Tag Archives: good news

CBS News reports: The third phase of the high-risk rescue operation for the boys and their coach trapped in a cave in Thailand played out quickly on Tuesday. Hours after Thai officials confirmed that 19 divers had entered the cave complex in Chiang Rai province to extract the remaining four children and their assistant coach, several of them were brought …

Talking Points Memo: Young Americans are abandoning God in droves. A new survey by the Pew Research Center finds that belief in the existence of God has dropped 15 points in the last five years among Americans 30 and under. Pew, which has been studying the trend for 25 years, finds that just 68 percent of millennials in 2012 agree …

New York City officials today announced a “marriage lottery” to deal with the high numbers of gay couples looking to tie the knot on the first day of legalized same-sex marriage. Fearing demand for same-sex weddings will be too great for the City Clerk’s Office to handle this Sunday, city officials have announced a lottery for weddings on the first …

Dozens of New York judges have volunteered to officiate at same-sex marriages across the state on Sunday, July 24th, the first day they become legal. As one of several dozen judges across the state who have volunteered to play an official role in the new law’s first day, Justice Raffaele is part of one of the most unusual judicial mobilizations …

The 410,000 member 132-year old American Bar Association, arguably the most influential legal group in the world, has announced its firm support for same-sex marriage. The Advocate reports: In a resolution adopted less than one week after a federal judge in San Francisco struck down California’s Proposition 8 as unconstitutional, the group acknowledges that same-sex couples “are only seeking to …

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered that the inexpensive acne drug minocycline works well to help suppress HIV replication, making it a potentially highly valuable addition to the HAART arsenal. “The powerful advantage to using minocycline is that the virus appears less able to develop drug resistance because minocycline targets cellular pathways not viral proteins,” says Janice Clements, Ph.D., Mary …

From a story about an ABC News/Washington Post poll about attitudes on health care reform comes this little nugget: “Only 20 percent of adults identify themselves as Republicans, little changed in recent months, but still the lowest single number in Post-ABC polls since 1983.”

While the Governator may have terminated much of the HIV/AIDS services in California, it’s nice to have some good news out of Illinois, where Gov. Pat Quinn has elected to use his discretionary fund to maintain vital projects. Via Samuel Worley at EdgeBoston: State funding for HIV services will remain nearly fully funded under the terms of the Governor’s Allocation …

Call it the Iowa/Vermont effect. Via CBS News: Forty-two percent of Americans now say same sex couples should be allowed to legally marry, a new CBS News/New York Times poll finds. That’s up nine points from last month, when 33 percent supported legalizing same sex marriage. Support for same sex marriage is now at its highest point since CBS News …

Yesterday the Massachusetts House repealed the state’s 1913 ban on out-of-state residents marrying there, clearing the way for gay tourist nuptials. The ban had already been repealed by the state Senate and Gov. Duval Patrick will sign it into law shortly. An analysis by the state predicts that up to 30,000 gay couples may visit to marry there in the …

Pacific Gas & Electric, which provides Northern California with most of its electricity and natural gas, has donated $250K to the fight against Proposition 8. Giving a financial and public relations boost to gay marriage proponents, PG&E announced today that it is giving $250,000 to the No on Proposition 8 campaign. The utility also said it will spearhead the formation …

A new study published in The Lancet says that advances in treatment since the late 90’s have added 13 years to the average life expectancies of people with HIV. In high-income countries with the appropriate health care available, a 20-year-old infected with HIV in 2008 can expect to live another 49 years with the disease. The team, involving Bristol University …

Johnson & Johnson’s HIV drug, entravine, was approved by the FDA on Friday. As mentioned here in July, the medication has proven to be very effective against advanced multi-drug resistant HIV. Entravine is an NNRTI (non-nucleoside reverse transriptase inhibitor) and must be taken in combination with other anti-HIV medications. The drug was approved under the fast-track or “priority review” status …

Good news on the HIV front: a new investigational drug, Etravirine (a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor) has been shown in combination with Prezista (a protease inhibitor) to be very effective against advanced multi-drug resistant HIV. The just-concluded study took place in 18 countries including at 30 sites in the United States. Prezista is already approved for use in the U.S. …

Rev. Brent Hawkes, the Toronto minister who conducted the marriage ceremonies that led to same-sex marriage being legalized nationwide, has been awarded his country’s highest civilian honor, the Order of Canada. Hawkes has been a minister at Toronto’s MCC for 30 years. In 2001, Hawkes won his suit against the Ontario government, forcing the province to recognize gay marriages. One …

At last night’s Garden Party, the NYC LGBT Community Center’s annual Pride kick-off gala, the audience got a wonderful surprise when Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer (above, right) announced a $1 million grant to the center’s capital improvements fund. Nice, huh? But heads really swiveled when City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (above, left) announced an additional $8 million dollar grant …

A few weeks ago, Joel Derfner, a NYC blogger, author, and composer exchanged a few emails with me about the Westboro Baptist Church’s appropriation of USA For Africa’s famine relief anthem, We Are The World, which the members of Fred Phelps’ clan of crazies had performed on YouTube as “God Hates The World.” Joel was incensed, naturally, and was curious …

National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases head Anthony Fauci has released the results of a study which suggests that new HIV drugs from Merck and Roche may “cure” HIV in patients who have very low levels of the virus, provided those patients have already been treated “early and faithfully” with over 7 years of combination drug therapy. Patients are …

The New Hampshire legislative approved of same-sex civil unions today, sending the bill to Gov. John Lynch, who has said he will sign it, joining NH with New Jersey, Connecticut and Vermont. Iowa today extended civil rights protections to LGBT folks in an ENDA-tpe bill that took 15 years to gather enough votes to pass. Almost two-thirds of polled New …

On Tuesday, Seattle’s gay pride organization, Out And Proud, announced that they were cancelling this year’s pride celebration and declaring bankruptcy, due to the organization’s $102,000 debt from last year’s event. But upon hearing the news, Seattle’s mo’s came rushing to the rescue, pouring in enough donations to retire the debt by the end of that very day. Amazing! Seattle’s …