Saturday, December 31, 2005

 

A New Years Announcement!

I have made a couple of new changes recently, as well some new posts.
If you would like to be notified when I do a new posting enter your e-mail to the left and you will be automatically notified of new posts.

This blog was 1 month old yesterday in that time I have had 270 visitors, most in the first week when I e-mailed my friends and told them about it.
I have had hits from all around the world on every continent. I am amazed, I don't even know how to pronounce a few of the towns!

I seem to have strayed recently into main-line politics which is not my real purpose. I am going to try to keep my postings centered on Human Rights and Christianity. I hope you enjoy reading my posts and will tell your friends about my blog. If they forget the URL they can google me as gaydeacon(1 word) . At the bottom of each post is an icon to click on to leave me any comments.

I want to wish all of you a wonderful, joyful and Christ filled New Year
God Bless, Deacon Harry

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

 

Fundamentalist Threats to America

The fundamentalists effect on the American way of life continues to grow.
Human and American rights are attacked on a daily basis.
Groups such as the American Family Association, & Focus on the Family, are attacking corporations who they feel are supporting human rights. They have boycotted, Ford, Heinz, Walt Disney, and many other companies for donating to human rights causes . They have been sucessful in a some cases, mostly not.

The defense dept is investigating "threats" from students at colleges across the nation who are merely exercising their constitutional rights to free speech. How can a" kiss- in "be a threat? The government is blackmailing colleges and universities by threating funding cuts to schools that choose not to let recruiters on campus.

The Senate is engaged in cutting Medicare benefits and raising deductibles and adding new premiums for coverage. Those hurt most by this are those on low and fixed incomes, such as the elderly and especially those living with HIV/AIDS. The bill passed with a 50/50 vote and was decided by Vice President Cheney.
The Center for disease control has set new guidelines requiring agencies who fund HIV/AIDS programs to collect new information including a complete sexual history and the names of all sexual partners.
This will eat the funds of the agencies because of the additional record keeping and will discourage many from using these service.
The congress is working to increasing funding to programs which teach abstinence and cutting funding for those who use more effective and realistic approaches.
The Ryan White CARE Act funding was continued at a too low level and not increased as is needed to provide care as costs raise.

Former President Jimmy Carter has written a book titled " Our Endangered Values" In it he says that our country has historically shown acommitmentt to preserving the separationn of church and state and the protection of basic American Values.

He says that the financial backing of the convservative politicians by wealthy minority religious groups is resulting the deterioration of a major basic American fundamental, the separation of church and state.

According to Carter this new group of "neoconservatives" and their influence constitute a major threat to the basic fundamentals of what made America great. Do yourself a favor and buy and read his book.

The "old man"side of me sometimes feels that these fundamentalists will find themselves out of power eventually when the more mainline voters wake up to what if happening to the America we all grew up loving.

However, another part of me is scared of what is happening to our country, our freedoms and our values.

One thing I do know, the fundamentalists are right we do face a major threat to our country!......................But, it is them......Deacon Harry

Saturday, December 24, 2005

 

Dept of Defense Investigates a "dangerous" Kiss-In

NBC News recently obtained 8 pages from a 400 page report on "threats"and "suspicious incidents"across America.

Among others, The Pentagon spied on New York University law school's LGBT group OUTlaw which they classified as possibly violent, along with a group at William Patterson College in New Jersey and The University at Albany, a part of the State University of New York system. The president of U of A described a demonstration on campus which was monitored by the Dept Of Defense. He said that there were a dozen students participating and 100 people observing. He went on to call the military presence on campus totally inapproriate.
The DOD also investigated a "cedible threat" of terrorism at a gay kiss-in at the University of California- Santa Cruz.
Makes you wonder doesn't it? Deacon Harry

Thursday, December 22, 2005

 

A Quick note

Even if you dont see a new post check out the left column. I am taeching myself HTML, so everytime you look you might see new looks

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

 

