Month: October 2009

Enduring America analyzes Ahmadinejad's speech on negotiations:

That is not a rejection of discussions with the “West”; it is an embrace of them. But it is an embrace based on the premise that the US and other countries have knocked at Tehran’s door, gone down on bended knee, and asked forgiveness. Iran is no longer an international outsider; it is an accepted nuclear power.

…[G]iven Ahmadinejad’s position, the political advantages of spinning out the talks are there to be grasped. If there are alterations in the plan to reduce the amount shipped below 80 percent and to send it out in stages rather than in one delivery, these will be concession to Iran’s and the President’s strength. If the “West” walks away from the table, this will be an indication of their continuing deceptions and mistakes — despite their apparent request for forgiveness from Tehran — and Iran will be in the right as it maintains nuclear sovereignty.

Of course, there will be pressure in the US Congress for sanctions (the House of Representatives, despite the ongoing talks, has already passed a measure for tougher economic restrictions). Those, however, are President Obama’s worry, as Russia and China are unlikely to give any support for multilateral steps.

That's the CBO's assessment. Ezra explains why. And worries.

John Cole thinks that some of my criticism of the president has been unreasonable:

I have no problem with people being mad that Obama has not issued a statement about the marriage equality issue in the state of Maine. I think he could and should do more, and won’t say a peep about people flaming the WH for not doing more. On the other hand, I think you are an insane crazy person if you flip out like Steve Clemons because Obama’s HRC speech was not up fast enough on the White House web site on a Saturday night.

I think you have lost your shit when you insist that the WH house release a list identifying all the gay people who came to a ceremony (maybe the WH can also demand they wear pink triangles on their jackets!). I think you have lost your ability to reason if you spend an entire day hyperventilating because the President did not use the word “gay” at a ceremony for hate crimes legislation that covers EVERYONE. I think you have serious issues if you point to an unsourced anonymous quote from John Harwood and then boldly announce to the world that the WH hates gays.

John misses the history here. There's a reason to be leery of a Democratic president who says he's for equality but actually isn't. John was not a gay activist under Clinton. A great deal of the anxiety right now is because we don't want to be played like that again. Yes, some small nitpicks get out of proportion. But here's some proportion: it does matter a little if the president refuses to use the g-word when signing legislation whose major component is to protect gays; it does matter if a White House source badmouths an entire civil rights march for being losers. Not much: but some. 

And the point is that such criticism is also leavened with praise when merited. Like in the HIV Travel Ban.

John worries he may be being too soft on Obama as he believes he was on Bush. That's a fair worry. But some of us have other worries: that we will be too soft on Obama the way so many were with Clinton. The past haunts us. It also explains us.

Pisa, Italy, 6.20 pm

In time for Halloween, Treehugger guides us:

New research published in the online journal PLoS ONE demonstrates for the first time that a non-human adult animal species regularly engages in oral sex behavior. While the behavior has been seen in juvenile animals before, this is the first time it has been observed in adult animals.

Though it has been observed previously in bonobos (both heterosexually and homosexually), this behavior generally has been confined to juvenile animals, the authors of the new study note. The field research, which was conducted in Guangzhou City, China, reveals that in the case of the greater short-nosed fruit bat (Cynopterus sphinx) female species-on-male species oral sex now has been documented as a regular occurrence. Scientists observed that in instances where oral sex was performed, copulation time increased.

Or how something the Vatican regards as intrinsically evil is actually hardwired to enable something intrinsically good. The details are somewhat alien to human experience:

The short-nosed fruit bat Cynopterus sphinx exhibits resource defence polygyny and one sexually active male often roosts with groups of females in tents made from leaves. Female bats often lick their mate's penis during dorsoventral copulation. The female lowers her head to lick the shaft or the base of the male's penis but does not lick the glans penis which has already penetrated the vagina. Males never withdrew their penis when it was licked by the mating partner. A positive relationship exists between the length of time that the female licked the male's penis during copulation and the duration of copulation. Furthermore, mating pairs spent significantly more time in copulation if the female licked her mate's penis than if fellatio was absent. Males also show postcopulatory genital grooming after intromission.

His remarks:

A couple of years ago Michelle and I were in Africa and we tried to combat the stigma when we were in Kenya by taking a public HIV/AIDS test.  And I'm proud to announce today we're about to take another step towards ending that stigma. Twenty-two years ago, in a decision

rooted in fear rather than fact, the United States instituted a travel ban on entry into the country for people living with HIV/AIDS.  Now, we talk about reducing the stigma of this disease — yet we've treated a visitor living with it as a threat.  We lead the world when it comes to helping stem the AIDS pandemic — yet we are one of only a dozen countries that still bar people from HIV from entering our own country.If we want to be the global leader in combating HIV/AIDS, we need to act like it.

And that's why, on Monday my administration will publish a final rule that eliminates the travel ban effective just after the New Year.  Congress and President Bush began this process last year, and they ought to be commended for it.  We are finishing the job.  It's a step that will encourage people to get tested and get treatment, it's a step that will keep families together, and it's a step that will save lives. 

This is a real achievement. It will endure as a small but critical part of this administration's legacy on HIV and civil rights and human dignity. It really is change – and it took Obama to finish it off. Many of us will remember it for the rest of our lives.

(Photo: US President Barack Obama signs the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009 in the Diplomatic Reception room at the White House in Washington, DC, on October 30, 2009. By Jewel Samad/Getty.)

The president just announced that as of Monday, the ban on HIV-positive visitors, tourists and immigrants will formally come to an end. There are 60 days before the new rule comes into effect. But after that, people with HIV will be treated in exactly the same way as any other person with a serious illness – according to science, not politics, and following the logic of reason, not fear.

The ban has been in existence for 22 years, pioneered by Jesse Helms, resisted by the first Bush, signed into law by Bill Clinton, legislatively repealed by George W. Bush and now administratively ended by Barack Obama. In an age when bipartisanship is out of fashion, the repeal was led by Gordon Smith and John Kerry, with backing from many Republicans and Democrats. The work of staffers – Rob Epplin and Alex Nunez, in particular – was invaluable. The support of Immigration Equality was vital. The lobbying of HRC was an important late development. The readers of the Dish also helped raise awareness of this and emailed Congress to move it forward. It means a huge amount to many people unknown to you and me but struggling in ways you and I cannot truly imagine. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

For me, it is the end of 16 years of profound insecurity. Like many others, my application for permanent residence and citizenship can go forward. And I will be able to see my family again in England and know that my HIV will not force me to choose between my husband and the country I have come to call my home. There is no price to be put on that.

Goes to this guy and this guy.