FitnessSF Shuts Grove & Market Street Gym Over High Rent

[CORRECTION: I got the name wrong. It's Fitness Evolution, not FitnessSF.]

On my way to the Grove Street entrance to the main branch of the San Francisco public library this afternoon, I passed what used to be the very busy FitnessSF gym. It also had a window and door on Market Street between 8th and 9th Streets.

Noticing the empty space on both levels of the workout facility and lack of folks exercising, I walked in to what use to be the front desk area. That's were a sign was posted with this info:

"Attention Members and Guest, due to the high real estate rents in the San Francisco market Fitness Evolution has decided to close this location effective August 25th, 2015. ... We apologize in advance for any inconvenience this has caused and appreciate your business. If you should have any questions or concerns, please contact management. Thank you for understanding and we look forward to making this a positive experience."

Contact info for management was nowhere to be found but maybe members will enjoy working out at the other location.

I'm not so sure the real estate market is the cause of the FitnessSF closure in a very dicey and foul-smelling area of Civic Center. The Turkish restaurant and bodega store on Grove Street are doing just fine, according to the owners whom I spoke with today.

Frankly, seems quite odd another FitnessSF facility is just three blocks away and maybe the area just couldn't sustain two venues.

Let's see if and when another business takes over the lease.

Univision PAC: $489,000 to Dems; $75,000 to GOP

I was quite pleased to see Univision's long-serving and widely-respected news anchor, Jorge Ramos, doggedly question GOP presidential hopeful Donald Trump, at a news conference earlier this week.

While there are no records indicating Ramos has made donations to federal politicians or PACs, his company, Univision Communications, has a PAC and files at OpenSecrets.org reveal a Democratic Party bias.

Since 2008, when Univision Communications PAC first began doling out dollars, it had donated $489,000 to Democrats and $75,500 to GOP candidates, in U.S. House and U.S. Senate races.

Journalistic independence and presentation of the news without bias is a stretch for Univision, in my book, considering how much money its PAC has contributed to Democrats and I hope the TV news station is upfront about where it spends its political dollars.

Nothing wrong with advocacy journalism, as long as an outlet discloses their favorite politicians and who receives donations from their political action committee.

These numbers for the Univision Communications PAC come from OpenSecrets.org:

2008

Democrats:
Senate: $18,000
House: $106,000
Subtotal: $124,000

GOP:
Senate: $2,000
House: $10,000
Subtotal: $12,000

2010

Democrats:
Senate: $13,000
House: $105,000
Subtotal: $118,000

GOP:
Senate: $0
House: $15,500
Subtotal: $15,500

2012

Democrats:
Senate: $6,000
House: $98,000

GOP:
Senate: $0
House: $15,000
Subtotal: $15,000

2014

Democrats:
Senate: $14,000
House: $102,500
Subtotal: $116,500

GOP:
Senate: $3,500
House: $21,000
Subtotal: $24,500

2016

Democrats:
Senate: $2,500
House: $30,000
Subtotal: $32,500

GOP:
Senate: $0
House: $8,500
Subtotal: $8,500

Last Picture Show at the Pacific Film Archive's Cal Theater

It's impossible for me to calculate the many happy and gratifying hours spent over the years watching a vast array of cinematic offerings and discussions with filmmakers and programmers at the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley.

Highlights include catching the Bela Tarr retrospective and seeing his 7-hour-plus masterpiece "Satantango" several times, Marx Brothers comedies, French New Wave classics by Agnes Varda, the residency of Pedro Costa from Portugal, the restored and uncut "Ludwig" from Luchino Visconti, many films introduced by former director Edith Kramer, Hollywood melodramas and epics, programmer Kathy Geritz's series devoted to Lithuania's Sarunas Barta, and this year current director Susan Oxtoby's monumental look at Georgian cinema.

I asked communications director Peter Cavagnaro for details on how long the "temporary" theater was in operation on the Cal campus and an approximate number of flicks shown:

"We started showing film at the 2575 Bancroft Way PFA Theater location in September 1999. We were the first official tenants of that structure. We show anywhere from 380-420 screenings/year. I'd estimate we have hosted around 6,000 or so screenings in the space. The new theater will be awesome. Trust me. No one will be disappointed."

