut novel The Mysteries of Pittsburgh. A few years ago, his book Wonder Boys was made into a badly received film starring Michael Douglas and Tobey Maguire and on NPR yesterday there were reports that Oscar-winning fwriter-directors Joel and Ethan Coen are currently writing a film adaptation of The Yiddish Policeman's Union.

Here are the most important winners of this year's Hugo Awards. Stardust won for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form (I wanted Heroes, 1st Season) to win and Doctor Who won for the second year in a row, beating out my choice, the fan-created Star Trek New Voyages.

Best Novel: The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon (HarperCollins; Fourth Estate)
Best Novella: “All Seated on the Ground” by Connie Willis (Asimov’s Dec. 2007; Subterranean Press)
Best Novelette: “The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate” by Ted Chiang (Subterranean Press; F&SF Sept. 2007)
Best Short Story: “Tideline” by Elizabeth Bear (Asimov’s June 2007)
Best Related Book: Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction by Jeff Prucher (Oxford University Press)
Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form: Stardust Written by Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn, Based on the novel by Neil Gaiman Illustrated by Charles Vess Directed by Matthew Vaughn (Paramount Pictures)
Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form: Doctor Who “Blink” Written by Steven Moffat Directed by Hettie Macdonald (BBC)

Interestingly, Ted Chiang's "The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate" won both the Hugo and Nebula Award for Best Novelette. It's available online (for free!) here.

LA TIMES Opposes Proposition 8!

On Friday August 8, the Los Angeles Times editorialized against Proposition 8, the proposed initiative constitutional amendment on the November 4 ballt which, if passed by a simple majoriity of voters, would eliminate the right to marry for same-sex couples. In a well-written piece, the Times gets to the key point right away:

It's the same sentence as in 2000: "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." Yet the issue that will be put before voters Nov. 4 is radically different. This time, the wording would be used to rescind an existing constitutional right to marry. We fervently hope that voters, whatever their personal or religious convictions, will shudder at such a step and vote no on Proposition 8.

The state of same-sex marriage shifted in May, when the California Supreme Court overturned Proposition 22, the ban on gay marriage that voters approved eight years ago, and ruled that marriage was a fundamental right under the state Constitution. As such, it could not be denied to a protected group -- in this case, gay and lesbian couples.

What voters must consider about Proposition 8 is that, unlike Proposition 22, this is no longer about refining existing California law. In the wake of the court's ruling, the only way to deny marriage to gay and lesbian couples is by revising constitutional rights themselves. Proposition 8 seeks to embed wording in the Constitution that would eliminate the fundamental right to same-sex marriage.

It's a rare and drastic step, invoking the constitutional-amendment process to strip people of rights. Yet in California, it can be done with a simple majority vote. All the more reason for voters to weigh carefully what would be wrought by this measure.

In other Proposition 8 news, the revised ballot description provided by Attorney General Jerry Brown will be the one that 15-16 million California voters see in the Official Ballot Guide this Fall, thanks to a ruling by Sacramento County judge Thomas Frawley in Sacramento on Friday. The voting guide goes to press today, Monday August 11.

Venus and Serena With Roger Federer in Beijing

Roger Federer ran into Venus and Serena Williams on the practice court in Beijing during Day 2 of the Olympics. (Hat/Tip Black Tennis Pros). Rain halted Serena's match at 6-3 2-1 against Olga Govortsova of Belarus. Federer and Venus have not been able to start their first match yet.

Oprah's Endorsement Worth A Million Votes For Obama

Kevin Drum has an interesting post about an article which attempts to quantify the impact of Oprah Winfrey's early endorsement of Barack Obama during the Democratic presidential primary campaign. Economist Professors at the University of Maryland Craig Garthwaite and Tim Moore in their paper "The Role of Celebrity Endorsements in Politics:
Oprah, Obama, and the 2008 Democratic Primary" (pdf), the authors assert that Oprah's early endorsement resulted in approximately 1 million votes for Obama.

Candidates in major political contests are commonly endorsed by other politicians, interest groups and celebrities. Prior to the 2008 Democratic Presidential Primary, Barack Obama was endorsed by Oprah Winfrey, a celebrity with a proven track record of influencing her fans’ commercial decisions. In this paper, we use geographic differences in subscriptions to O! – The Oprah Magazine and the sale of books Winfrey recommended as part of Oprah's Book Club to assess whether her endorsement affected the Primary outcomes. We find her endorsement had a positive effect on the votes Obama received, increased the overall voter participation rate, and increased the number of contributions received by
Obama. No connection is found between the measures of Oprah's influence and Obama's success in previous elections, nor with underlying local political preferences. Our results suggest that Winfrey’s endorsement was responsible for approximately 1,000,000 additional votes for Obama.

