New Cases of HIV: Check Your City.

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The CDC’s 2015 HIV Surveillance Report is out, and with it, the 15 cities with the highest rates of new cases of HIV. What’s striking here is that most of the new cases are in the South. Tireless work has helped to reduce the stigma of HIV, but with the ongoing and ever increasing bigotry against all queer folk, that stigma is re-asserting itself, along with the stigma of being LGBT in many states. It must be emphasised, once again, that hetero people also contract HIV, it’s no guarantee at all that you won’t be at risk. I don’t care what people do sexually, as long as they are fully consensual adults, but in such hateful and uncertain times, especially in regard to healthcare, this is no time to take risks or blithely assume it won’t be a problem for you. It’s best to remember that a great many people cheat, too. And cheaters have a tendency to lie. Please, be careful, protect yourself and your partner[s] at all times, take the time to be aware of not just HIV, but all sexually transmitted diseases, get tested, urge others to get tested, and don’t let yourself be bullied by any partner or potential partner who does not want to use protection or get tested. If you are sexually assaulted or raped, don’t eschew testing, it could save your life. This applies even if you do not want to report. No one can force you to report, but get tested.

Cities, in order: 1, Miami, Florida. 2, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. 3, New Orleans, Louisiana. 4, Jackson, Mississippi. 5, Atlanta, Georgia. 6, Orlando, Florida. 7, Louisville, Kentucky and Jefferson County, Indiana. 8, Memphis, Tennessee. 9, Jacksonville, Florida. 10, Baltimore, Maryland. 11, Houston, Texas. 12, Washington, DC. 13, Columbia, South Carolina. 14, Las Vegas, Nevada. 15, Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida.

If you’re in one of these cities, be vigilant about your health, but remember, being outside these states is no guarantee. Be careful, please.

Via Plus.

The T.R.U.T.H Project will be active in one of the listed cities, Houston.

To commemorate National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, an initiative to engage the Black community about the importance of HIV education and testing, on February 7 the T.R.U.T.H project will hold a performance and panel discussion with Houston health professionals and advocates to discuss and answer questions about HIV and mental health.

The one-night only event is titled “I am My Brother/Sister’s Keeper: Fight HIV/AIDS” and will also be providing free HIV and Syphilis testing for all who attend. The show is sponsored by the Houston Department Bureau of HIV/STD Prevention and Walgreens, with additional support from AIDS Foundation Houston, and will be moderated by author and empowerment coach Jai Sneed.

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“We can’t address HIV/ AIDS without touching on mental and emotional health. The public health and scientific communities are working on great new biomedical interventions, but uptake and effectiveness are stagnated when other needs aren’t being met.”

Panelists include licensed professional counselors Dr. Kimm Perez and Milton Smith, Human Rights activist and HIV advocate Deondre Moore, PrEP and HIV Advocate Adonis May, clinical social worker DeShantra Moore, HIV/AIDS advocate Tiffany Quinton, and will feature artists Nick Muckleroy and visual artist Ashley “Pinklomein” Price.

Those with mental health issues are at higher risk of becoming HIV-positive, and once poz are more likely to have negative health outcomes, especially if they are Black gay men.

Via Plus.

Upcoming Marches.

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Resistance in Philly: Fighting for Our Lives. January 26th.

 

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Planned Parenthood Counter Protest. February 11th.

 

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San Diego Climate Change Rally. February 21st.

 

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Latinx Against Trump @ Chicago. February 25th.

 

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Stop the Trump Agenda in Chicago. February 19th.

 

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NoDAPL, Central NJ, January 28th. Keep up with #NoDAPL for news.

Normally, I would post about this, but all I can do is scream at all the fucking lies, so go read about the fucking asshole of the day.

There are an additional 9 more marches coming up, you can see them all, with links, at The Advocate.

Oh Gods. More Assholes.

Credit: Youtube.

Credit: Youtube.

The Charlotte Observer reports that Sen. Dan Bishop, a Charlotte Republican, has proposed a new measure that would make it a crime to “threaten, intimidate, or retaliate against a present or former North Carolina official in the course of, or on account of, the performance of his or her duties.”

The measure came in response to a video in which several protesters followed Ex-Gov. McCrory down a street in Washington, D.C. while chanting things like “Shame!” and “Anti-gay bigot!”

“If Gov. McCrory were a former official of the District of Columbia, this incident might have been a crime punishable by five years in prison,” Bishop in an official statement. “So should it be in North Carolina. This is dangerous. Jim Hunt, Bev Purdue and other governors never faced riotous mobs in their post-service, private lives, without personal security.”

