At least not in NYC, according to the Daily News.  Dylan, a 24 year old promotional model-turned-Manhattan prostitute, explains why she's not having to save coupons in this economy:

"The market is down, business is down, but we feel it less.  We're still busy.  If men are horny, they're going to come in here."

Fair enough.  But it should be noted that Madams across the City are having to make adjustments. 

Dylan's employer, Madam Sadie, who runs a pair of prostitution dens north of Wall Street, charges $260 for 60 minutes - or $160 for 30 minutes.

"The $1,000-an-hour girls are just not making it" with the economic downturn, the madam said.

[Photo: Escorts Dylan, Nadia and Sarah by Herman for the Daily News]

Related:

Secrets of a Hipster Hooker

More Sex = Less HIV?... Don't Blame Hookers!!

===============================================================

COMMENT:

From: randallbutisingh@hotmail.com
Subject: RE: South Africa - October 2008
Date: Fri, 10 Oct 2008 13:37:54 -0400
Brian,

It is always a joy to hear from you.  It gives my spirit a lift, my young friend; and also to read the writings of Kristen which are par excellent in content and good journalism.  The first paragraph of "Transitions Inside and Out" is sheer poetry in the beauty of its expression and its appeal to the emotion.

Yes, South Africa is a beautiful country and Capetown one of the most beautiful cities in the world, as far as my  knowledge of Geography goes, and the report I get from family and friends who live there or visit there.  I am glad that you two are enjoying the beautiful landscape and the coolness and salubrity of Spring after a harsh Winter. This ia  great compensation for the onerous duty you are performing and which no transitory material reward can give.

That you have to view portions of the landscape which have been scarred by the vicious system of Apartheid, and the proliferation of the HIV virus and Xenophobia, make it all the more reason why you are there for greater Service and a greater Reward.  Reward , not in the sense that you will be made rich with material goods, but that you will enjoy that which no money can buy, and which is everlasting, but only He can give - Happiness and Peace of mind.
Love and Peace,

Randall
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In managing the HIV Prevention Project since August 2008, I have done a whole lot of planning and research in order to ensure that success was achievable. The success of the Stakeholders Meeting was largely due to my high level of motivation, but I will not dare underestimate the hours that I spent preparing the following documents which also guaranteed my success with the HIV Prevention Advocacy Project--at least from the scientific point of view: Advocacy Plan, Advocacy Monitoring & Evaluation Report, Press Release, Media Advisory, Advocacy Introductory Letter, Stakeholders Meeting Invitation Letter, Advocacy Presentation, Stakeholders Database , Advocacy Meetings via telephone and face-to-face, and Stakeholder Meeting Invitation Cards.

I shared my presentation space with Shellie Ann Anderson a wonderful young woman who I met through the social networking site Facebook, who emerged as Top Recruiter of our Facebook Cause and Group. My Advocacy Presentation focussed on the need to complement HIV Prevention programming with the Internet, specifically Web 2.0 technologies, so as to increase interactivity, inclusiveness, and reaching out to youth through avenues that they are already participating in.

A number of issues were raised by meeting participants, which included the need for the revision of the Jamaica Report Card to reflect changes in the national environment since its publication; the need for it to be sensitive to the culture of Jamaica in terms of the use of terminologies such as: rape, buggery, and cult; and the need for the inclusion of minorities, such as Rastafarians and Musicians in HIV Prevention Programming for Youth.

By the end of the meeting, participants came to consensus that there was need for the following next steps:

1. Update of the Jamaica Report Card (2006),
2. Revise the Draft Youth Declaration to reflect the concerns, recommendations, and gaps articulated by the Stakeholders Meeting participants,
3. Facilitate follow-up meeting with stakeholders, in mid January 2009, who signed the Commitment Form to support the National Working Group (NWG) on HIV Prevention for Youth, and
4. Circulate the revised Youth Declaration to participants who committed to supporting the NWG for their feedback within two weeks subsequent to hosting the Stakeholders Meeting.

