Among the Olympics torch-bearers named this morning are gay figures from the sporting world.
7,300 torch-bearers were named this morning and will carry the flame for 70 days and 8,000 through the UK in July ahead of the opening of the Olympics on 27 July. Continue reading
Category Archives: Food for Thought
Gay Canadian Jock, Documented Coming Out Process In Poignant YouTube Series (VIDEOS)
Coming out can be a difficult process for any teenager. According to Scott Heggart, it’s even harder when you’re an athlete.
The Canadian-born Heggart, now 21 and a first-year communications student at the University of Ottawa, told the Ottawa Citizen he began to understand his sexuality in 7th grade, but feared that he would have to stop playing football, basketball, softball and hockey if he came out. “I’d started to understand who I was, what it meant,” he recalled. “The worst thing, from my teammates’ perspective, was to be gay.”
Though he came out to his supportive family at age 15, Heggart says an even bigger challenge lay ahead: revealing his sexuality to his teammates. So instead, he opted to document his coming out experience anonymously by posting videos on YouTube, one new clip every day for a year from 2008-2009. Said his mother Julie, who was initially concerned by her son’s decision: “It was a place where he could be himself and share his struggles and his conflicts and everything he was going through with this broader community.”
In the video series, Heggart speaks poignantly about the process, and takes on other topics like religion, same-sex marriage, the so-called “ex-gay” movement and other topics. When he finally did come out to teammates and classmates by posting a photo of himself with his new boyfriend, Brock, on Facebook and changing his relationship status, Heggart says he received “respect and support.” He now says the 2011 suicide of Jamie Hubley, a 15-year-old gay Canadian teen, inspired him to go public about his YouTube identity.
The story has also been picked up by Towleroad, the Montreal Gazette, Accidental Bear, the National Post and other publications.
Alcohol & HIV: What You Need to Know by San Francisco AIDS Foundation
“We are not here to wag fingers at bars or people who drink. We are here to provide information and resources so that everyone has the knowledge to make the best possible decisions about their health.”
—Neil Giuliano
CEO, San Francisco AIDS FoundationOn February 16, 2012, San Francisco AIDS Foundation held a public HIVision forum titled, “Alcohol & HIV: Current Thinking about Drinking.” In his introduction, foundation CEO Neil Giuliano observed that alcohol use in our community is pervasive—so much so, that “the line between drinking and drinking too much often gets blurred. And when we cross that line, many of us don’t have the tools to recognize it and know where to get help.” According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Giuliano said, one in six U.S. adults binge drinks, defined as consuming five or more drinks within two hours for men, and four or more drinks within two hours for women. Excessive alcohol use contributes to car crashes, violence, and sexually transmitted infections like HIV and is implicated in nearly 80,000 deaths per year.
“So,” asked Giuliano, “is drinking bad for us?” Not necessarily, given research showing cardiovascular benefits of moderate drinking. In addition, he said, “we want to recognize the important role that our bars and clubs—and the LGBT merchants and allies who run them—play in creating a very strong sense of community” here in San Francisco. Giuliano’s opening remarks highlighted some of the complex health and social issues surrounding alcohol use and laid the groundwork for a lively panel discussion. For More got to www.sfaf.org
Advice of ‘Pocket Hercules’ Mr Universe Champion as He Celebrates His 100th Birthday
Living proof that you shouldn’t :
‘Don’t take life too seriously’
Rippling his muscles and flashing a toothless grin a former Mr Universe known as the ‘Pocket Hercules’ celebrates his 100th birthday.
And what has been the key to long life for the super-fit centenarian who has battled poverty, a stint in prison and a minor stroke – not taking life too seriously.
The diminutive Manohar Aich, who is 4ft 11ins tall, overcame many hurdles to achieve his body building glory.
Born in the small town of Comilla in Bengal, he was attracted to exercising and building his muscles when as a schoolboy he saw a group of wrestlers in action.
After leaving school in 1942, he joined the Royal air force under India’s British colonial rulers and it was there that he began his relentless pursuit of body building.
Encouraged by a British officer named Reub Martin, who introduced him to weight training, Aich earned praise for his physique from his peers in the air force.
Some years later, however, he was thrown into prison when he protested against colonial oppression.
He said: ‘It was in that jail that I began weight training seriously. This helped me prepare myself for the world championship.
‘In jail I used to practice on my own, without any equipment, sometimes for 12 hours in a day.’ Continue reading
Daylight Saving Time 2012: Could ‘Springing Forward’ Hurt Your Health?
It’s hard enough to get the sleep you need each night, but on Sunday at 2 a.m., with the beginning of daylight saving time, we’ll spring our clocks forward and lose out on one of those precious hours of rest.
