Friday January 13th 2006

This is very interesting ----->

Lebanon-The region's first magazine for gay Arabs
By Jessy Chahine, Daily Star staff
Not only has Lebanon managed to establish Helem, the first Arab non- governmental organization openly fighting for the rights of homosexuals, but it is also now publishing Barra (Arabic for Out), the region's first magazine for gay Arabs.
Published quarterly by Helem, Barra, according to one of its writers, is "a free space for all gays and lesbians in the region to express their feelings of social oppression and stigma."
Currently releasing its second issue, Barra incorporates several features and news articles written by Helem activists or independent homosexual writers from all over the region. Helem's coordinator Georges Azzi said his group tries to raise awareness by speaking at colleges.
" There are increasingly more gay-friendly bars, also, for instance the International Day Against Homophobia (last May) was observed for the first time in Lebanon," Azzi said, "with Helem marking the occasion with a gathering of about 200 people, straight and gay, at a seaside hotel in Beirut.
" It also organized a screening of 'I exist,' a documentary on homosexuals of Middle Eastern decent living in the United States, and distributed buttons and pamphlets with the slogan, 'You drink coffee, I prefer tea. Does that mean one of us is abnormal?'" Dalal al-Bizri, a Cairo-based Lebanese sociologist, says homosexuals in the region are more reviled than drug addicts "because homosexuality is seen as being exported to the region by a country whose armies and fleets have attacked Arabs: the United States, so homosexuality is widely seen as a disease spread by the United States and Israel to corrupt Arabs and undermine their religious faith."
She said that more Arabs were coming out as gays, or "at least coming to terms with their sexuality, even though in some countries they face laws that can land them in jail, and extremists who beat them up because of Islam's condemnation of homosexuality." According to Azzi, Lebanon is the only Arab country where gays can find refuge and Helem is the "first Arab non-governmental organization openly fighting for their rights."
Helem was set up last year despite a vaguely worded law punishing "unnatural sexual intercourse" with up to one year in jail. " Lebanon, with its mixed population of Muslims and Christians, has a history of religious pluralism and exposure to the West. But elsewhere, homosexuals are on their own," Azzi said.
Lebanon even has male belly dancers. One such dancer is a slim, 23- year-old bisexual who identifies himself with the stage name "Teddy." Teddy says his insistence on leading a "normal life" has come at a price: "People look at me as if I have descended from Mars." With elegant black pony tail, mascara coated eye lashes, plump lips and manicured nails, he stood out as the only man in makeup at a trendy Beirut coffee house.
He said demand for his dancing is strong, though "Sometimes, at nightclubs, people spit at me or throw drinking glasses. " I don't respond because I don't want to make an issue out of it," he explains.
Oddly enough, he says life in some ways is harder for gays in Lebanon than other parts of the region because here boys and girls mix freely, so parents are more likely to notice those who don't. " It's easier in Saudi Arabia, where the sexes are segregated," said Teddy. " As long as boys and girls are separate, parents feel their children are safe."
Asked where he would like to be 10 years from now, Teddy said: " I'd like to become the head of a union for the protection of gays in Lebanon and the rest of the Arab world, and a very famous lawyer in the sphere of human rights. Once I have achieved that," he added, "I'd like to marry a woman and have 14 children," he said. LEBANESE GAY HUNKS 2006
And the FIRST and ONLY Arab Gay Hunks Calendar (also Lebanes) ever being published.Twelve lebanese hunks for each month of the year 2006.