Some stakeholders expressed concern about the formation of the NWG, because of their belief that it might represent a duplication of work being done by other working groups and boards, which were formed to oversee HIV/AIDS programming in Jamaica. They reiterated the need for collaboration and partnership as an alternative approach to the formation of an independent NWG.

Positiv leben: Premiere des Films „Jung Positiv inside (JuPo inside)“ in Berlin

Am 13. Oktober stellt die Deutsche AIDS-Hilfe e.V. (DAH) in Berlin das medienpädagogische Filmprojekt „Jung Positiv inside“ (JuPo inside) für junge schwule Männer mit HIV vor. Es ist ein Teilprojekt der DAH-Bundeskampagne „ICH WEISS WAS ICH TU“, die am gleichen Tag startet.

In kreativer Gruppenarbeit und mit individuell gestalteter Entwicklung wurde ein Film basierend auf der Lebenswelt junger schwuler Männer mit HIV realisiert. Hier geht es insbesondere um eine Positionierung zu den Zielen und dem Leitthema der Bundeskampagne „ICH WEISS WAS ICH TU“: z.B. um die Förderung der Solidarität mit und die Integration von Männern, die von HIV und Aids betroffen sind.

Die Ausgestaltung der Filminhalte, die Auswahl der Protagonisten sowie das Drehbuch, die Regieassistenz und die Setauswahl wurden professionell durch carasana Videoproduktion angeleitet und durch ehrenamtliche Mitglieder der Arbeitsgruppe JuPo inside übernommen. Die besonderen Anforderungen im Rahmen einer Filmproduktion mit jungen schwulen aus einer Alters- und Bezugsgruppe – insbesondere in Bezug auf die Vermeidung von Stigmatisierungen und Benachteiligungen im Alltag – wurden individuell und sensibel thematisiert und authentisch umgesetzt.

Die Projektteilnehmer von JuPo inside nutzten die Chance, technische wie auch gestalterische Erfahrungen im Rahmen einer Filmproduktion zu sammeln und ihren eigenen Film zu produzieren. Das entstandene Videoportrait "Positiv leben" lässt den Zuschauer mit den Mitteln der dokumentarischen Erzählweise und der experimentellen Umsetzung hautnah erfahren, was junges Leben im Kontext von HIV ausmacht. Die Filmhandlung bietet die Chance, auch für Außenstehende einen Blick zu riskieren und ein Gefühl zu entwickeln für die Charaktere der Protagonisten, für Empfindungen, Wünsche und Probleme mit HIV und Aids.

Da  ist es wieder (immer noch). Was  DAH und BZgA seit 25 Jahren vergessen besser vernachlässigt haben. Wieder in der Prävention nur junge Schwule und was ist mit den "Alten?"

Sie wurden schon immer von der Prävention vernachlässigt (klar jung zählt heute mehr).

Ich werde mich weiter dafür einsetzen, dass auch Präventionsbotschaften für ältere schwule Männer in der IWWIT-Kampagne ihren Platz finden.

Ich sehe gerade mit der Kampagne vorort die Möglichkeit, schwule ältere Männer anzusprechen, die an keiner Schulprävention teilnehmen konnten. Die jungen Schwulen erhielten in den letzten Jahren ihre Kenntnisse über die Schulprävention, die von vielen Aidshilfen in ganz Deutschland angeboten und auch durchgeführt werden. Ich denke manche Fehlinformation über Ansteckungswege und Krankheitsverlauf finden wir bei den Männer über 50. Auch weiß ich, dass Ihr Sexualverhalten viel von Lebenssituation und fehlender Lebensperspektive geprägt ist.

Ich hoffe, dass Ihnen in der Kampagne mehr Aufmerksamkeit gewittmet wird. Dies hätte ich lieber zum Start gehört.

]]> http://futureafrica.wordpress.com/?p=3 Sat, 11 Oct 2008 08:08:22 +0000 worthyskg http://futureafrica.nl.wordpress.com/2008/10/11/the-hivaids-time-bomb/ The Human Immuno-deficiency Virus [HIV] has come as one of the Africa's time bombs, taking every youth, child, and parent. It captures the immune system, making it week, so that the body remains unprotected from any infections and diseases.