Like many Bay Area cineastes, I anticipate spending a lot of time at the new facility after it opens in January 2016. I will miss seeing longtime house manager Becky Mertens running the box office and coordinating the work-study students. She's been let go and my video is dedicated to her. Becky made the PFA theater a welcoming environment and a warm home for movie buffs to spend an afternoon or evening.

Here's my video of some of the events that took place on Saturday, August 1st, of the final weekend on campus. It was a blast to be there with fellow movie-lovers, the fabulous PFA crew, and to hear Victor Erice discuss his Spanish classic "The Spirit of the Beehive" and then see a beautiful print of it.

See you at the new PFA theater in 2016!

Drunks Barred From Peeing at SF Firehouses - Signage Needed

My successful campaign persuading the San Francisco Fire Department to allow the homeless and general public have access to taxpayer-funded toilets isn't over yet.

I recently stopped by the firehouse on Sanchez Street, right off Market in the Castro, in need of relieving myself. The firefighters on duty were totally unaware of the new toilet access policy but were happy to allow me to use their restroom.

Last week, the fire commission secretary, Maureen Conefrey, shared with me a memo from Mark Gonzalez, deputy chief of operations, stating:

"If the member of the public requesting to use the facility is inebriated or altered in any way, they shall not be allowed to use the restroom facility."

Given the high number of homeless and housed folks in this City on a substance or two, this restriction sure could prevent many people from accessing the firehouse toilets when they really, really need to pee. Let's hope the firefighters don't adhere too strictly to the memo's rules.

Separate from the rules, we need Chief Joanne Hayes-White and Mayor Lee's homeless coordinator Bevan Dufty holding a few highly-publicized events at firehouse, raising much-needed awareness about the toilet access expansion.

I recommend the City spend a few bucks on metal signage to be installed at every firehouse, detailing the days and times when toilets are available for public usage. What benefit to the public health is there if only a handful of folks are aware of toilet access via SFFD facilities?

Currently, all facilities advertise they're safe surrender sites for unwanted infants. I'm not sure how many mothers drop off their babies at firehouses, but such signage is a good example of what toilet access signs should look like.

Ileus is What Ails Me & September Surgery Set

My recent major health challenges stem from a new ailment known as ileus, which is when the digestive mechanism moving stool isn't functioning. 

One of my three medical appointments yesterday was with my long-term gasto-intestinal specialist, Dr. Robert Elsen. He explained that I'm to stick with a diet higher in fiber, which has long included large fiber intake, daily stool softeners and a new tasteless laxative drink, plenty of prunes and yogurt, and a whole lotta rest.

All these elements equaled several bowel movements in the past 48-hours, the first in two-weeks, and no cramps. Every step to wellness leads to another.

Asking for a step-by-step recount of the colonoscopy and removal of clogged stool causing the bloating, Elsen told me my rectum was numbed, a tube inserted and the stool was vacuumed. He and the assistant watched my stomach deflate and lose the painful, knotted tension.

Great to know this, but sure wish I had been awake for the fun anal activity and able to enjoy the stimulation of it all!

At my bariatric clinic consultation, I was informed that the gastric by-pass surgery long-scheduled for September 8th was proceeding. This mean I begin a two-week liquid diet, heavy on soluble fiber, starting this Tuesday to reduce my fatty liver as much as possible making the operation and healing afterward easier all around.

Mike is the best caregiver and today we cooked up a huge pot of beets together, and reveled with each other at all the excellent news and wellness developments for both of us ageing gay men living with AIDS. I've not felt ready to remove my hospital wrist band, I say because the blue matches my skin so well. Go figure.

A hearty thank you to everyone who's communicated with us in recent days, and wish us well, and also shared details about your own health needs and conditions. Your reaching out keeps us connected to our social support circles and is one additional way of taking care of ourselves.