The Power of O, indeed!

Happy Bithday Roger Federer

Today, 08.08.08, is Roger Federer's twenty-seventh birthday. He spent part of it at the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.

VIDEO: Obama's Olympics Ad

VIDEO: Obama Chastizes Republican Ignorance

New Yorker Covers Black Gay Serviceman Alan Rogers

This week's New Yorker magazine has a lengthy story (is there any other kind in that magazine?) about Major Alan Greg Rogers, a Black gay man who served in the military that was killed in Iraq earlier this year, as reported here at madprofessah.com two months ago. The article is by Ben McGrath and is titled "A Soldier's Legacy."

It is a fascinating read about a complex and talented individual, who happened to be gay.
Here's a (brief) excerpt:

Shortly after Rogers moved to Washington, in 2004, he joined [American Veterans for Equal Rights] AVER, and served as the local chapter’s membership coördinator and treasurer, participating in “pride” festivals in Baltimore and Washington and organizing rafting and movie trips; among the latter was a trip to see “Gunner Palace,” a documentary about the experiences of soldiers in Iraq. In March of 2005, an AVER member named Tom posted to the organization’s Yahoo discussion group an Army Times op-ed titled “Gays in the Military: It’s a Question of Liberty.” “Thanks for sharing this,” Rogers posted, in response. “It’s nice to see active-duty field-grade officers making a strong case for the repeal of D.A.D.T. and publishing it in the Army Times. Curious to read some of the backlash the subsequent issues will no doubt contain.” (A retired officer, Lieutenant Colonel James E. Schmidt, wrote, “The Bible clearly states that homosexuality is a sin. Leaders must have respect from those they lead. I do not think many soldiers will respect or follow a leader who promotes sin.”) As word of Rogers’s death spread in the gay community, some began to wonder if he might not qualify as the first known gay casualty of the Iraq war. Opponents of the military’s policy, noting his impeccable résumé, and his work with the Deputy Secretary of Defense, saw in Rogers a transformative figure and began soliciting media coverage.

About a dozen gay active-duty personnel, including one senior officer, attended Rogers’s formal burial at Arlington, and joined in a memorial celebration later that evening at a local bed-and-breakfast that was attended by reporters from the Washington Post and from N.P.R.’s “Morning Edition.” The Post’s unusually detailed obituary ran the following week, under the headline “ARMY OFFICER REMEMBERED AS HERO: FRIENDS, FELLOW SOLDIERS MOURN LOSS OF ‘EXCEPTIONAL’ MAN.” It cited his Purple Heart and his two bronze stars, discussed the Persian rug that Rogers’s team in Baghdad had pitched in to buy for Shay Hill as a wedding gift, and quoted Mark Nadel, Rogers’s thesis adviser at Georgetown, saying that he recalled thinking, “This is a guy I’m going to hear from in ten years, and he’s going to be a general.” It did not mention that the subject of the thesis was the effect of “Don’t ask, don’t tell” on United States military recruiting and retention rates. The N.P.R. segment was pegged to news of the four-thousand-casualty mark having been crossed five years after the invasion, with Rogers’s story standing in as a kind of Everyman soldier’s. “You should know that about two hundred people came to the burial, soldiers and civilians alike,” the host, Steve Inskeep, said. “Major Rogers had no wife or child to take away the flag that draped his coffin, so soldiers folded that flag and gave it to his cousin, Cathy Long.”

He will be missed.

Sep 21, 1967-Jan 27, 2008

VIDEO: Obama Hits Back at McCain

EYE CANDY: Little Ricky's All Grown Up!

Actor Wilson Cruz (middle) poses on the beach in Los Angeles with friends Todd Kane and Darryl Stephens. You may remember Wilson (Junito) and Darryl (Noah) from the LOGO television series (and upcoming movie) Noah's Arc about the lives and loves of four black, gay men in Los Angeles. I still remember Wilson playing little Ricky on the ABC television series My So-Called Life. Little Ricky's all grown up!

(UPDATE 10:30AM: Wilson Cruz posted this photo to his Facebook profile on Monday, placing it in the public domain.)

Donald Young Upsets Tommy Haas 6-2 6-4 at UCLA

In a surprising upset, 19-year-old African American lefty Donald Young defeated Tommy Haas 6-2 6-4 at the Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles on Tuesday nite.