Thursday January 12 2006

Courtesy of www.bent.com I would like to say Yay and Yahoo to this, second I'd like to say RuPaul has advocated and tried to establish this, it finally happens, but kind of late, if I were him I'd fee rebuffed! Thirdly Just this is fuckin' Awesome!-Bring on the GAy hip hop and R&B, somehow I bet all the artists will be techno driven, boo ! cliches and stereotypes blah! P.S. there are three entries, two more after this one, so read em' all, I've been an updating fool!
SONY LAUNCHES GAY MUSIC LABEL page 1 / 1 Sony Music has launched the first major music label dedicated to nurturing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender artists.
The label, Music with a Twist, is a joint venture with Wilderness Media & Entertainment, the company led by Matt Farber, who has founded MTV's new gay and lesbian channel LOGO. "It's an idea whose time has come," Mr Farber said.
"Only now are media and entertainment brands being created for the gay and lesbian audience following the success of brands for other minorities," he said.
Mr Farber says the success of brands dedicated to the African American and Hispanic audiences has helped talent in those communities cross over well beyond their core audiences.
Music With a Twist's roster will feature gay artists who have mass appeal and hit potential across all musical genres.
The label also plans to release various compilations geared toward gay and bisexual audiences, featuring hit songs by established artists that have been embraced by gay, bisexual and transgender audiences, as well as tracks from emerging gay artists.

Thursday January 12 2006

First off this is from www.bent.com and second I think this rocks George Michael no longer charging for music saying he's got enough money, I think more artists should follow suit!
GEORGE MICHAEL TO RELEASE ONE MORE SONY DISC page 1 / 1 British pop star George Michael's plans to release his music exclusively on the internet isn't coming into force just yet, he's planning to release a greatest hits album and two new singles next year.
Michael brought his record label Sony to court over his original contract in 1993, accusing the music giant of "professional slavery". After losing his lawsuit, Michael's contract was bought out by Virgin, who released his best-selling 1996 disc Older.
Last year, Michael announced plans to release future albums online only, with fans downloading his music for free, because "I've been very well remunerated for my talents over the years so I really don't need the public's money".
However, before he "retires" from profitable music, Michael still has to release one more disc and two tracks under his smaller, recent deal with Sony, which included last year's number one album Patience and a second disc.
Michael says: "I'm writing right now. Very strangely, I actually wrote a Christmas song. I think it's really good, but I'm not sure.
"The deal I have with Sony, which included Patience, had two new singles and a compilation, so there'll be two singles next year. There's other stuff going on next year that I don't want to talk about just yet."

Thursday January 12 2006

First Happy New year!!!

Friday December 30 2005

Scientists Find A DNA Change That Accounts For White Skin By Rick Weiss Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, December 16, 2005; A01

Scientists said yesterday that they have discovered a tiny genetic mutation that largely explains the first appearance of white skin in humans tens of thousands of years ago, a finding that helps solve one of biology's most enduring mysteries and illuminates one of humanity's greatest sources of strife.

The work suggests that the skin-whitening mutation occurred by chance in a single individual after the first human exodus from Africa, when all people were brown-skinned. That person's offspring apparently thrived as humans moved northward into what is now Europe, helping to give rise to the lightest of the world's races.

Leaders of the study, at Penn State University, warned against interpreting the finding as a discovery of "the race gene." Race is a vaguely defined biological, social and political concept, they noted, and skin color is only part of what race is -- and is not.

In fact, several scientists said, the new work shows just how small a biological difference is reflected by skin color. The newly found mutation involves a change of just one letter of DNA code out of the 3.1 billion letters in the human genome -- the complete instructions for making a human being.

"It's a major finding in a very sensitive area," said Stephen Oppenheimer, an expert in anthropological genetics at Oxford University, who was not involved in the work. "Almost all the differences used to differentiate populations from around the world really are skin deep."

The work raises a raft of new questions -- not least of which is why white skin caught on so thoroughly in northern climes once it arose. Some scientists suggest that lighter skin offered a strong survival advantage for people who migrated out of Africa by boosting their levels of bone-strengthening vitamin D; others have posited that its novelty and showiness simply made it more attractive to those seeking mates.

The work also reveals for the first time that Asians owe their relatively light skin to different mutations. That means that light skin arose independently at least twice in human evolution, in each case affecting populations with the facial and other traits that today are commonly regarded as the hallmarks of Caucasian and Asian races.