Hope you are well and enjoying the weekend.

Chron's Saunders & I Blocked on DA's Govt-Funded Twitter Acct

There is not a whole lot that I have in common with the SF Chronicle's resident conservative columnist Debra J. Saunder, but today I learned we're both on DA George Gascon's blocked list on his taxpayer-funded Twitter account. He's such an ambitious Latino, Democratic, law-and-order political animal clawing his way up the food chain and also possesses a very thin skin. Not a man to trust.

Today, a San Jose based open govt advocate named Angela Greben contacted me with this info:

"I'm posting results to public records requests on my blog. I'm asking public officials and agencies (so far just in CA) about who is on their Twitter block/mute list. George Gascon's office responded to my request yesterday and I'm going to publish it soon.

"What I noticed is that the majority of people on his block list have only ever made one comment to him and they got blocked as a result. Their comments were simple criticisms of him or his office.

"However, you were the one exception to the rule. I've noticed you've posted numerous tweets, some of which would have gotten other's blocked, but have managed to stay unblocked (no one is on his mute list)."

Check out Gerben's blog post on Gascon using his govt-funded Twitter account to stifle the arrival of criticism directed at his eyeballs. Blocking by electeds on their official accounts is equal to telling the postal service not to deliver snail mail letters, while also preventing this and other taxpayers from viewing his tweets.

4 ER Visits & 4 Days in Hospital & Still No Answers

I've had quite a few major health challenges in the past two weeks. Here's the background and latest info.

1. On August 10th, the attending physician at Davies ER diagnosed my cough as either early pneumonia or bronchitis, prescribed a regimen of bactrim and discharged me. My bowel movements grew less frequent, odd, given that bactrim can cause diarrhea. By August 14, I was back at the same ER with a more pronounced hacking. Had to fight for a new x-ray and the doc said it was certainly pneumonia, gave me prescriptions for levaquin and cough suppressant with codeine.

2. The doctors and nurses started to blend together, making it harder to remember all the details they tell me. Various x-rays and scans and tests are not showing any blockage in my colon. On August 15, symptoms are worse and I'm back at at the ER with stomach pain. Doc prescribes norco 5, which causes constipation but alleviates my pain. Finally, on August 16, with Mike at my side, the ER folks finally admit me into the hospital.

3. My hospital stay starts with an IV to deal with the dehydration. Staff is unsure how to solve my stomach blockage but to keep me pain-free, I'm kept on the norco 5. If I'm awake and not spaced out, I can't find a comfortable position sitting in a chair or lying in bed. My roommate is a handsome young gay Portuguese-American. When he has energy, he's on the phone speaking in Portuguese and it's the most musical sound bringing me significant calm and comfort.

4. Thank goodness over the years I've received a lot of care at Sutter Health's Davies Campus's ER. This means my main doc in hospital, a mature Romanian with an Old World comportment and temperament, has scads of data to look over, trying to help me. His prognosis that the lung troubles are not pneumonia but stem from the blocked bowels gets me off bactrim and levaquin. 

5. On August 18, Dr. Robert Elsen, a gastro-intestinal expert I've seen over the years, performs a colonoscopy and while the results show no blockage, good news, we have no answers behind the problem or how to return me to wellness. While under knocked-out, my bowels are finally moved and my stomach no longer knotted in pain when I wake up. So many doctor and nurses and tests and drugs and questions and still no clue what's causing the obstruction.

6. Yesterday, August, 19, I was discharged and given two new prescriptions and can't recall what they're for. At my request the hospital provided me with a thick stack of papers about the ER visits and hospital stay, doctors' notes, lab results. Mike and I took a taxi home and it was so great to be back in our apartment. I followed doctor's orders, ate a small even meal including a dozen prunes, drank a robust amount of psyllium, took two stool softeners, and went to bed. 

7. Sure wish that my seventh note was good news but had night sweats so badly I had to change my tee shirt and underwear twice last night, and there's been no bowel movement this morning. Well, actually, I do have good news, of a sort. Tomorrow, I have an appointment at my UCSF positive clinic in the late morning and then a late afternoon appointment with Dr. Elsen. Let's hope for some solutions!