Chanting “Shame!” and “Anti-gay bigot” are not dangerous. They might be embarrassing, yes. And a shameful bigot like McCrory certainly would have his little ears burning, but it’s still not dangerous. Five years in prison? Unfuckingbelievable. Is there any redeeming feature to self righteous rethuglicans? Just one? Because I never see one. People are fighting for basic human rights and the rethug answer? Prison! If there are any repubs who think they are chock full of redeeming features, you’re staying awfully quiet.

At no point in the video did any protester physically touch McCrory or make any threat against the former governor.

And since issuing threats to public officials is already a crime, the scope of Bishop’s bill would likely depend on how it defines “harassment” and “retaliation” against current or former government officials.

And there’s the heart of it. In the new Fascist States of America, you should not have the right to criticise. So much for those vaunted frozen peaches.* Full story here. *Free Speech / Freeze Peach / Frozen Peaches.

And in Louisiana, all that matters are blue lives, the rest of us can just go to hell or prison, whichever comes first:

Following suit with the Trump administration’s law enforcement platform, police in Acadiana, Louisiana have used the state’s new “Blue Lives Matter” law. Louisiana is the first state to enact such a law, which aims to protect the conduct of police officers by slamming people who resist arrest with hate crime charges.

“We don’t need the general public being murdered for no reason and we don’t need officers being murdered for no reason. We all need to just work together,” said the St. Martinville Police Chief, Calder Hebert in defense of the new law. “Resisting an officer or battery of a police officer was just that charge, simply. But now, Governor Edwards, in the legislation, made it a hate crime now.”

CBS News correspondent David Begnaud clarified on Twitter that the police chief’s language was inaccurate, according to Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards’ communications director. However, the Blue Lives Matter provision has already been used to charge someone with a hate crime.

If the response to protesters at Donald Trump’s inauguration is any indication of what’s to come from police, any Blue Lives Matter law that seeks to slap felony hate crime charges on people for resisting arrest is just another component of a serious crackdown on dissent.

Based on Louisiana’s Blue Lives Matter law, anyone who resists arrest or uses physical force against an officer can now be charged with a felony hate crime, a serious offense that will only further criminalize those most affected by abusive policing. Hate crimes are punishable by ten years to life in prison.

Again, the only answer: prison. And that’s for lawful dissent. Dark days. Full story here.

Snowflakes Rising.

Sign from Saturday's Women's March on Washington (Twitter.com).

Sign from Saturday’s Women’s March on Washington (Twitter.com).

WASHINGTON — The day after the Women’s March brought half a million people to Washington, 500 women from across the country spent Sunday learning how to run for office.

The candidate training held by EMILY’s List, the largest Democratic women’s group in the country, focused on overcoming the “intimidation factor” when navigating political campaigning, especially for women of color. It was the group’s largest training event.

“We still have ceilings to break, even inside our Democratic Party,” said Muthoni Wambu Kraal, senior director of state engagement and development at EMILY’s List.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., told the women about breaking through as the first Indian-American woman in the House of Representatives.

“As a woman of color in particular, barriers are high. They’re very high,” she said, encouraging women to pursue their point of view in elected office.

“It’s important, not only because of the color of our skin or anything like that, (but) because of the experience that we bring in from our different perspectives,” she said. “Don’t think that because you’re not connected to the wealthiest people in the world that you can’t run for office.”

GO SNOWFLAKES!

Full story here.

Indigenous Roundup: Avenger Missiles, No Clemency, Decampment.

Courtesy Gary Dorr.

Courtesy Gary Dorr.

Mobile Avenger Missile Launcher Appears at Standing Rock.

A first-hand account of the terrifying deployment of an anti-aircraft device pointed at people.

Later, a veteran buddy looked it up to be sure, matched it up with our pictures, and based on his experience noted:

“My suspicion is that the Avenger Missile Systems deployed to Standing Rock are a cost-effective alternative to having an Apache Helo flying overhead when they need it. The Avenger system has Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) Capabilities. The civilian plane and helicopter probably don’t have FLIR and that is when they need an Apache Helo to “monitor” situations under darkness and record for evaluation later. Instead of calling up the Apache, they can have Avengers on-site for instant intelligence day or night. The Avenger system also has video capabilities. It costs them far less to have an Avenger system on the ground 24 hrs a day than to deploy an Apache Helo occasionally. The security ground forces have Night Vision but the Avenger has FLIR and a laser rangefinder along with video capabilities. The FLIR will be at least a plate-sized round lense mounted on the weapon rail on the left side (driver side) if there is one. Just a suspicion. If I am correct, there should be more info to request in a FOIA. The sheriff’s Department can’t all have TS Sec clearances so if they brief them all using Avenger footage, it should be low hanging fruit that would be unclassified.”