A Threat To Your Freedom

I have had little time to write anything of substance lately, but I am working an something so big that I am trying to decide whether it belongs on this blog or if deserves its own special site. In fact lately I have thought about doing 2 blogs, one of politics and one of more of a Christian and philosophical nature . I think that for now I will stick with one, at least until I learn HTML editing better and learn to make my blog look and feel the way I would like.
But while I am working on the big post I will still continue to post things which catch my attention.
First, I want to mention that Bush has really infuriated me with his total disregard for peoples rights. What he wants in the way of powers sounds very dangerous and Un-American to me. I suppose that I could be considered to be worthy of privacy invasion because I disagree with him.
I have heard that some are calling for his impeachment because of the unconstitutional practices that he has already authorized. I agree completely.
Now the Center for Disease Controll (CDC) is attempting to implement a the new "Program Evaluation and Monitoring System, (PEMS)
Among other things these regulations require that local programs which recieve federal funding must provide the CDC with information including the sex lives and partners of every client.
The CommunityHIV/AIDS Mobilization Project (Champ) a national advocacy group says that this coul lead people to not deal truthfully with the agencies and perhaps decieve them I could mean that many people will not acess services from these agencies. It could lead the understaffed agencies to become interrorgators.
They also note that abstinence-only programs are barely monitored and are getting funding increases "despite no evidence that thay prevent HIV and much documentation that they do spread misinformation."
We the people most involved in the fight against HIV /AIDS need to speak out, in fact shout out, that these new guidelines need to be reversed befor they cause many more peple to loose their privacy and their lives.
I encourage you to write, call or e-mail you representatives, the president, and the press, about this threat. Deacon Harry

Monday, December 19, 2005

 

A short post.

People in Boston are in a huff because a 48 ft decorated tree erected in a park there was recently mamed a "holiday tree". Several people have protested, including Jerry Falwell who commented to Fox News that "There has been a concerted effort to steal Christmas."
Sorry I don't have more to post. The last 2 days I have worked 10 hours per day and still been out late. At my age going to bed at 12:30 am and getting up at 5 am is for the birds.(The tired birds) I promise more tomorrow night. Deacon Harry

Sunday, December 18, 2005

 

LGBT New Orleans Needs Your Help

Here is a chance for you to give a needed Christmas present to all the LGBT community in New Orleans.

It seems that after Katrina hit so many persons were scattered throughout the country, that the Lesbian Gay Community Center of New Orleans in in danger of going under financially.
According to Randall Beach, co-chair of the center, they have had several meetings to try to figure out a way out of thier financial sutiation. It seems that the all volunteer center was supported almost entirely by local support from the community itself.
"We have never had a lot of corporate support and most of our heavy donors are sacttered around the country. Many we haven't been able to talk to. We don't even know where they went." "Also it's hard to ask people for money when they don't even have a house."
The center operates on $30 to 50 thousand dollars a year. According to Beach if 2500 people around the country each donated $20 the center would have enough money to survive for another year.
"Ät a time when there are a lot of people in our community needing help and desperately needing community, the center needs to be up and running and operating."he said,"but we can't keep the doors open without insurance and rent and utilities."

The center is home to the local Metropolitan Community Church, a PFLAG chapter, political organizations, a youth group the Gay Film Festival,and other community institutions. It also operates a resource library.

So, there you have it, an opportunity to help others for Christmas.
Donations may be mailed to LGCCNO, 2114 Decatur St., New Orkeans.La.70116.

For the complete article and more about New Orleans recovery efforts click on the Link for 365 Gay.com to the left and check out the article.
Deacon Harry

Saturday, December 17, 2005

 

Closed for Christmas?

There are a lot of churches who have said that they are taking Christmas Sunday off. Can you imagine?
I guess the logic is that they normally have church on Sunday, but since this Christmas is on Sunday they will be closed.
A church closed on Christmas? On Christ's birthday? What am I missing?
To steal a phrase isn't Christ "the reason for the season"?
see http://www.feminary.blogspot.com
For another take on it. She says everything I could say and says it well.

You can be sure that our church will be open for Christmas. We will have the usuall Christmas Eve candlelight service and a Sunday service( which will also be a Christmas Day service). Then after the Sunday service we will have a Christmas potluck dinner so that those who don't have a family or friends elsewhere to spend Christmas with can spend it with their Church Family.
With all the stuff we have been hearing from the fundamentalists about Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas how can a church being closed on Sunday be rationalized?
Deacon Harry

Thursday, December 15, 2005

 