Several sociologists and others said they feared that such revelations might wrongly overshadow the prevailing finding of genetics over the past 10 years: that the number of DNA differences between races is tiny compared with the range of genetic diversity found within any single racial group.

Even study leader Keith Cheng said he was at first uncomfortable talking about the new work, fearing that the finding of such a clear genetic difference between people of African and European ancestries might reawaken discredited assertions of other purported inborn differences between races -- the most long-standing and inflammatory of those being intelligence.

"I think human beings are extremely insecure and look to visual cues of sameness to feel better, and people will do bad things to people who look different," Cheng said.

The discovery, described in today's issue of the journal Science, was an unexpected outgrowth of studies Cheng and his colleagues were conducting on inch-long zebra fish, which are popular research tools for geneticists and developmental biologists. Having identified a gene that, when mutated, interferes with its ability to make its characteristic black stripes, the team scanned human DNA databases to see if a similar gene resides in people.

To their surprise, they found virtually identical pigment-building genes in humans, chickens, dogs, cows and many others species, an indication of its biological value.

They got a bigger surprise when they looked in a new database comparing the genomes of four of the world's major racial groups. That showed that whites with northern and western European ancestry have a mutated version of the gene.

Skin color is a reflection of the amount and distribution of the pigment melanin, which in humans protects against damaging ultraviolet rays but in other species is also used for camouflage or other purposes. The mutation that deprives zebra fish of their stripes blocks the creation of a protein whose job is to move charged atoms across cell membranes, an obscure process that is crucial to the accumulation of melanin inside cells.

Humans of European descent, Cheng's team found, bear a slightly different mutation that hobbles the same protein with similar effect. The defect does not affect melanin deposition in other parts of the body, including the hair and eyes, whose tints are under the control of other genes.

A few genes have previously been associated with human pigment disorders -- most notably those that, when mutated, lead to albinism, an extreme form of pigment loss. But the newly found glitch is the first found to play a role in the formation of "normal" white skin. The Penn State team calculates that the gene, known as slc24a5, is responsible for about one-third of the pigment loss that made black skin white. A few other as-yet-unidentified mutated genes apparently account for the rest.

Although precise dating is impossible, several scientists speculated on the basis of its spread and variation that the mutation arose between 20,000 and 50,000 years ago. That would be consistent with research showing that a wave of ancestral humans migrated northward and eastward out of Africa about 50,000 years ago.

Unlike most mutations, this one quickly overwhelmed its ancestral version, at least in Europe, suggesting it had a real benefit. Many scientists suspect that benefit has to do with vitamin D, made in the body with the help of sunlight and critical to proper bone development.

Sun intensity is great enough in equatorial regions that the vitamin can still be made in dark-skinned people despite the ultraviolet shielding effects of melanin. In the north, where sunlight is less intense and cold weather demands that more clothing be worn, melanin's ultraviolet shielding became a liability, the thinking goes.

Today that solar requirement is largely irrelevant because many foods are supplemented with vitamin D.

Some scientists said they suspect that white skin's rapid rise to genetic dominance may also be the product of "sexual selection," a phenomenon of evolutionary biology in which almost any new and showy trait in a healthy individual can become highly prized by those seeking mates, perhaps because it provides evidence of genetic innovativeness.

Cheng and co-worker Victor A. Canfield said their discovery could have practical spinoffs. A gene so crucial to the buildup of melanin in the skin might be a good target for new drugs against melanoma, for example, a cancer of melanin cells in which slc24a5 works overtime.

But they and others agreed that, for better or worse, the finding's most immediate impact may be an escalating debate about the meaning of race.

Recent revelations that all people are more than 99.9 percent genetically identical has proved that race has almost no biological validity. Yet geneticists' claims that race is a phony construct have not rung true to many nonscientists -- and understandably so, said Vivian Ota Wang of the National Human Genome Research Institute in Bethesda.

"You may tell people that race isn't real and doesn't matter, but they can't catch a cab," Ota Wang said. "So unless we take that into account it makes us sound crazy."

