MsGuy

When I click from the Home page to the Forum, I get the spinning "working on it" wheel for 30 seconds, give or take 10 seconds. Once in a while, I get a quicker tranfer. Is this an artifact of the Forum still being worked on?

Some follow up research on above: Closing in on hard-to-kill HIV Scientists in the U.S. moved closer to identifying a way to find drugs that would help rid patients of the hardest-to-reach pockets of HIV that now defy treatment. Current anti-HIV drugs reduce the virus to undetectable levels without eradicating it. The virus survives by lying dormant in immune-system cells. Scientists from Johns Hopkins University and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, both in Maryland, tested 2,400 chemicals and found 17 that coaxed the virus out of hiding, kick-starting its normal process of replication. That would make the virus susceptible to drugs. The best performer was a compound called 5HN found in the leaves, bark and roots of the black walnut tree. The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Sounds like they're all from Lake Wobegon where everybody's above average.

This compilation of web posts on the possibility that the Joint Chiefs are moving away from DADT is worth reading. Signal from Joint Chiefs? And the essay that occasioned all this speculation as it appeared in Joint Forces Quarterly, the lead journal of the Joint Chiefs. Joint Forces Quarterly I admit that devining the intentions of the Pentagon has much in common with analysing the inner workings of the Chinese Central Committee, but it certainly looks likely that the top brass may be moving toward endorsing a repeal of DADT. This article reads like a white paper from HRC and will certainly act as a heads up signal to ambitious young officers.

"It was such a shock to me that Chicago came in last in the selection. I love Chicago and think it would have been a great choice." My understanding is the Olympic site selection process makes the proceedings of the Illinois state legislature look honest & transparent.

This particular study was not targeted to high risk groups. Note that out of a population of around 16,000, 125 or so positives were reported. Targeted population trials are easier (and much cheaper) to manage, but large samples drawn from the general population are the gold standard for vaccine studies.

Who are these guys who are taking on the U.S. military in Afganistan? Here are a few of them speaking in their own words about why & how they wound up in the mountains and villages of Afganistan shooting Americans. For me the very ordinariness of their statements are more troubling than all the big shots and Arab jihadis in their caves put together. Talibs speak Notice how the Pashtun Talibs refer to the Arab fighters as "camels."

More speculation on "why now?" Why now?

Some spokesman for the DA's office was pressed on this point by LA media. The reply was "We're not a bunch of gumshoes." Translation: Shut up and go away. Next year being an election year probably had nothing to do with it.

I think you're right, KYTOP. Back to back defeats, especially if the Prop. 8 supporters increase their margin, would put paid to any effort to repeal in 2012. I'm not sure a gubernatorial election would help all that much unless the Dems manage to nominate a candidate with the ability to gin up a strong enthusiastic turnout amonst young voters.

Thanks, StuCotts. Most of these guys have learned to stick to a vetted script in their public remarks. You have to catch them preaching to the choir to discover how truly loopy they are.

I had to google Shengen to figure out your post. Shows how provincial I am, I guess.

Polanski is a French citizen and is (was?) usually to be found there. France has a limited extradition treaty with the U.S. and flat refused to extradite him to the U.S. Over the years the DA's office has tried a number of times to catch him on trips outside France but were unsuccessful. According to media reports, this time the DA got enough advance notice of his intent to attend a film event in Switzerland to push the paperwork through and have the police waiting for him at the border.

No, Ms. Geimer says that Polanski feared that he might serve 50 years. That's how she remembered it 35 years later and it may well have been true. Polanski had already been surprised by the original 42 days in jail after he had been told he would walk. Maybe he didn't trust the judge to carry through with the 48 day additional time. Again, who knows why he jumped bail? Only Polanski and maybe not him.

Somewhere along the line, I picked up the idea that Polanski had a horror of prisons dating back to a childhood spent hiding from the Nazi SS in wartime Poland. His mother was captured and died in the camps. Also Sharon Tate, his pregnant wife, had recently been murdered by Charlie Manson. Maybe he was too stressed out to make a good decision. Sharon Tate's death and the childhood years hiding for his life are facts. The horror of prison part may be the product of some publicist's imagination; in Hollywood, who knows?

BBB, the articles I read indicated that the judge had told Polanski's lawyer that he intended to add 48 days to the 42 days Polanski had served while undergoing psychologocal testing. Breaking the deal, yes; end of the world, no. Most (back then almost all) judges will allow a defendant to withdraw a guilty plea if he intends to exceed the sentence recomendation. Polanski's choices were serve 48 days, take his chances with a jury, or skip to France. He chose France.

Granted there was misbehavior on the judge, I can't see 90 days in jail (42+48) for the rape of a minor as particularly punitive.

I get a red X in place of the escort's photo on some, but not all, of the escort profile pages. Specifically: Jareden/Toronto; LoganBrock (BeefcakeLOGAN; DevineJay/Philly.

Can't find fault with your reasoning, Twinklover. As a tactical consideration California Gays should understand that the electorate for the 2010 congressional elections will skew considerably older compared to that of the 2008 presidential election. Waiting for the 2012 election would lighten the load.

I don't know squat about the ins and outs of gay politics in California, but it strikes me that an attempt by marginal gay groups to coerce established organizations and long term donors into a repeal campaign in 2010 against their best judgment is about as sure a recipe for defeat as can be imagined. With any luck at all these groups will fail to gather the required signatures and a unified effort can be organized for 2012. I find it difficult to take anyone capable of this kind of self-indulgence seriously.

“This is not the endgame,†he said. “This is the beginning.†Maybe. Over the years there's been an awful lot of false starts in HIV research. Not criticizing the research team, it's certainly worth following up on.

Thanks for the article, Oz. Sure ain't the same world that I grew up in.

Lookin posted the following link in reply to my post above on the other site. It's taken from the Frontline tv program. Another (& shorter) look

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It never hurts to take a look at how others manage their health care systems. This Q & A style article focuses on Switzerland, whose system resembles the U.S. system in some respects. Included are links to similar articles on Canada, Japan and France. One of the things that I've been surprised to learn this year was that so many countries with universal health care have private sector medical delivery systems; not everyone operates the pubicly owned systems found in Sweden & England. I guess that I've heard universal insurance coverage characterized as "socialized medicine" for so many years, I assumed it was true. Q & A on Switz health care

Something about your first post gave me the idea that your concern was more for the land itself than for the finantial issues. That's what moved me to reply.