SF Ex's Writer's Mailbag Plagiarizes My Toilet Access Post

Stuart Schuffman, alias Broke Ass Stuart, is running for mayor of San Francisco I've lately laughed at how he's also a lazy ass when it comes to addressing a reader of his plagiarizing from my blog. Some history is needed.

The SF Examiner gives Stuart space every Wednesday for him to opine on various subjects and recently he developed an interest in expanding toilet access. You may recall, I successfully lobbied the Department of Public Health, the SF Fire Department and the mayor's homeless czar Bevan Dufty over four-months to open and publicize the availability of restrooms at firehouses.

(Click to enlarge!)

At his blog on August 7, in response to his two Examiner columns about public toilets, a reader wrote in and totally plagiarized from my May 30 blog post regarding the City expanding toilet access at firehouses.

Over last weekend, I tweeted and emailed Stuart and didn't hear from him until Monday. Here's our exchange:

Stuart: "Sorry, I was at Outside Lands all weekend. Would you like me to go in and link to your article on the post?"

MP: "Yes, that would be a good start and I hope you'll give some context to my months of work on expanding toilet access in SF at taxpayer-funded buildings."

Stuart: "Cool! Please send me what you want included and I will make the edit."

MP: "Huh? After two days of ignoring my tweets and emails about your reader's plagiarism, and using the lame ass excuse of being at the concerts, which didn't stop you from tweeting, you're asking me to address the plagiarism? You have a few folks keeping your site going and an election team, so I think you should call on them if you're too lazy or busy to address this matter. Also, you might say a word of thanks for my efforts to expand toilet access at the fire houses."

Why he couldn't write his own explanation about the plagiarism of a reader, link to my original post and do what the City officials did, thank me for my advocacy increasing the public's access to toilet is something Stuart may want to address. His page with the plagiarism, which I copied, omits a note from him about all this.

This is Stuart's reply to his reader:

"Thanks so much for the footwork on this one and for passing it on to us. It ultimately seems like the destiny of one’s bladder or colon may lie in whomever is on duty at the time, but this is definitely a resource I can guarantee most people have no idea exists, least of all people who lack housing, much less the ability to receive inter-office memorandums from Chief Hayes-White."

Damn, if only Stuart would use his weekly Examiner column to publicize the toilet access at firehouses and call on the City to greatly promote this change by the fire department, I would be inclined to no longer call him Lazy Ass Stuart.

Donald Trump Like$ Willie & Jerry & Kamala & Gavin

Let's follow the political money today in San Francisco and at the California state level.

The San Francisco Ethics Commission's search engine lists a single donation from Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. He gave $500 to Willie Brown in 1999 for his mayoral reelection campaign and Brown is now a columnist at the SF Chronicle and lobbyist for various businesses.

From the Secretary of State's web site, we learn that Trump donated $3,500 from 2004-2006 to Jerry Brown's campaign for attorney general, but hasn't given money for his runs for governor.

Also receiving Trump dollars was Kamala Harris in her efforts for the attorney general's office. She accepted $6,000 from Trump from 2011 to 2013.

And Trump gave Gavin Newsom $2,500 in 2009 for his aborted race for governor and to his credit, Newsom gave that amount to an immigrant rights organizations and denounced Trump's racist rants.

I've not found anything on the web about either Brown or Harris washing their hands clean of Trump money and you know otherwise, please lemme know and I'll amend this post.

Obama Rep Reviews HRC's Griffin's Emails at Clinton Library? 

In May 2014, the Clinton Presidential Library of Little Rock informed me it had 22,000-plus pages of responsive public records found potentially related to Chad Griffin who worked in the White House when Bill and Hillary were running the Oval Office. Since then, Griffin's become the president of the Human Rights Campaign and is considered a rising gay Democratic leader.