© 2005 The Washington Post Company

Wednesday November 16 2005

I'm so thrilled the patch for the sims2 came out today which means I can now l play my game again as there is no longer a conflict between my game and the update of my operating system! Also only 4 days left until I'm in Toronto. Funny thing about that, my dad used to have to go on business trips there when I was young and he told me every year that he'd take me, he never did and so I will go there and see it for the first time all on my own. This is exactly what has happened with disneyland and disnyeworld he always promised to take me there, never did and I know when I do go it will be because I have decided to take myself there, he had also promised me a horse when we moved to chilliwack, never got one, never even got to really go riding except on a school function. He is the king of broken promises, I never want to be that way to my friends or children. OOO OOOOOOH and now I have been re-Emancipated, me and Mariah go back like babies wit pacifiers!

Thursday November 3 2005

Okay I'm so in the mood to play crib, but aint nobody wanna play. DAmn shame that is!

Wednesday November 2 2005

I think I am on the road to recovery yay! Also I am feeling much better, I had a bit of a dark moment wiht the weather changing and all but now I'm back and FABULOUS!

Monday October 31 2005

I'm grouchy my head cold has moved to full blown flu, yuck! OH as it is halloween I hope that some channel like the cbc who always does, plays the disney movie "Hocus Pocus" with Bette Middler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy!!!! I love that movie although if it's airing coincides with that of my "Girlfriends" Sorry Witches "Girlfriends" it is!

Sunday October 30 2005

Nerd Entry: hehe OH I must thank Marco for sending me these wonderful web pages full of downloadable Mariah goodies, YUMMY VIdeos!! Thanks Marco.. OH watching Mariah Sing "Underneathe The Stars" "live" as per someone's video of it was amazing, man the girl can SANG! hehe OH I love that song, one of my favourites. I will find the single, hehe I swear! I do hope she does tour soon and that I will be in Toronto to see it!!! That is one big advantage to living there, Mariah actually goes there LOL! OH baby baby, underneathe the stars...

Friday October 28 2005

I don't know what's wrong, I have everything going for me at the moment, things couldn't be better, yet I'm angry. I'm in an angry mood and I want to scream and cry.

Wednesday October 26 2005

Okay today is the day, I will purchase Mariah's re-release of her Merry Christmas album, although I am purchasing it, it saddens me to see that sony is still trying to make a buck on Miss Mariah, man they are no good fuckers LOL! oh and wait, isn't she cute!!!

Tuesday October 25 2005

Last night I was finally able to apply to Humber as the Ontario College Application Service now has the application dates for next fall, Yay! I am keeping my fingers crossed! I sent off a request for my transcript and instructed to have it mailed to the OCAS, so hopefully they are speedy enough, I think they should receive it by the end of November. With NYU they sent my transcript about 3 weeks after my initial request, although I mailed my request, however I faxed it this time, hopefully that speeds things up!!

Monday October 24 2005

Today a long lost friend contacted me, we haven't spoken in like a year, this really made my day, he now lives in Toronto which is a plus for me since I am moving there really soon, who knows, I may decide not to come back while I'm on my trip. I'm really frustrated here, not happy, my soul is crying out for higher ground, I'd really like not to come back at all, I'll see maybe I'll surprise myself.

Satruday October 22 2005

Couldn't sleep, had a lot on my mind, but yet nothing of significance. Whateva, I'm getting cheese fries *giggles*, I couldn't resist the Mariah-ism. I decided to totally redo my homepage here as the bright pink was well one making me angry, pink can be a really aggitating and angry colour, and two it was too dayumn gay!!! I like my new page, it's simplistic. I also removed sections that I realized I would probably never use. I have other things I want to write, but alas I am sleepy, enough for now.

