I'm more than aware that it has been nearly a week since my last post but I have been DEATHLY ILL and laid up in the bed for about 4 days. I just got out of it yesterday to go to the Thanksgiving Dinner at the Pimp Plaza. I was pumping my body full of anti flu medication and plenty of warm liquids to sustain me. I am feeling a hell of a lot better today than I was say Monday or so.
Derreck Gomez
ALRIGHT for Frederick's Of Hollywood using Dita Von Teese to bring in the holidays. It's about time too because that place is all about sex appeal and the whole "Pin-Up" look and there is no one who does that better than Dita herself! I absolutely adore her and everything about her. She is definitely one of the top ten sexiest women to have walked the earth in my eyes. I have yet to meet her myself in person but I hope to someday have the honor *wink*
Iranian Official Confirms Gay Executions
Posted: November 13, 2007 - 11:00 am
(London) In a meeting between Iranian and British parliamentarians a high ranking Iranian politician has for the first time acknowledged that the Islamic state upholds the death penalty for homosexuality according to minutes of the meeting obtained by The Times newspaper.
The disclosure came during a peace conference - the Inter-Parliamentary Union - in May.
The Times obtained the minutes of the meeting under Britain's freedom of information law.
LGBT rights groups have reported for more than a year that gays were being executed but the government in Tehran has repeatedly denied the public hangings were for homosexuality.
In 2005 two young men hanged in a public square in northern Iran after were alleged to have been found guilty of homosexuality. (story) The government claimed they had been convicted of kidnapping and raping a male teen.
In May a western LGBT organization for gay Iranians says it has learned police have arrested as many as 87 gays at a private house party. (story)
Some international gay rights groups believe that more than 4,000 lesbians and gay men have been executed since the Ayatollahs seized power in 1979.
During the May meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Union British MPs questioned Mohsen Yahyavi a member of his parliament’s energy committee about the reports.
The minutes, The Times reports, show that Yahyavi responded that gays deserve to be executed or tortured and possibly both,
"[He]explained that according to Islam gays and lesbianism were not permitted," the record states.
"He said that if homosexual activity is in private there is no problem, but those in overt activity should be executed [he initially said tortured but changed it to executed]. He argued that homosexuality is against human nature and that humans are here to reproduce. Homosexuals do not reproduce."
British Members of Parliament said they were shocked by Yahyavi's attitude.
"It is of great concern that these attitudes persist and we made it clear what we felt," Ann Clwyd, a Labor MP and head of Britain’s delegation told The Times.
In September President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad drew jeers and laughter during a speech at Columbia University when he declared there were no homosexuals in Iran. (story)
"In Iran we don't have homosexuals like you do in your country. We do not have this phenomenon. I don't know who's told you that we have it," Ahmadinejad said.
This is the first month that I have actually been paying attention to where I spend my money and working on my new budget. I must say that I really never thought about how much you spend on the little things through out the month. Between catering to my overly spoiled dog and buying things to keep my house smelling good and sparkling clean....my personal spending limit has plummeted to practically nothing. Awww how am I going to get all the pretty things I want.
Troubling New Questions About Failed HIV Vaccine
by The Associated Press
(Trenton, New Jersey) New data on an experimental AIDS vaccine that failed to work shows volunteers who got the shots were far more likely to get infected with the virus through sex or other risky behavior than those who got dummy shots.
The new details, released Wednesday by drugmaker Merck & Co., don't answer the crucial question of whether failure of the vaccine also spells doom for many similar AIDS vaccines now in testing.
And researchers weren't sure why more of the vaccinated volunteers wound up getting HIV than those who got dummy shots.
Merck, based in Whitehouse Station, N.J., announced on Sept. 21 that it was stopping the study because the vaccine didn't work. It was a stunning setback in the push to develop an AIDS vaccine.
The vaccine is made from a common cold virus with three synthetic HIV genes tucked inside. It's designed to stimulate the immune system to kill any HIV-infected cells encountered in the future.
However, the researchers found that volunteers with pre-existing immunity to this particular cold virus were much more likely to get infected with HIV if they got the AIDS vaccine than if they got the dummy shot.
Some 3,000 people, mostly homosexual men and female sex workers, had volunteered to get the experimental vaccine or dummy shots. All were warned to protect themselves from AIDS exposure.