Now, fourteen-months later, I've followed up with the presidential library trying to find out when I might receive documents. Long story short, not any time soon according to Dana Simmons, the supervisory archivist there, who said:

"We process FOIA requests using a first in/first out multi-track queue system. We do have a processing backlog. I can estimate it will take from three to six months before your FOIA request is available for research. FOIA requests received by the Clinton Library are processed and reviewed for access under provisions of the FOIA and are subject to 44 U.S.C. §§2201-2207, which require that we notify the representatives of the former President and the incumbent President prior to the release of any Presidential records. Once processing and notification is complete we will contact you. We appreciate your continued patience."

First, I wouldn't put it past Bill and Hillary to keep the number of archivists and FOIA processors low, extending the lag-time for release of emails and other files, at the library.

Second, I was unaware that the former and current present presidents' reps need to review potential releasable public records to me, further lengthening how long it will take to maybe eventually receive records from or about Griffin.

Third and final point. Anyone care to wager we won't see any of Griffin's White House emails and other files on him till after the 2016 election?

All this is a reminder I share with anyone who asks my advice about filing a FOIA. Don't delay and file today because it's rare to have a quick release of responsive public records from the federal government.

NYT Credits Blog as Source; Hello, SF Chronicle?

As the San Francisco Chronicle continues to lose readers, I wish to remind its editors and reporters that my husband and I are among their dwindling number of folks who buy the publication and read it on newsprint.

A few days ago, I took Chronicle "journalist" C.W. Nevius to task for stealing from my blog, info about the University of San Francisco and Bill Cosby's honorary degree and how the school scrubbed their site, facts I reported last week.

This week, over at the SF Examiner, crime and politics reporter Jonah Owen Lamb broke the story about lawyers for Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow revealing corruption on the part of Mayor Ed Lee and a federal case implicating Assemblyman David Chiu and Supervisor London Breed.

Of course, the Chronicle omitted mention of their competitor scooping them and on Twitter, @AztlanConnect pointed out who was first to report the Shrimp Boy and Ed Lee news. Nice to see others holding the Hearst-owned paper to some standards.

Yesterday, August 6th, Michael Cooper of the New York Times wrote about the Met Opera ending the practice of white male singing donning blackface when performing the title role in "Otello". Cooper wrote: "The decision not to use makeup in the actual production was first reported on the website Hyperallergic."

Imagine that. A legacy media outlet giving proper due to an online news source. There is a very important journalistic lesson here for the SF Chronicle, but will they learn from their counterparts at the Times?

Queering Marine's PTSD Mental Health Hikes: Signs Now!

[This open letter is being shared on various Facebook pages of USMC folks taking action combating Marine suicides.]

Awright,

Listen up, all you devil dogs suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder who served with the Marines and are preparing to march on a weekend, shirtless and wearing only silkies, strong sunblock, hats and boots. As a queer dude of a certain age who lived through the AIDS plague and lost loved ones to AIDS-related PTSD and learned a few lesson in the social change group ACT UP, I've got a constructive suggestions for you.

While my queer eye soaks up images of beefy Marine veterans who hiked around San Diego and Houston recently focusing a light on the average of 22 veteran suicides daily, and I look forward to more pics of hunks crossing my monitor, you should do more to send messages when you march. My suggestions:

1. Create better imagery. I wanna see you holding signs and using social and legacy media to get your demands out there. This photo of me follows a rule I was taught as a gay activist. Create imagery that doesn't need a caption. Here I hold a sign reading "PTSD Kills 22 vet daily! V.A. mental health services needed now!" Get my point?

2. Gimme images of former Marines hitting the streets with posters stating the names of comrades lost to suicide or promoting online community-building via the hashtag #IrreverentWarriors. Include pics of deceased buddies and family members.

3. The armed forces now include queers except transgender soldiers, which should soon change. It would send a powerfully inclusive message displaying a rainbow flag at your next "22, with 22, for the 22" marches. Even if there are no openly gay veterans marching, you can still carry the LGBT Pride Flag in solidarity.