Friday October 21 2005

A friend asked me what Boxing day was today, he's from the U.S. this is what I had to say "OH Boxing day, well truthfully it's all about greed. Bascially on December 26 all the Stores open up and people line up for hours and hours before they open as they have huge blow out sales, then on the news they show the gluttenous behaviour and it makes my heart sink a little"

Saturday October 15 2005

Sometimes you are amazed, sometimes you are sad and disappointed, none of this you can help. Sporatically you have these defining moments of clarity, you see yourself for who you really are and you see others around you for who they really are. What do you do when you see something you don't particularly enjoy? That's what I want to know! Can you change, yes, can you change someone else, No. Ah human behaviour, just trying to make sense of it all!

Wednesday October 12 2005

I'm not sure of how it is I may feel at the moment. I have a lot going on in my mind, I found out a family member is sick with skin cancer. This is the second time I've been faced with the issue of mortality in this past month. It definitely leads you to take the joy you find in each day and run with it. Some say they would alienate those around them and isolate themselves if given the news of a terminal illness. At times this type of option seems comforting, yet, some how selfish. I'd have to say if I was in the situation I don't know what it is I would do. What do you think you would do? Would it be selfish? Closure is an interesting concept at times, I don't know what to make of it.

Tuesday October 11 2005

Today I booked my flights and hotel to Toronto for a short visit. I plan to tour the campus and get a feel for the city. My trip will be substantially longer than the one I took to new york, it's costing me half as much to go for 5 days as opposed to 3 days. I will be going from November 20-25, staying right down town, near the Eatons shopping centre. It seems like I shall have fun!! I'm only nervous because I've used an electronic flight booking system, I hope that technology all works itself out!!

Saturday October 8 2005

Ah today is just one of those days that goes beyond waking up on the right side of bed. I am so damn cheery it could make others sick, hehe OH well. That's it I just want to say I'm fucking fantastic!!!

Wednesday October 5 2005

So I have had the question, "Why is your website hot pink?" the answer is simplistic; Hot Pink is fucking HOt, LOVES IT! That's all I can say, it just ain't that deep!

Wednesday October 5 2005

I do not know what's going on, the last couple of days I can sleep and sleep and sleep, just never stop. What's very interesting is when I am sleeping it is very lightly, I never fall into that deep sleep, which is good I suppose if I am sleeping so much. Although there is no time for this tomorrow, I have things I must do. I need to make a to do list, for real. Also I have promised Raeanna and Kyle I'd hang out with them so far I'm 3 weeks behind schedule with Kyle and 2 weeks with Rae. Uh how did I become so flakey? I don't like being flakey and I wasn't like that before, I think my world has more than an ample amount of lazyness in it lately. Sadly my fish are all dying slowly of fin rot, yuck huh, poor little guys. Not that I find pleasure in them dying, however it does work out to an extent in regards to my moving to Toronto. I mean I could have easily given them away but it tends to be a hassle, I realized this with my baby fish. Everyone said they would want some, and everyone was going to come around but it honestly took me almost 3 weeks to get Lora and Ryan over, and I do forget why Lindsay didn't want any, I think it was due to the fact that she had enough fish or hers were disease ridden, I can't quite remember as I said. Ah well there you have it!

Saturday October 1 2005

I was able to get in to see my doctor and thank goodness the lump is only a cyst with some anti-biotics it will go away, however the doctor said it looks like it is going away on it's own so I should keep the perscription just in case it arises again. WHew, glad it wasn't like a tumor or anything. By the way, tumors and cysts can look similar I'm glad my doctor acknowledged that so I didn't feel like I was crazy!

Wednesday September 28 2005

I just finished watching this Documentary called "Lost Boys of Sudan" so good. It makes me sad however, for the fact that the Americans promised help and education and when the Sudanese people arrived, they were bascially left on their own, told to get jobs and apply for schools and pay their rent. There seemed to be little support, it breaks my heart, it's funny how the Americans think they are giving these people better lives. In the film all the sudanese people really wanted to go back home and said that both lives were difficult but they liked their life in the refugee camp in Kenya much better. I'm really sad about this right now. I really think I need to find the time and money, more or less the money this year to go and volunteer for a month to a few months in Africa like I wanted to. I realize that I have repeated this entry on my live journal but I think it's important. Take a little time everyone and think of how you have it here, and do feel a bit guilty and find some way to get involved in something, take a little time out and give to a charity even, time or funds.