At the time the study was halted in September, Merck said said 24 of 741 volunteers who got the vaccine in one segment of testing later developed HIV; 21 of 762 participants who got dummy shots also were infected.
New data released Wednesday showed that to date, 49 of 914 vaccinated men became infected with HIV, compared with 33 of the 922 men who got dummy shots. Only one woman and a small number of heterosexual men were infected.
"In my mind, this doesn't damn anything," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said of the vaccine's failure. "It tells you you need to be very careful with every aspect" of vaccine design and testing. The international testing was partly funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Merck's head of medical affairs for vaccines, Mark Feinberg, said it could be a few years before further data mining and results of other drugmakers' vaccine tests clear up the mystery.
I don't know why I have never noticed before but there are a lot of really delightful cafes and eateries right down the street from me. I have always heard that Silverlake is known for having good food and trendy shops but I guess I never really stopped to take a look around. It never really occurred to me to stop and try it until recently but boy I am glad I did because it is oh so good! Ever since I have had a fairly busy schedule out of the house and Travis has been working so much...it has been good to sit down with a friend and do lunch.
For like the past week or so I have had a raging hard on all through out the night for no apparent reason. It's actually kind of funny because I will get waken up if I roll over onto it or I'll end up getting blue balls YIKES! This morning I woke up flaccid and I must admit that it was the first time I was actually happy to be that. I mean usually I am all about being hard and all but at night it can be more of a pain in the ass (no not sexually) than anything. I guess I have been ignoring him lately so I should probably show him a little action and get him off my back. Poor Pedro
So yesterday while Derreck and I were in the shower the faucet had broken off the wall and flew forward landing at our feet. Now this would have surprised me if I hadn't already been telling the landlord for sometime that it looked kinda corroded and possibly needed to be changed. So I dried off and threw on some clothes and marched over to the landlords apartment with the faucet in hand. I knocked on the door and when he answered I handed him the piece and walked away without saying a word. I knew that he would know what that signified and sure enough within the hour the maintenance man knocked on my door and had the faucet fixed by mid afternoon.
I am sure that my house looked fairly peculiar yesterday because at one point I had two men from the cable company, a guy from the geek squad, and the maintenance man all in and out of my house. Now my hardcore readers will remember the hott mexican cable guy that originally installed my cable who I ended up hooking up with when he finished the job. Well none of the guys in and out of my house were anywhere near being hott so there was no temptation there!
Well it seems that I have ended up spending this weekend alone in my apartment which I must say is a good break from the usual. This weekend would be Palm Springs Pride which is one of the last pride events of the year and all of my friends are there partying it up. Unfortunately I was unable to attend because I had to be here for the cable guy to come by and some work that I had already had lined up for this weekend.
Travis is spending the weekend in Las Vegas with his family site seeing and gambling. It is kinda weird being in the house by myself but I guess I am enjoying it. I took this time to get some in depth cleaning done including steam cleaning my nasty carpets again. Poor little Buster and his nose must be tired of the smell of bleach by now but at least I keep the windows open to air it out. I am going to have to cut this one short because I have a date tonight but I will keep you posted more about that soon!
Soldier Pleads To Guilty In HIV Case
(Fort Bragg, North Carolina) An HIV-positive paratrooper pleaded guilty to assault Thursday for knowingly having unprotected sex with a male teenager he met online.
Pfc. Johnny Lamar Dalton, who is a member of the 82nd Airborne Division, entered his plea during a court-martial at Fort Bragg.
A military judge sentenced Dalton, 25, to 40 months in prison. The sentence included a reduction in rank and a dishonorable discharge.
Dalton was ordered last November not to have unprotected sex after he was found to have HIV. State law also prohibits a person infected with HIV from having sex unless condoms are used and sexual partners are notified.
Doctors discovered the 17-year-old had HIV during a routine blood test, and his mother notified the military.
Dalton also pleaded guilty to violating a direct order, aggravated assault, committing an indecent act and using marijuana.
Last night I went to dinner with Angel Benton and Fuckin Travis at Chin Chin's Chinese Restaurant in Culver City. Angel was out tour guide and hostess of the night as he knows just about everything there is to know about the asian lifestyle including the cuisine!