A Political Statement

I'm sure some of you have noticed the counter for the actual financial expense of the war in Iraq. I'm sure that you must have concluded that I am against the war.
Although 911 was a dark day in American history I have always had a lot of misgivings about attacking Iraq. The bad intelligence (was it bad or was Bush being told what he wanted to hear), and all the patriotic hype not withstanding, my inner thoughts have always been that MY United States, the country I love and believe in does not declare unprovoked war on other countries. That is contrary to everything that I believe this country stands for. I don't know that I am a Michael Moore follower but there may be some truth in his theories.
The Patriot Act, although it was cloaked in being necessary to fight terrorism,was really an attack on our basic human rights as Americans.
The counter only shows the economic expense of the war, but how about the expense in human life?
The simple fact is that today after all this time and all these losses we are not 1 bit closer to capturing those behind 911.
I can't believe that Bush could ever condone cruel torture of prisoners. It is a violation of all human decency.
What has this man done to my country? I served in the Army, Dan served in the Army and the Marines. I would still defend the country I love to the death, but Bush is making it hard to recognize my country.
I am sure that some people would brand me as a traitor for voicing my opinion, but most of those same people would also say that I am a pervert and doomed to hell. They are wrong on both counts, and I don't care what they think. I also want to say that I do support our troops. I want them alive and home.It's only their commander in chief I don't support.
I will not likely live long enough to see the full story myself, but if you are alive in 2025, remember this simple blog and see if my prediction isn't true.
I believe that history will record that George W Bush was the worst president in the history of the U.S.. It will take years for our country to overcome the legacy that he and his fundamentalist followers are setting loose. Deacon Harry

p.s. sorry, but something earlier this evening made me want to vent. I am normally more concerned with GLBT rights. But, this my blog, and at least you know where I am coming from.

 

Today's thoughts

I see the police here in the DFW area are looking into the possibility that the unsolved murders of 7 gay men in the last 5 years may be linked. The suggestion that it might be a direction for police to check was suggested by "The Dallas Voice" and Dallas Councilman Ed Oakley.

Ford has agreed to resume advertising and support for the GLBT community, so of course the AFA is considering a boycott of Ford.

America's first "legal"gay couple has split up after 5 years proving that gays and Baptists have more in common than they want to admit. It is my opinion that the biggest threat to the sancity of marriage is Baptists since studys have shown that they have the highest rate of divorce.
I know lots of GLBT couples who have been together for 20 - 30 years or more. In fact, Dan and I after only 15 years, are relative newlyweds.
Dan and I attended a couples workshop once and found that we knew and understood each other much better than most of the straight couples there.

GLBTS are under attack again, see this out of Florida:
Subject: Fwd: [eqfl] Baptists Launch Attack on Programs that Support Gay Students In a message dated 12/15/2005 10:20:21 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, http://us.f517.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=nadine@eqfl.org&YY=59557&order=down&sort=date&pos=0&view=a&head=b writes:Press releaseNews Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, (December 15, 2005)Contact: Brian Winfield, Communications Director, (727) 488-7799Hillsborough Students Under AttackFar Right Extremists Try to Bully Support Groups Out of Schools(TAMPA) A nationally coordinated attack on programs that support gay students arrived in Tampa Thursday night. A right wing church submitted petitions trying to bully the school board into shutting down student-led Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs).In June of this year the Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution instructing parents to go after any programs that provide support to gay youth or promote tolerance and diversity on campus. Following that directive, Bell Shoals Baptist Church delivered about 1,100 petitions in a child's wagon.Parents, students and community leaders have already begun rallying to the students´ defense. Through phone calls, faxes and emails, thousands of supporters have contacted the school board and superintendent encouraging them to stand up for the students and follow the law.One of the key members of the anti-gay effort is Allan Trovillion. Many Floridians remember that Rep. Allan Trovillian, Sr drew national condemnation in 2001 when he told a group of gay students who described the bullying and violence they were experiencing in school that they were all going to hell and brought any violence or harassment they face on themselves.``You have to suffer the consequences of your actions,'' Trovillion told the high school students.``God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, and he is going to destroy you and a lot of others.''Rep. Trovillion was unaware that a reporter was traveling with the students and his comments were published and widely condemned. At the school board meeting leaders of the anti-gay effort softened their language. The rhetoric may have changed but the goal has not, said Nadine Smith Executive Director of Equality Florida."If they cared about the safety of students, they would have spent time listening to the students explain why they built these organization, not bullying the school board to shut down one of the only support networks these young people have," said Smith. "They may have found more pleasant language to use in front of the media since the Trovillion incident, but there message is the same: We don't care what happens to gay students in our school."Bell Shoals has a long history of anti-gay organizing in Hillsborough County including church leaders support for repealing Hillsborough's non-discrimination policy that including protecting gay people from being fired or denied housing or public accommodations. More recently the church tried to rally support for the County Commission's anti- gay policy that bans any county agency from recognizing or participating in anything that portrays gay people in a positive light.Equality Florida is Florida´s largest statewide human rights organization working on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues. Through education and advocacy, the organization is dedicated to building a state of equal rights for all Floridians, inclusive of all sexual orientations and gender identities.
My take:
In Utah State Sen Chris Buttars, backed by the right wing Utah Eagle Forum, is sponsoring a bill to ban all Gay-Strait clubs all Utah high schools.
The rate of suicide is much higher in GLBT students than in other teens.
These clubs and organizations are badly needed to help to educate young people that they are not alone. They are normal and they are ok. They are not sick.
These kids need to know that there are millions of adults out there who lead normal healthy & happy lives . We as caring GLBT adults must never pass up a chance to help these youg people. That's why it is up to us to protest and fight these attempts at every opportunity. Deacon Harry