This time change is much trickier for our bodies to handle than when we “fall back” in November. That’s because so many of us aren’t getting enough shut-eye to begin with, and being robbed of an additional hour can put us over the edge. In fact, as many as47 million people are sleep deprived and 43 percent of Americans say they rarely or never get a good night’s sleep during the week. Continue reading
For the Sake of Equality, How About an International Men’s Day?
Thursday was International Women’s Day, and like always, there was some guy saying, “Why isn’t there an International Men’s Day? Yuk, yuk.” And while the usual response is, “Every day is a men’s day, you asshole,” maybe it’s time to agree.
After all, if you really believe in equality in everything, why not push for equal salaries for men? The poor things have been suffering for years with all that excess income. Give me a petition. I’d be happy to support a 25-percent reduction in pay across the board.
And as to equal representation in all our governing bodies, or editorial boards, or corporations, I’d be happy to get behind a movement to slash the number of seats they have by 90 percent or so and devote the redundant salaries to researching the implantation of fetuses in men. Continue reading
Left Brain Hemisphere Also Plays Big Part In Creative Thinking, Study Shows
Everyone knows that the left-brained are the logical ones, and the right-brained are the creative types. But a new study shows that while creativity is largely a right-brained task, the left hemisphere of the brain plays a part, too.
Researchers from the University of Southern California published a study in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience showing that the left brain is a crucial supporter of the right brain for creative tasks.
“We need both hemispheres for creative processing,” study researcher Lisa Aziz-Zadeh, an assistant professor at USC, said in a statement.
Study Offers Strong Evidence That Colonoscopy Saves Lives
(Reuters Health) – Doctors now have strong evidence that colonoscopies save lives, a finding that may encourage more people to get the dreaded tests to detect and prevent colon cancer.
A team at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York found that colonoscopies in which precancerous polyps, known as adenomas, are removed can cut the risk of dying from colon cancer by 53 percent. The study appears in the New England Journal of Medicine.
In theory, adenoma removal saves lives by preventing a tumor. Ann Zauber of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, chief author of the long-term evaluation of polyp removal, and her colleagues said their work demonstrates that. Continue reading
Nip, Tuck, Grow! 5′ 6″ Man Underwent Leg-Lengthening Procedure to Become Six Foot Tall
How far is too far? What would you do for another 6 inches? Height men, not the little guy downstairs.
Standing five foot six inches tall he was was well within the boundaries of normal.
But, in his mind’s eye, the New Yorker, who wants to be known only as Apotheosis, saw himself in a different light- as a statuesque six foot.
Desperate to become the man he believed he should be, the determined 37-year-old turned to drastic measures- undergoing agonising, expensive surgery.
The procedure, in which both legs are broken and then slowly stretched, bears more than a little resemblance to medieval torture.
But the brave patient has now achieved a remarkable six inches of extra height. Continue reading
Facial Rejuvenation Acupuncture with San Francisco’s Eric Kerr Q & A and Demo Videos
Facial Rejuvenation Acupuncture with San Francisco’s Eric Kerr.
• Diminished Fine Lines and Wrinkles
• Increased Collagen Production
• Brighter Eyes
• Lifted Eyelids
• Reduced Under Eye Bags and Puffiness
• Enhanced Skin Tone
• Tightened Pores
• Improved Facial Muscle Tone
• Increased Moisture
• Reduced Scar Tissue
As part of our health video series we visit with San Francisco Acupuncturist Eric Kerr who practices out of The Blue Buddha that’s nestled in a classic San Francisco building, just a few steps away from the bustling Polk Street corridor, rests a sanctuary created just for you. An intimate space that feels like home.” We first discuss with Eric his exciting new treatment he is offering, “Facial Rejuvenation” Acupuncture.”
Facial Rejuvenation Acupuncture helps the whole body look and feel younger. Acupuncture needles are inserted into the facial skin to relax the muscles that cause wrinkles and tighten loose skin by stimulating the production of collagen – softening lines and preventing future wrinkles.
By addressing the emotional, mental and physical stresses that cause disease and accelerate aging, this Constitutional Facelift goes beyond mere cosmetics and deals directly with the health of the body’s largest organ – the skin.
This non-invasive process costs less than surgical procedures, is less toxic than medications, and draws upon the ancient Chinese wisdom related to longevity and overall balance. After the first treatment, experience a glowing complexion – feel and look “well rested.”"
We have a short Q & A to discuss this treatment’s benefits and how to prepare your self for your appointment.
Find Eric on FACEBOOK:http://www.facebook.com/AcupunKerr