[Read more…]

“But Nobody Told Him That.”

Three of the half-dozen octogenarian protesters who set up shop near the senior citizens’ residence where they live in downtown Washington, D.C., during Saturday’s Women’s March. CREDIT: Alan Pyke/ThinkProgress.

Three of the half-dozen octogenarian protesters who set up shop near the senior citizens’ residence where they live in downtown Washington, D.C., during Saturday’s Women’s March. CREDIT: Alan Pyke/ThinkProgress.

Nasty, Brave Women came out all over the world to march, and even those who were unable to march found a way.

…These women would love to be joining the march. But they had a hard enough time convincing their landlords to let them go even as far as this spot in Thomas Circle. They are in their 80s and 90s, veterans of many cycles of American political harmony and social discord. The management at their building were terrified these seniors might get hurt even walking three hundred feet to the circle.

That concern wasn’t going to stop 83-year-old Harriet Fulbright from demonstrating her dissent against Trumpism.

“Damnit, I feel strongly about making our views and feelings known,” Fulbright said. “I’m here because I’m very worried.”

Like her fellow senior sign-wavers, Fulbright remembers the mass upheaval of the Vietnam era and the paranoia which government surveillance and sabotage of dissenters inspired.

Something about today’s moment is scarier than the demagogues before, both losers like Barry Goldwater and winners like Richard Nixon.

“This is new. Nixon was not my favorite,” Fulbright said, with a wry grin, “but I’m more worried now.”

Mamie Chesslin, 83, nodded along with that comparison from her wheeled scooter. As a former Department of Justice attorney who spent her career enforcing environmental laws, Chesslin knows better than most just how much federal agencies influence the future — for brighter or dimmer.

“I honestly wonder how we’re going to survive it,” Chesslin said. “He’s pathological in a way we haven’t seen before. The world doesn’t stop because of Donald Trump, but nobody told him that.”

Ms. Chesslin is right on the money. She puts that sharp mind right on the big, huge problem: Trump thinks he can do anything he wants, and he’s surrounded himself with people who tell him that’s right. He’s also surrounded by people who have enough power to try and make that a reality.

“I’ve been astonished and delighted by the reactions from younger people today,” said Tina Hobson, 87, who helped rally the group to defy the well-intentioned concerns of the residence staff. “Instead of an intense, anxious day, it’s been a lot of fun.”

[…]

“When you get to this age you remember what life was like before Roe vs. Wade. You can tell the stories,” she said.

“None of us thought we’d be doing this again.”

At a mere 59 years of age, and the unwanted product of pre-Roe life, I never thought we’d be doing this again, either. Yet here we are. Stay strong, stand up, shout out. Resist.

Via Think Progress.

Man Shot at Seattle Protest.

Protesters at the Seattle event in an AP photo by Ted Warren.

Protesters at the Seattle event in an AP photo by Ted Warren.

A “person of interest” is under arrest in the shooting of a man during the protest of an appearance by Milo Yiannopoulos in Seattle.

The victim, who is in his 30s, is hospitalized in critical condition with a possibly life-threatening injury, Seattle PI reports. He was shot in the abdomen at a Friday night protest at the University of Washington, where Yiannopoulos, a gay alt-right nazi commentator, was speaking.

The victim’s name has not been released, nor has the name of the person of interest. He turned himself in to university police and is under arrest, according to Seattle PI.

The massive protest delayed the start of the speech by Yiannopoulos, a Breitbart editor who is notorious for his racist, anti-trans, and otherwise inflammatory statements. The event, coordinated by the University of Washington College Republicans, had been oversold, and police had to eventually stop ticket holders from entering the venue. Some attendees supported Yiannopoulos, but others came to confront him.

The shooting came after what had been a largely peaceful protest, with demonstrators holding anti-Yiannopoulos and anti–Donald Trump signs, and “occasionally trading barbs” with ticket holders, Seattle PI reports.

Via The Advocate. Let’s hope we don’t see more of this happening.

400 Sparkling Nipples.

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In a new artistic statement against censorship, this time in response to Facebook’s anti-nipple legislation, the Madrid-based artistic group Luzinterruptus lit 400 plastic breastfeeding nipples with LEDs at the entrance of Facebook’s Madrid headquarters. For an hour, the 400 nipples shone brightly outside of the office, beautifully illuminating the sidewalk and reminding passersby of just how harmless nipples are.