 

Move On .Org

I received this today and think its worth supporting, but my meager contribution is not going to reach far, If you are reading this and know me I doubt that you would have enough to make a difference either, but If we both contribute and all their other members nationwide contribute maybe It can be done.


Dear MoveOn member,
Yesterday MoveOn volunteers delivered 400,000 petition signatures to 285 congressional offices urging Congress to insist on an exit strategy plan for Iraq. This morning good news arrived: an additional 30 Democrats in Congress have signed on as cosponsors of the Murtha exit strategy.1
President Bush is on a public relations campaign to block an exit plan. But today's Iraqi elections could be a turning point. The media will be talking about what's next. We've made a new ad that reminds reporters and the publicÂ?at this key momentÂ?that Iraqis want us out of Iraq. We can start running it on TV on Monday if we can raise $250,000 today.
Can you contribute before today's deadline?
https://political.moveon.org/donate/iraqideadline.html
(You can also check out the script and storyboard for the TV ad there.)
We want to run the ad in the districts of the most vulnerable Republican members of Congress, to make it clear that there will be real accountability for those who don't endorse an exit strategy.
We're under deadline today because the media discussion about post-election Iraq will only last until the middle of next week. Without the $250,000 we can't run the ad.
The ad has a simple message: Iraqis agree they don't want U.S. troops in Iraq. President Bush won't get us out, Congress has to act. As images of ordinary Iraqis appear on the screen, the narrator reads:
"A mother in Baghdad. A shopkeeper in Mosul. A family in Basra. They are Kurds. And Shiites. And Sunnis. Some are glad we came. Some aren't. They rarely agree on anything. But a recent poll shows that most Iraqis think our troops should leave their country. Now, their election is over, but George Bush doesn't have a timetable for an exit. So it's up to Congress to bring our troops home."
We've found that people who are ambivalent about leaving Iraq feel more confident it is the right path when they learn that a majority of Iraqis don't support U.S. troop presence:
According to a new ABC News poll, 65% of Iraqis oppose our presence in Iraq.2
An internal, classified British Defense Ministry poll found that 82% of Iraqis favor "near-term withdrawal" of U.S. forces.3
In Cairo, Shiite, Sunni, and Kurdish leaders met recently and called on the U.S. for an exit plan.4
This ad is important but we can't put it on TV unless we beat the fundraising goal. Please contribute before the deadline.
https://political.moveon.org/donate/iraqideadline.html
The petition delivery events yesterday were a huge success thanks to the hard work of several hundred MoveOn volunteers who braved freezing rain, snow and ice in some places. Reports are still coming in, but I've attached below the report-back our Organizing Director, Justin Ruben, sent to MoveOn staff at 1:08 AM.
Thanks for all you do.
Â?Tom, Carrie, Matt, Tanya and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

 

Bush is still at it.

