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Meta-analysis of health and demographic correlates of stigma towards people living with HIV.
by Logie C, Gadalla TM.
Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada. carmen.logie@utoronto.ca
AIDS Care. 2009 Jun;21(6):742-53

ABSTRACT

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Social determinants of the health
by Mohammad Rajja
February 3, 2010

chers—

the discussion that follows concerns the social factors (determinants) driving poor health — poverty, malnutrition, gender and more. it’s a bit of a wrestling match with english, but all the more interesting because of that. think of it as a bit of a tone poem.

and rajja’s english is way better than my bangladeshi.

namaste

—rk

There are more than a few social determinants of the health of populations in the [bangladesh] region. These encompass eight major ones discuss[ed] below. Other connected factors include stress, the nature of work, service status, as well as social support.

Poor countries and poor people suffer from multiple deprivations that translate into high levels of ill health and disability.

Poverty is an absolute barrier to good health. It impacts health by influencing each and every solitary other factor adversely. The poor are more vulnerable to disease owing to; in their lack of access to primitive, preventive and curative fitness care, nutritious food and financial resources. In addition, poor people are also more vulnerable to environmental threats to health, such as polluted air and water, which undermine the quality of their lives.

Preventable and treatable diseases therefore take a massive toll on the poorest people. Over 2.3 million people, primarily in developing countries, die annually from eight vaccine-preventable diseases. An estimated 1.7 million people in growing countries die annually from disease linked to unsafe water and hygiene and poor hygiene. In many countries, [tobacco use among the poor is significant.] In some countries, burn rates are [usage is] twice as high in the lowest income group when compared with the highest. The vicious sequence of ill health has a greater impact where deprived community is generally not enclosed by adequate health indemnity that protects their right of entry to health services.

The impact of gender discrimination on health begins from the foetal stage with malnutrition in young pregnant women. The effects of malnutrition in babyhood and adolescence are chiefly devastating for girls. Girls who are malnourished during childhood are more likely to be malnourished as adolescents, to enter their first pregnancy malnourished, and to give birth to underweight babies whose learning capacities are stunted from nutritional deficiencies, thus perpetuating the sequence of hunger and poor healthiness.

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Study predicts HIV drug resistance will surge
By Enrique Rivero
January 22, 2010

chers—

there are several useful lilnks at the end of this post.

namaste

—rk

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Los Angeles City Council approves medical marijuana ordinance that will shut down hundreds of dispensaries
By John Hoeffel
January 26, 2010

In a 9-3 vote, the Los Angeles City Council today gave its final approval to an ordinance that will shut down hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries and impose strict rules on the location and operation of the dispensaries that are allowed.

The measure passed quickly, without debate.

The ordinance, which the council first began discussing more than 4 1/2 years ago, will cap the number of dispensaries at 70 but make an exception to allow all those that registered with the city in 2007 and have remained open. City officials believe that number is around 150.

Hundreds of dispensaries have opened in Los Angeles as the City Council debated its proposed ordinance and failed to enforce a moratorium on new dispensaries. City officials believe there are more than 500 that will be required to close under the ordinance, but some are already preparing to sue the city and collect signatures to force a referendum on the ordinance.

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Medical cannabis advocate and rastafarian minister Ali Rashi offering public comment at a december Los Angeles City Council meeting about safe access and distribution. a great photo by Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Image captures some of the feel of the debate —rk

LA City Council members talk about their marijuana use
by Frank Stoltze
Jan. 26, 2010

The Los Angeles City Council Tuesday [approved] a new ordinance that would shut down most medical marijuana dispensaries in the city. It would place a cap of 70, with up to about 140 pot shops grandfathered in. KPCC surveyed councilmembers about whether they’d ever smoked pot – medical or otherwise.

It was 1968, and Councilman Tom LaBonge was a high school kid sweet on a girl. She offered him some pot.

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Cut! Why did the Supreme Court ban videocasting of the Olson-Boies marriage trial?

By Jenny Pizer,
Marriage Project Director,
Lambda Legal(on
(left, pictured here
with her wife Doreena Wong)
January 14, 2010

Following the emergency appeal filed by the Prop 8 team, the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled 5-4 that the federal marriage trial may not be videocast for public viewing at other federal courthouses.  The earlier plan to upload trial video to the court’s website already had been nixed by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ Chief Judge Kozinksi, who decided there are technical problems to be worked out before webcasting will be possible.