Mexican President Promises Universal Free Anti-HIV Drugs

Felipe Calderon, the President of Mexico, opened the XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico City on Sunday by making two big announcements: Mexican citizens will now have access to universal anti-retroviral drugs and he is lifting restrictions on foreign manufacturers making generic anti-retroviral drugs in his country. "All absolutely, all, antiretroviral drugs will be provided for free," President Calderon said (in Spanish).

Andy Murray Wins First ATP Masters Series Title

Andy Murray won his first ATP Masters Series title in Cincinatti on Sunday, defeating World #3 Novak Djokovic 7-6(4) 7-6(5) in 2 hours, 22 minutes. With his win, the 21-year-old Brit (Scot) will rise three places in the rankings to #6.

Murray had also beaten Djokovic last week in Canada after losing all previous career meetings between the young phenoms. Djokovic was coming off of demolishing current World #2 (and soon-to-be World #1) Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals, ending the Spaniard's 32-match winning streak which claimed two major titles (Wimbledon and Roland Garros).

CDC Revises U.S. HIV Annual Rate Sharply Upwards

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a new report on HIV infections in the USA that indicated it has been under estimating the annual HIV incidence rate by nearly 40 percent for at least a decade.

AIDS activists were appalled that it took the CDC so long to publicly release these numbers when the data has been available (and leaked in AIDS public policy circles) since at least last November. The agency claims that it was waiting for the peer review process to be completed, and the report is published as a freely available article in a special issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The bad news:

Using sophisticated testing to identify new infections, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded that there are about 56,300 new infections each year, not the 40,000 figure that has been gospel for so long.[emphasis added]

[...]

The new numbers do not mean that the epidemic is growing in this country, just that researchers have been able to provide more accurate estimates, said Dr. Kevin Fenton, director of the CDC's National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention. He said the number of new infections has remained relatively constant since the late 1990s.

[...]

The new numbers "reveal that the U.S. epidemic is -- and has been -- worse than previously estimated and serve as a wake-up call for all Americans," said Richard Wolitski, acting director of the division of HIV/AIDS prevention at the national center.

In the latest UNAIDS report on the state of AIDS worldwide the latest U.S. data is not included. And California is not included in the latest U.S. data (although the CDC is extrapolating "sophisticatedly" to produce a national annual HIV incidence rate of 56,000) since the government agency refuses to include any data which is not based on names-based HIV surveillance data. As of 2006, that meant that the U.S. estimate is based on actual data from 22 states.

According to TowleRoad, both (Democratic and Republican) U.S. presidential candidates issued statements in response to the revised CDC data on HIV incidence rates in the United States.

BREAKING: Morgan Freeman Injured In Car Accident

There are numerous news reports that 71-year-old Oscar-winning actor (and current co-star of The Dark Knight) Morgan Freeman has been injured in a car accident in Mississippi.

After you send good thoughts his way you can recall the famous parole scene from The Shawshank Redemption.

REPORT: Los Angeles Equality Awards Raises Over $1M

On Saturday August 2 Equality California's Los Angeles Equality Awards featuring San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom as the keynote speaker took place at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills. Comedian Margaret Cho was the Mistress of Ceremonies. In addition to Newsom, the National Center for Lesbian Rights was the other awardee of the night.

Mad Professah attended the event and has the following report on the evening's festivities

Speaking from the podium were Alan Uphold, chair of the event and EQCA board member, followed by Shannon Minter, Legal Director of NCLR (who argued the marriage case before the California Supreme Court in March), Geoffrey Kors (executive director of EQCA) and Kate Kendell (executive director of NCLR).

EQCA Board President John Duran came out after Kendell's excellent speech and brought Kors and Kendell back on to the stage with him. Kors announced that EQCA was upping it's commitment from $1 million dollars to No on Prop 8 by $500,000. Then Duran said that he would raise $1 million dollars in the next ten minutes. Which he proceeded to do, after talking about the power of words, such as "We believe that all men (and women) are created equal" and

The following financial commitments to defeat Proposition 8 were made publicly:

Service Employees International Union: $500,000
California Teachers Association: $250,000
Circus Disco: $100,000
Ben Patrick Johnson, and two others (both lesbians): $25,000 each
Frontiers Magazine: $20,000
Geoff Kors & James Williamson, Greg Willenborg ("In honor of U.S. Reps
Loretta and Linda Sanchez"), Katharine Cole & Deb Kennedy and one other
gay male couple: $10,000 each
Numerous donations of $5,000, $2500 and $1000 each (of note was newlywed film producer Bruce Cohen & Gabriel Catone and Curt Shepard & Alan Hergott each pledging $2,000 in honor of the other couple)

At the end of the session, the announced total raised was $1.084 million.