[…]

The project took five hours to set up and was removed completely after the exhibition was finished. Luzinterruptus wrote on their website that they now have 400 nipples available for any artists who would like to install a related project. And, it is possible that this project will morph into related anti-censorship statements, just as Luzinterruptus’ environmentalist projects have continued to make powerful statements about global warming in different incarnations, filling the fountain in Trafalgar Square with glowing garbage and raining condoms.

In addition to protesting the censorship of Facebook policies, Luzinterruptus wants to call attention to other elements of the restrictive policies. Specifically, they are reacting to what they see as a hypocritical stance on potentially disturbing images. While Facebook removes photographs of breastfeeding women, they allow violence, racism, and misogynistic content to roam free. Finally, Luzinterruptus wants to make viewers aware of the third-world workers who they believe are exploited by Facebook to as they work for very low wages to censor Facebook content. Even in reactions to the installation, Luzinterruptus has seen backlash. “Many magazines commented that they couldn’t publish articles [about the installation] because of editorial politics,” Luzinterruptus tells the Creators Project. The reactions to the installation have shown the artistic group just how much influence Facebook has. Will 2017 be the year we finally #freethenipple? We’ll have to wait and see.

The Creators Project has the full story.

What Art Under Trump?

Illustration: sophiazarders.tumblr.com.

Illustration: sophiazarders.tumblr.com.

Margaret Atwood has an excellent article up at The Nation about the chill which is already sweeping over the artistic community at large. Atwood is no stranger to dystopian scenarios, but thankfully, those were fiction. We may well be facing an artistic dystopia very soon.

Of what use is art? It’s a question often asked in societies where money is the prime measure of worth, usually by people who do not understand art—and therefore dislike it and the artists who make it. Now, however, the question is being posed by artists themselves.

For American writers and other artists, there’s a distinct chill in the air. Strongmen have a well-earned reputation for suppression and for demanding fawning tributes: “Suck up or shut up” has been their rule. During the Cold War, many writers, filmmakers, and playwrights received visits from the FBI on suspicion of “un-American activities.” Will that history be repeated? Will self-censorship set in? Could we be entering an age of samizdat in the United States, with manuscripts circulating secretly because publishing them would mean inviting reprisal? That sounds extreme, but considering America’s own history—and the wave of authoritarian governments sweeping the globe—it’s not out of the question.

In the face of such uncertainties and fears, the creative communities of the United States are nervously urging one another not to surrender without a fight: Don’t give up! Write your book! Make your art!

But what to write or make? Fifty years from now, what will be said about the art and writing of this era?

[…]

In the short run, perhaps all we can expect 
from artists is only what we have always expected. As once-solid certainties crumble, it may be enough to cultivate your own artistic garden—to do what you can as well as you can for as long as you can do it; to create alternate worlds that offer both temporary escapes and moments of insight; to open windows in the given world that allow us to see outside it.

With the Trump era upon us, it’s the artists and writers who can remind us, in times of crisis or panic, that each one of us is more than just a vote, a statistic. Lives may be deformed by politics—and many certainly have been—but we are not, finally, the sum of our politicians. Throughout history, it has been hope for artistic work that expresses, for this time and place, as powerfully and eloquently as possible, what it is to be human.

This is a do not miss article. Outstanding, and highly recommended.

Sister Marches.

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If you can’t make the women’s march on Washington, there are sister events! They are going on everywhere, not just here in uStates, but all over the world. Check out the sisters page, and see if you can find a march near you. (There are even three here in nDakota!)

World of Wonder has more details.

Rediscovering Scarecrows.

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Made in collaboration between photographer Kate Fichard and plastic artist Hugo Deniau, ‘Scarecrows’ is a series that invites the former tradition ousted by sharp technological progress. The project was born out of Fichard’s observation that the tradition of blanking out birds from the crops has faded recently in France. “I noticed that scarecrows no longer exist on fields and vegetable gardens. Unfortunately, today they are replaced by pesticides and protection nets.” Being sensitive to environmental issues, the photographer decided to bring back the tradition and offer the meeting with these mysterious sculptures once again. This time, however, scarecrows are inspired by the idea of contemporary terror by using objects and colors tied to pollution and attacks that ruin the environment. Fichard, who got very much involved in the project, plans to continue travelling around different fields and produce more works, aiming at publishing a book or an exhibition about the subject.

All images © Kate Fichard

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You can see more of these amazing statements at iGNANT.