Tuesday Septembe 27 2005

OH first I must thank Marco again for sending me the full versions of "Don't Forget About Us" and "So Lonely", OH I love both songs. "So Lonely" Marks the first time Mariah has worked with Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, the man behind most of brandy's stuff and sound and the spice girls forever album, and such hits as Destiny's Child's "Loose My Breath" I never thought they'd work together but was always curious to know what it would sound like, as Mariah definitely has her own production style and I can usually tell what elements are hers and what elements are the other producers. On to other things, I have been having some pain and investigated further to find a niple or quarter sized lump on one of my testicles, Yes I know I hate that word. I have a doctor's appointment. It's funny how your own mortality flashes before your eyes when you notice something like this and jump to the worse case scenario. However I refuse to think of it any further after I write this entry in order to preserve my sanity.

Monday September 26 2005

Just sitting here listening to MC's new leaked track, "Don't Forget About Us", just finished my review of it in the Miscellaneous Section. I think I may be getting sick, flu like symptoms of which I won't share as I am too modest hehe but I know y'all have felt em'. My throat is also very sore, I don't know man, I think I'm sick. Dang!

Sunday September 25 2005

Ah Today I woke up entirey too late, I was going to go to Abbotsford and pick up some of my body shop yummies, however I was much to lazy for the drive. Long drives(drives exceeding 20mins)tend to put me to sleep so I wasn't about to go. I feel bad but Christa had homework anyways and was having a hard time balancing that and looking after the baby. She had been at her notes for 4 hours just on one Chapter! Crazy!!!! I will go in later in the week, or see if I can hitch a ride to Abbotsford with someone. Possibly visit Christa. Sara called me as she was in town and was going to call later however she never did. Ramon and I finally got a chance to talk and catch up, which is nice, it's been a bit difficult getting a hold of him. For me especially not working, I tend to be a bit more needy with my friends at this time! Right now my dad is playing his "SimCity" on his computer next to me and he is doing that thing where he is pounding the same 3 keys repeatedly for some kind of cheat, I think it's to give his city more money, anyways I'm not even exaggerating this repetion can go on for upwards of 5-7mins, I wonder how many key strokes that is? Anyone have a clue? Anyways this gets to be uber annoying as he actually pounds on the keys and you can't concentrate. When coming up the stairs from downstairs you can hear him doing this, I can even hear it from my room, that's how loud and super annoying it is. He's a key pounder, man I hated those people when I worked in a call centre, who pounded keys, annoyed me. Okay see what am I telling you my dad stopped briefly while I was going on in the description of the key pounding repetition and here he is poudin' me keys again, UH I'm going to SCREAM!

Saturday September 24 2005
My first entry on my newly revised homepage, sorry Mariah it's no longer dedicated to you, but to me now. Something really kind of funny and weird happened today. I was talking to a friend about how people lie and how it's silly, for example this guy had sent me pics of himself but then asked if I wanted naughty photos of him, I said sure, he sent them and the bodies don't match, totally fake. In his face pics he is heavier and then the waist/crotch photos he's like a 28 waist or smaller. Anyways we talked and my revealed there had been a bit of mistruth at the beginning of his relationship. What leads me to talk about this, is there is this guy who I've been talking to since the fall and he lives in Toronto, and he really is nice and wants to show me around and hang out and be my tour guide. Anyways he had always told me he was much younger than I found out he is today. Thing is he hasn't actually told me I saw his profile on this site adam4adam of people online, while I'm choosing not to bring this up to him, it makes me a little sad, I'm not that shallow, I wish he would have felt he coud have told me how old he is, I suppose he lied in an effort to be more around my age because he enjoys me and may have feared I wouldn't want anything to do with him if I knew. He's not even that old at all, 9 years older than I. Fate certainly is interesting isn't it?

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