It was absolutely amazing from the PotStickers appetizer all the way to the last drop of my Mango Ice Tea. I enjoyed spending time with my friends and catching up on recent events and gossip since we have all been so busy lately. Angel has been busy driving models around all week for the Naughty America shoot so that has kept his hands pretty much full not to mention the daily 3 post minimum he has for the JustUsBoys newswire. That didn't stop him from having some juicy gossip though you can believe that *wink*! Travis has had a deadline at work so he has been putting in late hours in the office so I haven't seen much of him. As for me well I have been waking up early every morning to PA at my friend Chris's studio and trying to work in clients and errands before it gets too late. So we had plenty to catch up on.
The food was absolutely amazing just let me tell you that. We started two orders of PotStickers, one chicken and one pork. They were very delicious and not too filling which is exactly what an appetizer should be in my book. There was like this mango flavored dipping sauce that went so well with them. Then for the main course we had Peanut Noodles, Beef & Broccoli, and Chicken Asparagus which was served family style so everyone got to enjoy the yummies. The noodles were CRAZY delicious although they were a little spicy and the beef was really nice. However my favorite dish was by far the chicken with asparagus which was covered in a nice ginger sauce and hit just the right spot on the way down.
Everything was just great and it made the night all that much better since our waiter was definitely a hottie. We were loving him up until the point he told us that the only dessert they carried was cheesecake due to some company problems. That didn't stop me from slipping a rentboy card into our bill holder thingy with his tip *wink*
According to a report in the Los Angeles Daily News, the 12–0 vote stemmed from a 14-year-old harassment suit filed by gay former police sergeant Mitch Grobeson against the LAPD. The council also agreed to pay $695,000 in attorneys fees for Grobeson, whose case in 1993 resulted in LAPD policy changes regarding discrimination.
Under the terms of the agreement, Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will reissue an executive order first issued by former mayor Richard Riordan banning discrimination in city agencies based on sexual orientation. In addition, the council agreed to improve training for officers on gay and lesbian issues, develop an outreach program to various organizations to recruit new officers, and change questions on background checks.
The LAPD under police chief William Bratton is actively recruiting gays and lesbians.
Happy Halloween
So last night my eyeballs were on fire and I mean that with as much emphasis as possible. Literally my eyes were watering for a good hour or so due to the amount of bleach I had poured into the steam cleaner in order to clean my carpet. Poor Buster had so much going on too, not only does he absolutely hate the vacuum but I am sure that the bleach was burning up his nostrils too. I only got to do half the floor last night that way I could give it time to dry before moving everything back into place then move all the shit from the other side of the house and clean that are. So much work so little time
It seems that I am going back to my roots. I have been working part time at my friends studio downtown as doing some PA work and helping him with his studio. I have been riding my skateboard to and from the studio since it's really not that far from my house, it felt good to actually get back on my board and put some use on the new wheels i put on my baby about a year ago. Today when I got the studio they were filming an scene for some Dark Angel movie with Mikey Butders and Flower Tucci which was actually quite nice to watch.
NC Democratic Senate Candidate Comes Out
(Chapel Hill, North Carolina) Jim Neal, the only declared Democratic candidate for the US Senate from North Carolina, has officially acknowledged he is gay.
Neal, who plans to challenge Sen. Elizabeth Dole in 2008, was asked if he is gay on the weekend during an online discussion on the liberal North Carolina blog BlueNC.com
"I am indeed," he replied.
"No secret and no big deal to me - I wouldn't be running if I didn't think otherwise."
But he also said he wanted to be known as the candidate who happens to be gay not the gay candidate.
"I'm not running this race to make some social statement," Neal said. "I'm running to lead in the Senate for the voters in NC - something Sen. Dole has not done."
Neal is a North Carolina native. He was born in Greensboro in 1956.
He received his undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1978 and worked for Goldman Sachs as a financial analyst.
He later returned to school at the University of Chicago, earning an MBA, and has worked at a variety of Fortune 500 companies.
Neal served as a national finance committee member for Wes Clark for President and the Kerry-Edwards campaigns, as well as acting as a national fundraiser for U.S. Senate candidate Erskine Bowles in 2004.
He has two sons.
His campaign Web site does not mention his sexuality. Nor does it mention LGBT issues in his section of campaign positions.