It is quite a terrible condition and requires total prevention to be applied before it is contracted. Youths in the world and in particular, Africa, need to apply behavior change processes to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Behavior can be implemented by the change of attitude and mind.

That being said, I probably won't be pulling many 15-post days any time soon.  I was blogging really intensely over the summer, since I wanted to get the site going and I had the time on my hands.  Now that I'm working full time, I'll have to blog at a somewhat more reasonable pace.  What I'd really like to do is shift some focus away from covering a high volume of news stories, and concentrate a bit more on some more in-depth pieces.*  We'll see how that works out.

As always, if you have suggestions, thoughts, feedback of any kind: send it my way!

Blessings to all.
 

* For headlines and links to key HIV/AIDS news items, remember that you can always check this site and look at the sidebar for RSS feeds from some great news sites.

I am so excited about the October chat line-up too.  Yesterday we had actress, comedian and author Kerri Pomarolli who had so many funny stories about the single life. Coming up next week we have Kathy Peel who will give us money saving tips on having an organized home - who can’t use that in today’s economy? On October 22 we have William Paul Young, author of NYT bestseller The Shack.  He and Abunga's CEO are at the same conference as I write this post so I am a little jealous that he gets to hear the “real story” first hand.  It will definitely be interesting to read Paul’s thoughts on how and why he wrote the book. I have a feeling it is not why most people think. Kay Warren, wife of Rick Warren of Purpose Driven Life, will round out the month talking about her book, Dangerous Surrender, and her passion for HIV/AIDS victims in Africa. 

Awesome...  How many times do you get the opportunity to talk to authors like this directly and ask them the things you really want to know about their stories, their work or their passions in life?

If you have not visited one of our author chats yet you should definitely check it out. Authors@Abunga is every Wednesday at 2:00 pm EST. Chat transcripts are available a couple of days following each chat.

If you have attended a chat I would like to know what you thought and if you haven’t yet, tell me who you want to chat with next year. Post your comments to the blog.

Chat with you again soon.

~Kerri

(Originally published by brownsugarpages.wordpress.com on July 25, 2008

So I was listening to the Freak Show on Wild 98.7 and I heard this soundbite from NPR’s Pendarvis Harshaw. . If you can’t hear the sound then here’s the basic summary of what was said:

the transition from condoms to no-condoms signifies a lasting commitment — more so even than walking down the aisle.

*DISCLAIMER*
THe ONLY safe sex is NO sex!! 

NEWSFLASH! in an "AIDS World," UNSAFE SEX IS NEVER EVER EVER AN OPTION!  IT will KILL YOU!!! WAKE UP!!!!!

Please tell me this is a joke right?? This dude has the nerve to say; “Sex without protection is better than spending money on an expensive ring for a marriage that won’t last”! How stupid is that!? the risk you face of having unprotected sex with far greater then the cost of an engagement ring. Having a kid without the bonds of marriage is way more expensive than an engagement ring (child support for 18-22 years) getting an STD from someone who you “trust” is way more expensive in my opinion! Have we not learned anything about AIDS?? Just because you’re in a committed relationship does not mean you should have unprotected sex! How many times have we all heard of women (and men) that end up eith STD’s even though they were only active with one partner. This mess happens every day folks, it’s not a game and with the staggering rates they give about AIDS in the black community we need to stop playing! Stop using money as an excuse to substitute marriage with sex. If you can’t afford to marry then you can’t afford to have unprotected sex!