3. Stage actions at Veterans Administration health care and administrative facilities. They're everywhere. You would feed two birds with one seed. Taking your shirts off and carrying posters regarding PTSD health ramifications equals activism and mental health, while generating images with clear messages to VA executives to fully meet all of your needs.

4. Veterans's Day is just over three-months away. Marches on the VA headquarters in Washington, DC, and all VA facilities across America could transform into a force the government cannot ignore. How about "11/11/15 = 22/22/22" as your rallying cry to action in November?

5. Finally, keep up the activism and having rowdy gatherings and building community and sharing all the woofy photos, and get in touch with me when you're in San Francisco for a good time!

Now, a few of my fave dudes and photos from the Houston action.

Appealing to my queer eye but damn, I wish the dude held a poster reading, 

"Vet with PTSD? Join #IrreverentWarriors!"

I gotta hang out at this bar. What's the address?

A black Marine vet hitting the streets and wearing his dog-tags.

This Marine sure likes using a metal chain as a prop.

I don't know if they're straight or gay, but the dudes sure are acting queer!

Been maimed and lost a limb in warfare? Forget the keg of brew. Sip from the leg of beer.

How do I sign up to be the guy to inspect the inner thighs of marchers?

Sure, I'm a vegan but occasionally I like a slab of beef.

Bedroom eyes, beefy and inked around the belly-button. Yeah!

Sup. Breed & DA Gascon to SF Taxpayers: Drop Dead

I have two open complaints before the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force, one each pertaining to the calendars of Supervisor London Breed and District Attorney George Gascon.

Neither has been forthcoming with genuine and detailed daily work calendars, and the SOTF was waiting for the revised law requiring the Supervisors to fall under the existing statute mandating that they, like department heads such as the DA, keep and release calendars. That law went into effect on July 1.

Breed has had more than a month to prepare for the release of her June and July calendars, but as we've seen in the past when she's offered up "my dog ate my hard drive" excuses for withholding or setting extreme hindrances, she's still doing all she can to keep her calendar out of public view.

My immediate disclosure request this week to Breed, which requires City officials to provide the responsive records within ten business days, generated this lame response:

"As you can see on the Board of Supervisor’s website, the Board is in recess from July 29 to August 31, 2015, and the next regularly scheduled meeting is September 8, 2015. As such, you will receive a response after September 8, 2015."

There is no provision in the calendar sunshine law exempting Supervisors from meeting their legal requirements merely because they're in recess. It's not as though Breed and her three paid staffers are off visiting Pluto and no one is in her office. Actually, since there are no Supervisors' meetings now, Breed has plenty of time to comply with my request.

With DA Gascon, his public info flack Alex Bastian was instructed by the SOTF in no uncertain terms to have his boss end the habit of listing absolutely no events on the majority of dates of his calendar. When there were listings, they overwhelmingly were for media interviews in his office or at a studio. An ambitious politician has to keep the press happy and Gascon enjoys seeing his mug on TV and splashed across news sites.

Isn't this something? The DA's calendar is kept on paper, not electronically.

Instead of blank days per his custom, Gascon now states on the majority of days: "All day: DA to conduct meetings in office." Meetings with political consultants, members of his staff, schmoozing with donors or interior decorators? He's not divulging such pesky details.

When he does put details on the calendar, it's usually for working the media and on those days interviews are the only listing. No meetings take up the rest of his day apparently.

A 1999 ballot measure passed by the taxpayers mandated the DA maintain a calendar with details about who he meets with and the topics discussed. For Gascon, he can't be bothered with the pesky sunshine laws that apply directly to him.

When it comes to their calendars, Breed and Gascon with hold the public records and resist every effort to have them comply with the law. The message from Breed and Gascon to San Francisco taxpayers on calendars is drop dead.

SF Chron's Bill Cosby Item Stole Info From My Blog?

[UPDATE: See note below from a Chron education reporter.]

Since December, I've been keeping tabs on the University of San Francisco's non-action regarding their relationship with and honorary degree they conferred on Bill Cosby in 2012. On July 26, after getting a tip from USF alumni Noah Zimmerman that the school had scrubbed the content of their page about the Cosby degree ceremony, I blogged about the scrubbing after the school's PR director gave me a comment.

