News: Schwarzenegger Veto, HIV, Uganda, Pharrell Williams Stalker

· California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoes a bill that would have made Harvey Milk’s birthday a statewide “day of significance,” insisting it should “continue to be recognized at the local level.” Anti-gay and conservative groups supported Schwarzenegger’s veto.

Milk, the nation's first openly gay man to hold prominent political office, was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. One year later, Milk and Mayor George Moscone were shot to death by fellow supervisor Dan White.

· Schwarzenegger did, however, sign a bill into law (AB 1894) that requires health care plans operating in the state to pay for routine HIV testing. According to the California Office of AIDS, about 40,000 Californians are HIV-positive but are not aware of their status.

· Study: The AIDS virus "has been circulating among people for about 100 years, decades longer than scientists had thought. Genetic analysis pushes the estimated origin of HIV back to between 1884 and 1924, with a more focused estimate at 1908. Previously, scientists had estimated the origin at around 1930. AIDS wasn’t recognized formally until 1981 when it got the attention of public health officials in the United States."

· An employee of Sean Combs' Sean John brand is disciplined for cyber stalking rapper, fashionista, designer and super producer Pharrell Williams: "The unnamed wannabe music star reportedly stole Pharrell’s contact details from their employer and started sending emails to the star asking to work with him. Eventually the NERD frontman traced the begging emails back to P Diddy’s office.The staff member was disciplined by the company, although Diddy was apparently not aware of the issue."

· Financial bailout? "Congressional leaders from both parties said they were hopeful that a new version of the rescue plan could be cleared late this week after its stunning defeat that sparked a historic sell-off on Monday" Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain are expected to return to Washington and vote for the bill.

· Sarah Palin's approval ratings plummet. Before McCain chose the Alaska governor as a running mate, Palin "had an 82 percent approval rating in her state. Since then, however, [her] approval rating has dropped to 68 percent. Support stayed steady with Republicans, but dropped 24 points with Democrats and 18 points with independents."

· Complaints of racial profiling rapidly multiply in Seattle. The president of the Seattle-King County branch of the NAACP held a news conference to cite numerous "instances of unequal and disrespectful law enforcement targeting black youth. One example: [Marcus] Whitehurst, who is black, was pushed up against the patrol car, told he was nothing but 'garbage' and advised that he was 'not welcome in this neighborhood.' His white friends were allowed to stand there, untouched."

· Anti-gay bishops, Uganda welcomes you! Christian bishops from around the world meet in Uganda as part of a movement "that threatens to split the 70-million-strong Anglican Church. ... The conservative anti-gay clergy formed the Global Anglican Future Conference Movement (GAFCON) in 2008 after the mainstream Anglican church refused to condemn the 2003 consecration of [openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson.]. 'We are telling people in homosexual relations that we appreciate you as human beings, but it's not a rightful relation,' GAFCON chairperson and Nigerian Archbishop Nicholas Okoh told Deutsche Presse. 'The right relationship is that between a man and a woman.' "

Comments

[Shabaka]

Well pardon my stupidity but if the AIDS virus was among chimpanzees since the dawn of time how is it that it only got transfered to humans in the 19th century? I mean SOME Africans had been eating chimps for the longest time afterall.

On a brighter note, I got an idea about what could be done to those attending the Kampala conference on homosexuality.

[worst_1_yet]

So...uh...the Pharrell crush is a couple of days old, huh?

Who is the kid so desperate to meet him, and what happened to him/her?

Sounds like a publicity stunt perpetrated for Das Diddy's "new" "reality" "show," available on basic cable, eh?

[Tony]

Not even sure what that comment above means ....

Moving along, that was a very ugly move on Arnold Schwarzengger's part. I suppose he is trying to curry favor with conservatives due to this push for a recall.