FollowUp on Earlier Post

Gay advocates win victory at UN

ANITA SNOW

UNITED NATIONS— The Associated Press

Published Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2010 12:37AM EST

Last updated Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2010 1:07PM EST

Gay-rights advocates scored a hard-fought victory at the United Nations Tuesday when member states restored a reference to sexual orientation, dropped last month from a resolution opposing the unjustified killing of minority groups.

The removal of the reference, at the urging of African and Arab countries, alarmed human-rights advocates, who said gay people are among minority groups that need special protection from extrajudicial and other unjustified slayings.

It's about time...Obama repeals "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

From Salon:

Editor: Steve Kornacki

Updated: Today

Topic:

Don't Ask Don't Tell

Wednesday, Dec 22, 2010 10:35 ET

It's official: Obama signs "don't ask" repeal

With the stroke of his pen, the president does away with the 16-year-old policy

By PAULINE JELINEK, Associated Press

• 
  

Declaring that members of the military will no longer be asked to lie, President Barack Obama fulfilled a campaign promise Wednesday and signed a landmark law repealing the ban on gay men and women serving openly in the armed services.

"This is a good day," a beaming Obama said. "This is a very good day."

The service chiefs must complete implementation plans before lifting the old policy -- and they must certify to lawmakers that it won't damage combat readiness, as critics charge.

But the signing ceremony was a breakthrough moment for the nation's gay community, the military and for Obama himself. The president vowed during his 2008 campaign to repeal the law and faced pressure from liberals who complained he was not acting swiftly enough.

For Obama, it was the second high-profile bill signing ceremony within a week. On Friday, he signed into a law a tax package he negotiated with Republicans that extended Bush-era tax rates for two more years, cut payroll taxes and ensured jobless benefits to the unemployed for another year.

The two events, however, could not have been more different in tone.

The tax deal divided Democrats and forced Obama to accept extensions of tax cuts for the wealthiest, a step he had promised to not take. With Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell at his side, Obama seemed dutiful and subdued.

The signing of the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" had the feel of a political rally. Speaking in the Interior Department's auditorium, Obama appeared in his element as shouts of "Thank you, Mr. President!" interrupted him.

Obama hailed the "courage and vision" of Defense Secretary Robert Gates and praised Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen, who advocated changing the 17-year-old policy.

"No longer will tens of thousands of Americans in uniform be asked to live a lie, or look over their shoulder in order to serve the country that they love," Obama said.

New survey sheds light on what's really going on with sexual behaviour

Sex Researchers Ask Americans About Their Last 'Event'

October 4, 2010

by Scott Hensley

iStockphoto.com

What's going on in there, America?

If you go out with friends and have a few drinks, maybe somebody will get up the nerve to ask, "So, how was the last time you had sex?"

Researchers at Indiana University just surveyed Americans, asking, essentially, that question of about 1,900 people who'd had sex in the last year.

But the academics sure have a long-winded, drink-free way of doing it. To them, "event-level sexual repertoire" is who did what to whom. And "experience evaluation" is how it felt.

So what did the researchers find out? First, they confirmed some things you probably knew already.

• Men kid themselves about how often their female partners have orgasms. Guys figure 85 percent do. Women say it's more like 64 percent.
• As they get older, men have more trouble achieving and maintaining erections. Even so, only about 8 percent of men aged 50-59 (the group with the most trouble) reported taking a pill like Viagra to help.
• The more different kinds of behavior a couple engaged in during sex, the more likely each partner was to have an orgasm.

Some of the thought-proving findings:

• Men had better sex (greater arousal and pleasure, with fewer problems) when it was with their relationship partner. The researchers say this may be due to older men with erection difficulties being more comfortable with established partners.
• Women, on the other hand, reported more trouble with arousal and lubrication if their sexual partners were people they were in relationships with.

Oh, and one other thing, "friends with benefits" aren't just for young people. Nearly 17 percent of men aged 50-59 reported their last sexual experience was with a friend, compared with 13 percent for those 18-24. The trend was reversed for women, with 16 percent of younger ones, aged 18-24, saying their last sexual experience was with a friend, compared with nearly 10 percent for those aged 50-59.

For the full results, see the paper provocatively titled (to sexologists), "An Event-Level Analysis of the Sexual Characteristics and Composition Among Adults Ages 18 to 59: Results from National Probability Sample in the United States" in the Journal of Sexual Medicine.

The inquiry is part of a larger national survey, one of the largest in two decades, that documented sexual experiences of nearly 6,000 people between the ages of 14 and 94.

In case you were wondering, the work was funded by Church & Dwight, maker of Arm & Hammer baking soda, Trojan condoms and First Response pregnancy tests.