Sorry, I couldn't get this link to let me copy only the link, but its worth the extra stuff. This administration is ridiculous . More tomorrow, i spent the whole day on church stuff and didn't get home untill 10:45pm Vacations are supposed to be restfull.
Take a look at this page I found, Gay News From 365Gay.com. You can see this page at: http://www.365gay.com/Newscon05/12/121405abstain.htm

 

Check this site out

http://www.geocities.com/ninure/PCgreetings.html
This is a great page . check the other links out on this page to see more of her sites. more later today

Monday, December 12, 2005

 

New Stuff

I just saw on TV that Texas leads the nation in executions with 23 thats more than the next 4 states put together. I don't know if it means anything or not, just an observation.
I saw an intresting quote"Of course the common people don't want war, but they can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. Tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and endangering the country. It works the same in every country."by guess who? Herman Goering, Hitler's Riechmarschall.
A neat bumper sticker "The Rightous were wrong in Jesus time too."
I also found the neat counter with the costs of the War In Iraq.

Sunday, December 11, 2005

 

Something New.

I have changed the look at Gay Deacon. Soon I will be adding many new features such as links to other important GLBT sites and hopefully a "thingy"to let you register (secure& private) and be notified whenever I post a new comment. Deacon Harry

 

Call for Action

I have had a terrible week at work. 10 hrs a day working 2hrs a day commuting 4 hrs on the bad weather day meant that I did not get much time to write many posts. I have done a little work keeping up with news and politics.
I have a couple of things to bring to your attention.
Ford Motor Company has reportedly caved into a campaign by the American Family Assn, a right wing extremist group. Ford has agreed to stop all advertising in all LGBT publications and to stop sponsoring LBGT events. They are supposed to refer all questions and comments to the AFA. It would appear that Ford , who previously has been very supportive, has now aligned itself with a major foe of LBGT rights.
The GLAAD web site has the email address and mailing address of Ford to protest. On another site I found the e-mail of William Clay Ford Jr. The chairman & CEO of Ford. WFord@ford.com. It would be great if you would send him an e-mail letting him know what you think of Ford taking a position which is against your personal rights as a LBGT citizen.
see http://www.glaad.org for more details .(Gay Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.) I will have more soon.

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

 

Sorry,

Sorry, not much to write today, I had a terrible day at work and want to turn in early. I am working on the HTML editing skills enough to add a thingy(technical term) that lets you enter your e-mail address and be notified when I do a post. It might be close to a week before I get it on and working, but it should be real cool when I get it loaded. I am also looking at some other neat features.
Night, and God Bless, Deacon Harry

Sunday, December 04, 2005

 

More on Prayer

The talk of prayer in the previous post got me to thinking... When you talk to God does he answer you?
I used to have a pastor at a previous church who commented one day that God told him to do something.
Several of us commented between ourselves, privately, sure he did. God has never spoken to me!
I'll let you in on a special secret, If you want to have a really close relationship with God, if you want to have your prayers answered, if you want Him to answer you, ask God for what He wants you to ask for.
You must tell God that you want to dedicate your life to HIM.

Seriously, when you are in a quiet place with a few minutes , talk to Him, say "Lord I dedicate myself to you. I offer myself as a living tool for you to use according to your plan. I give control of my life to You. I desire nothing more than to live my life as your servant doing Your bidding and serving You and your children.".This is when I usually add "Lord there are so many of your children in our community who have been told that You do not love them because of who they are. It is my heartfelt desire that you use me as a means to reach out to them and tell them the truth of Your great love for them and Your plan for their salvation". You may have a special dream of your own that you might ask him to use you for.
I promise you that if you pray this or a similar prayer, He will listen and He will answer you, maybe not the first night, but he will answer. God did not create you just so you could live a joyous life and indulge yourself in personal pleasures. He created you to serve Him.

His answer may come in the form of new opportunities to spread his word, or in a chance to help the poor or needy or to work to improve the world for your fellow man.
You never know how God will speak to you or how He will answer your prayers. You may think He's not answering, but He may really be saying, not yet, my child, or I have a better plan.

I know Christians who regularly feel his gentle nudge urging them to do something for His glory. One friend of mine says that she frequently tries to "test"these urges to see if it is truly Him or just her own ego.
I have never had that worry. If He really wants me to do something, he will put me in a situation where I will have no doubt. She worries that if something doesn't work the way she expects it to that maybe it was her thought, not his.
At a Bible study a couple of years ago one member said that he would never stand on a street corner with a bullhorn telling people about The Lord. He said that he could not stand to have so many people looking at him and saying, "what an idiot."
I don't feel that way. If I feel that my Lord wants me to do something, I will do it. Even if it doesn't work out the way I would like, I could still be serving His plan. Maybe 300 people may ignore me, but one may listen and be saved, even though I may never know it. Its His plan and I don't feel qualified to judge I­t's success.