To my delight, one of my critics, the blogger behind SF Citizen, Jim Herd, credited me with holding the USF folks accountable and further spanked the school's non-action regarding Cosby and his association with them.

Imagine my surprise seeing San Francisco Chronicle "journalist" and part-time stenographer for Scott Wiener, C.W. Nevius, had as his lead item today the fact that USF's post about giving Cosby the degree has vanished from their site. Nevius writes: "Local residents are asking pointed questions about what USF plans to do about it."

Who might those local residents be? Nevius doesn't say and it's one reason why the word journalist when applied to him must be in quotes. In his column, Nevius fulfills his Wiener steno duties by mentioning him again in the most favorable light.

I've traded emails with the Chronicle's education reporter Nanette Asimov and just last week made her aware of the USF scrubbing. She didn't get anything into print and I wonder if she passed along my blogging to Nevius. Sorry, but I don't believe that the scrubbing info fell from the sky into Nevius' lap.

Nevius and how he practices his trade is a prime reason why I believe San Francisco journalism continues to decline ever lower. The Chronicle should learn to properly credit bloggers and other sources.

UPDATE:

This came my way from Asimov and I wrote back saying I wouldn't remove her previous emails and her latest was going to be shared. Today's b.s. with Nevius is not the first time the Chronicle has stolen from my blog and all of the paper's reporters and editors should rethink their policy regarding properly crediting sources. That is, if they give a damn about journalistic integrity.

Beefy Marines' Pix for PTSD & Diseased AIDS Pariahs

During the HIV plague years in the American gay community, a group of irreverent queer poz dudes created a magazine called Diseased Pariah News as one way of processing their fears, hopes for better treatments and longer lives, and deep wells of anger. I supported my cohorts by buying and sharing the publication. Reading it sure alleviated a few of my mental knots and reduced personal stress, because it was nasty humor hitting raw nerves.

On July 25th, down in San Diego, a group of Marines named Irreverent Warriors and some of their allies brought attention to the suicides of servicemembers from post-traumatic stress disorder. An estimated 22 veterans and active-duty personnel take their own lives every day.

The beefy and skinny guys created a hike and carried 22 kilograms on their backs over a 22 kilometer route to symbolized the 22 military lives daily lost to PTSD-related suicides.

Needless to say, these irreverent fellas had a high number of gay sets of eyeballs, mine included, checking out their images over social media leading up and after the "22, With 22, For the 22" march and partying afterward. Thanks for doing all the activities!

A solid pat on the strong backs of the Irreverent Warriors to organizing themselves, making important social health messages, inspiring hope for themselves and other vets, and sharing their thoughts and bodies on the web. Some constructive suggestions, humorous and serious, for the guys.

At your next action, be sure to include signage so your photos deliver the beef and drive home your message about stopping suicides. Via social media, provide phone numbers, web sites, physical locations and email addresses of resources for folks facing mental challenges and thinking of committing suicide.

Since you like showing skin and arousing hormone levels, consider removing your silkies and showing butts and balls. Find local glory holes and get sexual healing busting nutt. Remember the benefits of medical marijuana for lessening the effects of PTSD.

I've gathered my fave pics and present them here, that please my queer eye, along with a few irreverent comments.

This dude is wearing too much clothing on the poster recruiting participants for the hike.

What a lucky guy, assigned to kneel down and inspect the thighs of hikers.

Nice bulge, soldier boy.

Can you tell that this dude really appeals to my queer eye?

Work those nipples harder and see if any milk comes out.

Glad the bar for the party lacked air-conditioning.

Time for pit inspection and appreciation!

Pull down the shorts and let's see if the butt is inked.

Some men have the best cum-shot looks.

How do I apply to be the man to rub sunblock on the Marines next time?

Gotta get the name of this air-condition-less bar and pay it a visit.

Hike organizer Donny O'Malley needs lessons in creating a glory hole booth with holes!

How can we inspect the pits when you're wearing a backpack?