VIDEO: Obama Ad Hits Back On Energy

Happy Birthday, Barack Obama!

Barack Obama turns 47 years old today. Happy Birthday, Mr. President Senator!

Rafael Nadal Will Become #1

Despite losing to Novak Djokovic 6-1 7-5 in the semifinals, by beating Nicolas Lapentti in the quarterfinals (for his 32 consecutive match win) Rafael Nadal assured that he will be #1 in the World on Monday August 18th, one week before the start of the 2008 US Open.

Andy Murray will be playing his first ATP Master Series final against Novak Djokovic on Sunday. Djokovic leads their career head-to-head 4-1 but lost to Murray for the first time last week in Canada 6-3 7-6(3).

Rafael Nadal has currently spent nearly 158 weeks (more than 3 years!) in the #2 position behind Roger Federer. That number will end at 160. I wonder how many weeks Federer will spend at #2? He has lots of points to defend until the end of the year, having won the US Open and the end-of-year Masters Cup.

Jelena Jankovic To Beome World #1

Jelena Jankovic of Serbia will become World #1 on Monday August 11 despite losing to Dominika Cibulkova at the Rogers Cup in Montreal. Svetlana Kuznetsova, who lost in the quarterfinals to Dinara Safina, also failed to clinch the top ranking, despite having won the 2004 US Open and appearing in the finals of the 2006 French Open and 2007 US Open. Current World #1 Ana Ivanovic will be exactly 8 points behind her Serbian compatriot. Maria Sharapova, winner of this year's Australian Open and #1 earlier this year has a shoulder injury and will miss the Beijing Olympics and the 2008 US Open.

President Signs PEPFAR Bill Into Law

365gay.com has the details on the PEPFAR bill becoming law on Thursday following the President's signature:

The president signed the bill in the ornate East Room of the White House, surrounded by lawmakers and people affected by AIDS whom he met on his February trip to Africa.

The legislation is a rare case of relatively easy cooperation between the Democratic-controlled Congress and the White House. It passed the House last week by a 303-115 vote and the Senate earlier in the month by a vote of 80-16.

It renews Bush’s original five-year, $15 billion program called the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which was set to expire in September.

[...]

The program’s five-year renewal comes with some significant changes that took months to negotiate: a third of prevention funds will no longer be reserved for abstinence education; a “conscience clause” gives religious groups the right to refuse participation; more focus is placed on women and girls; and HIV-positive people will find it easier to get visas into the United States.

Bush said the goal for the new funding is to prevent 12 million new HIV infections, treat more than 2 million with anti-retroviral drugs, support care for 12 million and train at least 140,000 new health care workers.

600,000 Black Americans Living With HIV

The Black AIDS Institute issued a report called "Left Behind! Black America: A Neglected Priority in the Global AIDS Epidemic"(pdf) on Tuesday which the New York Times noted on Wednesday includes the observation that if Black America was a separate nation, it would rank sixteenth in the number of people living with HIV and 104th in life expectancy.

Those and other disparities are “staggering,” said [Black and openly gay] Dr. Kevin A. Fenton, who directs H.I.V. prevention efforts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the federal agency responsible for tracking the epidemic in the United States.

“It is a crisis that needs a new look at prevention,” Dr. Fenton said.

[...]

The Black AIDS Institute took note of [PEPFAR] in criticizing the administration’s efforts at home. The group said that more black Americans were living with the AIDS virus than the infected populations in Botswana, Ethiopia, Guyana, Haiti, Namibia, Rwanda or Vietnam — 7 of the 15 countries that receive support from the administration’s anti-AIDS program.

The international effort is guided by a strategic plan, clear benchmarks like the prevention of seven million H.I.V. infections by 2010 and annual progress reports to Congress, the group said. By contrast, it went on, “America itself has no strategic plan to combat its own epidemic.”

In a telephone interview, Dr. Fenton said, “We recognize this is a crisis, and clearly more can be done.”

The institute, based in Los Angeles, describes itself as the only national H.I.V./AIDS study group focused exclusively on black people. Phill Wilson, the group’s chief executive and an author of the report, said his group supported the government’s international anti-AIDS program. But Mr. Wilson’s report also said that “American policy makers behave as if AIDS exists ‘elsewhere’ — as if the AIDS problem has been effectively solved” in this country.

The XVII International AIDS Conference will be held August 3-8 in Mexico City.