I have experienced some times in my own life where has spoken to me and I had no doubt that it was Him. These special callings have always happened to me in the middle of the night. Sometimes I will awaken from a sound sleep with a feeling that what I experienced was much more than a dream. A couple of times he has awakened me to tell me something.
I said something to Dan about this one time and said, "I wonder why he always does it while I am asleep?" Dan replied," it was probably the only time he could get you to shut up and listen."
Dan is right, After you ask God to lead you, you must have regular quiet times to be near Him so that he will answer. You must be willing to listen..

I have heard many more learned teachers than I say that God knows everything that will happen in your entire life before you are even conceived.
I have always felt that God has a desire for you to do his will and he gives you opportunities to follow him, but if you don't ,God is patient. He will give you repeated chances to follow him, and when you do He rejoices!
Nothing makes your Lord happier than to see you take up your Cross and follow him. But I believe that God gives you free will.
I could go forever once I get wound talking about a life in service to Him, but I'll save some for another post. I will leave you with one more thing. You will never beat the true joy that you will experience when you develop a deep two way relationship with your Lord.
May God Bless you, Deacon Harry

 

Doing Church?

I Heard an interesting comment the other day.
A lady was speaking to someone else and said"We do the Church Thing every Sunday". My thought was and...?.....?
Being a Christian is not just going to Church on Sunday then turning it off for another week. It's a way of life.
If you dedicate your life to God as a Christian then it involves everything that happens to you. That's why many refer to being born again.
If you are cut off in traffic do you blow your horn and make an obscene gesture? Or,do just shake your head and say oh well, I guess they were in a big hurry.
If you see a dirty ragged man on a street corner do you turn your head the other way and continue on or do give him a couple of dollars and say "God Loves You".
If a fellow employee comes to you angry with something you did how do you act? Do you cut them off briskly, or do you try nicely to see it from their viewpoint?
If you are going to live as a Christian , how often do you pray? Prayer is more than saying grace before meals, or giving thanks at church, or even kneeling before you go to bed at night.
Prayer is talking to God and you can do it all the time. If you listen to praise and worship music in you car as you drive to work, that's prayer. Especially if you sing along. ( And God doesn't even care if you can carry a tune.) When something good happens," say thank you Lord." If you see a pretty sunset, thank Him for the gift of beauty.
I pray so often that I am sometimes surprised when I hear myself . It's just part of being a Christian. Try it, remember that prayer is an all the time thing. Just like being a Christian. Deacon Harry

Saturday, December 03, 2005

 
Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas?
I have seen several things in last few days about Target saying "Holiday" rather than Christmas" in their ads. ( a lot of merchants are doing this in the current age of being politically correct) A dear friend and one of my former pastors recently forwarded an e-mail to me.
It originated with the American Family Association. A fundamentalist group which says that Gays can be "cured" and many other things that are pure Hog-Wash.(More about the AFA and others in a later post.)Be sure to check out the part of their site labeled the Homosexual Agenda.
http://www.afa.net
I couldn"t help myself, I had to reply.
I told him who the AFA is and about their stand on human rights and other things and I told him that their position was most likely to encourage me to run to Target and buy something .
I did point out however that on the way in to the store I would not put anything into the Salvation Army Santa's Kettle.
It seems that after Katrina I read that the Salvation Army was taking a stance that gay couples, even with kids, were not a family and they would not support giving them aid. This was even to the point that several groups collecting from GLBT individuals to aid victims were not funneling any funds to them. The groups preferred to give to the American Red Cross because they did not care about the gender or sexual preference of those they help. Thank you American Red Cross! That will always be my position on giving aid.
As a Christian I try to give generously to help others in need, but I am very selective of the way in which my money is being distributed.
Tomorrow is Sunday...Dont forget Church! God Bless ...Deacon Harry

Friday, December 02, 2005

 
A quickie for now. Maybe more later... just a couple of quick observations..Google is taking over the internet and is starting in on TV.
They are preparing to market their own version of the dvr for satellite use. They will be pushing on demand programming. CBS and NBC are said to looking into it too. But Googles big idea is that based on you past viewing they will taylor the advertising to fit the viewer. Very Smart.