The high court’s majority decision is troubling in its accommodation of Prop 8’s proponents’ supposed fears of harm.  As the dissent points out, the standard for Supreme Court interference with trial court management of such things is high and the evidence of threat submitted was paltry at best.  In other words, despite the many excited claims, when the details are parsed out, there’s just not much there, there.

The antigay defamers’ apparent success (still) at casting themselves as victims who need defending (like their marriages?), while running campaign after powerful campaign to eliminate gay people’s rights, is an Orwellian problem calling for a reality check.  But the absurd victimhood claims of right-wing political operatives and religious leaders are not the heart of the Supreme Court ruling.  Instead, the court simply concluded that proper procedures were not followed for changing the court rules about broadcasting.

Most importantly, this isn’t a ruling on the merits of the Olson-Boies marriage case.  The issues are entirely unrelated.

Through the Looking Glass:  who’s really targeted, defamed, and stripped of basic rights?

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chers— if this works, share my joy of this unhistoric moment of major insignificance, la la la namaste —rk after the jump Read the rest of this entry »

chers—

terry has just migrated to LA TalkRadio (channel 1), and his premiere show tonight features medical cannabis adevocates don duncan, scott imler and richard eastman. i’m not quite sure what next week’s topic will be. but i’ll be there on January 31st, talking about HIV/AIDS & aging and the upcoming summit/training february 12.

Listen live @ http://www.latalkradio.com/Terry.php.

namasté

—rk

Jan 10- This week’s topic is Medical Marijuana in Los Angeles. Guests include Don Duncan, from ASA (Americans for Safe Access), Rev. Scott Imler, the first person to open a collective in the LA area, and activist Richard Eastman……..Tune in live and call in your remarks and questions. Call-In telephone number 323-203-0815

Jan 17- “Cut Off Funding to UGANDA Until They Stop Imprisioning Gays” with Lisa Talmadge

Jan 24- International Daddy Bear 2009 Joe Mannetti
Sunday, January 24 we are pleased to announce our guest will be International Daddy Bear, Joe Mannetti. Joe is continually fund raising for the gay community and is continually working to improve the lives of those around him. Tune in and hear him live on LATALK Radio at 6 pm - 7 pm. anuary 24th. Joe Mannetti, Mr. International Bear…we will be discussing his many, many fundraising activities this past year

Jan 31- Richard Kearns- Elder gays and HIV
anuary 31st. Richard Kerns. will tell us about the new LA Grassroots Elder HIV/AIDS Advocacy Summit coming up in February.

Feb 7- Sunday February 7 we have author Joe Dallin author of his new book “Perfect” For most of his childhood, Joseph lived the quintessential Mormon life in Utah. But at the age of thirteen, he began to be faced with an ominous fact: that he was gay. The inner battle between his religious and sexual identities raged for ten years, nearly driving him to suicide. However, one night he realized that the monumental effort he had put into becoming a straight, mainstream Mormon man was not only an exercise in futility, but simply the wrong path for him. Around the next corner, he found the peace and happiness that had always been so elusive

Feb 14- Queen Victoria Elizabeth Ortega- the Imperial Court within the LGBT community

Feb 21- Venus Perez- Women living with HIV

Feb 28- Shirley Phelps, Pastor Sue Devol, and Rev. Larry Keane

text of flyer after jump

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Step into the GLM Time Machine
by Maeve Maddox
january 1, 2010

The Global Language Monitor (GLM) is an Austin, Texas-based entity that documents, analyzes and tracks trends in language and publishes a list of the year’s most used English words, names, and phrases.

According to GLM’s algorithm, 2009’s most used word, both online and in print, is Twitter.

GLM’s top ten for 2009:

Twitter
Obama
H1N1
stimulus
vampire
2.0 (as a suffix attached to the next generation of everything. Ex. Web2.0)
deficit
Hadron
healthcare
transparency

A look at the Words of the Year for 2000-2008 recalls the prominent events and personalities of those years:

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