Also, while on vacation this week I have spent a lot of time on the net, exploring. A link from from someplace, I think maybe it was move on .org sent me to a site where Retired General William E Odom has some very good and very pointed views about George W's policy concerning the war. Check out :http://www.emailthis.clickability.com/et/emailThis?clickMap=viewThis&etMailToID=1927108556
Its a weird looking link, but it works.
See what you think. More later ..Deacon Harry

Thursday, December 01, 2005

 
World Aids Day.....
Today is World AIDS Day. The numbers are staggering. More than 40 Million people worldwide have AIDS! AIDS has killed more than 25 million people since it was first recognized in 1981. 3.9 million people died from AIDS last year alone and another 4.9 million became infected.
(figures are from a recent U.N. report)
In the US the number of new cases reported every year has remained more or less stable from 2001 to 2003. However, the number began to rise again since 2003.
Every hour 2 more young Americans are infected with AIDS!
The Human Rights Campaign issued a report card on our governments efforts this year. See http://www.hrc.org for the details.
The main point is that our government rated an "F"in 2 of 4 categories, prevention and care & treatment. They only managed a D in research and a C in Global AIDS. The HRC has a online link to allow you to email your elected officials and let them know that this is not acceptable. Please use it.
On a personal level:
I have had far too many friends who have died from this disease.
I have also been involved as a caregiver and/or advisor to several persons.
My nephew Pat moved here from Iowa at age 17 so that he could come out and live life as the man he was. This was in the early 1980s. He and I became very close and it was extremely hard to take when he became infected with "GRID" (Gay Related Immune Disorder ) as it first was known. There was almost no knowledge and there were no treatments for it. All the doctors could do was to treat the symptoms by trying to keep the fevers down, etc.
I used to get up at night and hold him as he shook with"night sweats. "
Then I would change his sheets and he would go back to bed. I never felt so helpless in my life. Someone I loved deeply was so ill and I couldn't do anything! I had a nurse-call button clipped to his sheets and an intercom mounted to the wall by his bed so he could call me when he needed me. When AZT was released we were so happy that at last there was something he could take. However the first meds were all so toxic that they caused their own problems. He had to use suppositories to fight the nausea had to keep a pan beside his bed all the times. It was a horrible experience to watch him slowly die. His death was the hardest I had ever faced. My parents had lived their lives and it was much easier to take. Pat, was so young,and I loved him so much. I would ask myself frequently "Why him? Why can't it be me?"
Pats ex, Scott, had become my best friend. Of course he was also infected, although he lived with his family and not with me, I was very involved in his illness. I was the one he talked to and asked advice of. Over a several year period I watch him get slowly worse. The HIV meds always had bad side effects on him and he was always miserable.Finally he became infected with CMV and lost the vision first in one eye then another. He entered a hospice program where they kept him comfortable but made no efforts to prolong his life. I was the only pallbearer at his funeral who was not a family member.
About this time Dan( my partner) became infected. When he was first diagnosed in 1990 he already had an opportunistic infection, Cryptoccal Meningitis. He was deathly ill and I had to run IV's for him every night at home. He has been hospitalized several times and I have seen his weight drop as low as 110 lbs. Now he weighs about 160 and looks good because of medical breakthroughs in the past. The biggest difference between Scott and Dan was that Dan was never bothered by drug side effects. He always took his meds in the proper amounts at the proper time. He never missed. Also, the FDA approved trials of Protease Inhibitors in 1995 and I was able to get him on a trial while he was in the nursing home.
He did have a reaction to DDI and developed pancriatitis. His pancrease
went wild and damaged his lungs. He was in the hospital for 2 weeks that time, 10 days in ICU. He had previously had all his legal affairs taken care of and had given me his power of attorney for health care. When he was in icu I went against all the things we had discussed and put him on life support. He was on life support for 7 days while his lungs healed and he was able to recover. His family in Pennsylvania did not want anything to do with him, so I spent 7 days at the icu with him, going home only to sleep.
It was a hard period, but we got through it. I told in a previous post about his experiences in a nursing home and in the AIDS Rides. I am very proud of him for what he has endured and what he still does today.
So , for World AIDS Day I am pausing to remember Pat, Scott & Dan's close friend and nursing home roomate, James. They are especially in my heart today as I pray for them and all the others who have passed on before us. Deacon Harry

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