Maybe I’m just really old fashioned but there is no way in Satan’s home you should ever equate sex without a condom with marriage/engagement. Why? because we already have people (young girls in particular) equating love with sex, songs that switch the unedited “F***” to “love” on the radio versions making the terms dang near interchangeable when they are not. Sex does not equal love and unprotected sex does not equal commitment! This does not mean that the two of you will go marching down the isle. It means you need to drive down to the clinic!
Although I critized “Black in America” the woman with AIDS made a good point. She wasn’t loose, or fast or any of these things we associate with people who have STD’s. She’d been with this dude for a while and thought that when he wanted to have sex without a condom that he really was committing to her. She was actually ‘proud” but guess what. She got AIDS! This is why we have so many people with STD’s and the like. Everytime you have unprotected sex you put yourself at risk, I don’t care how much you love that person. AIDS will kill you, STD’s will kill your sexual health and babies will kill your social life.
Marriage is marriage and engagement is engagement. but unprotected sex is not either of those.
If the person you’re with (male or female) is not commited enough to give/wear the ring DO NOT have sex with them without a condom, and get tested often. Even if you are married get tested! Often!

Frustratingly dumb!

Anti-Prostitution Pledge Results in Discriminatory Treatment

Melissa Ditmore on October 9, 2008 - 8:00am

Recently on RH Reality Check, I examined the damaging effects on sex workers of a new law against prostitution in Cambodia. The perception on the ground is that the law was passed so that Cambodia could avoid sanctions associated with the US Traffic in Persons report.

This is not the first time that sex workers have been sacrificed at the altar of US funding. Anti-trafficking funding and the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) deny funding to any organization that does not have an explicit policy against prostitution and sex trafficking. Outwardly, this seems innocuous, but the restriction has been used in ways that seriously undermine public health and anti-trafficking efforts in the developing world. Denying services to sex workers is counter-productive in both areas.

In addition, the terms of the restriction have been left ambiguous, allowing some self-appointed experts to act as "police" for the US government in watching aid recipients for alleged missteps. CHANGE released an updated policy brief detailing the ways in which sex workers have been adversely affected by this restriction.

These self-appointed enforcers have chosen to ignore the non-discrimination clause in the regulation that says that no one should be denied services because of the anti-prostitution pledge. In practice, application of the restriction is often highly discriminatory. Doctors in Cambodia used the restriction as grounds for denying information about HIV transmission to men who have sex with men (MSM). Male sex workers in Thailand have been evicted from the sole clinic in the nation dedicated to MSM. Drop-in centers for homeless sex workers in Bangladesh - the only places where some of these women had access to a toilet - have been closed.

Restrictions targeting sex work have not been the only counter-productive consequence of US policy. The abstinence earmark in PEPFAR, which requires one-third of prevention funds to go towards abstinence education, has significantly reduced condom availability in sub-Saharan Africa. In a bizarre twist, abstinence programs funded through PEPFAR in Uganda have even conducted public condom burnings. The percentage of Uganda's population infected with HIV had previously been in sharp decline as a result of strong prevention programs, but that trend seems unlikely to continue now.

Taking the Pledge is a 13-minute video featuring interviews with people who have experienced discrimination and the loss of services and commodities because of US-imposed restrictions. These stories illustrate why sex workers and their advocates see little cause for celebration in recent increases in PEPFAR funding. Instead we worry that continued imposition of ideologically motivated restrictions will bring not benefits, but further discrimination against sex workers.

The next administration must act quickly repair PEPFAR and anti-trafficking funding policies in order to assist these vulnerable populations instead of promoting discrimination against them.

He was engaged in a bitter battle and dispute with the French scientist Luc Montagnier over the HIV discovery issue.  It was unequivocally proved that it was Luc and not Gallo who had discovered HIV. 

Apart from being "disappointed, Gallo had told the journal that "The only thing I worry about is that it may give people the notion that I might have done something wrong."

Of course he did a great wrong and he knows it well and hence his fear.  How else can one explain that he tried to claim the credit after studying the virus sent to him by Luc. 

One thing is for sure:  this year's Nobel Prize will be remembered more for Gallo being ignored than for the discovery of HIV and HPV (that causes cervical cancer) that has saved millions of people.

Bahkan yang menyeramkan, seperti dikutip BBC, lebih dari 40 persen pengguna narkotika yang terinfeksi oleh HIV, tersebar di sembilan negara. Bahaya itu kian mengkhawatirkan setelah kurangnya data dari benua hitam Afrika dan menyebutkan, faktor risiko yang mendorong penyebaran HIV dengan cara ini juga terjadi di Afrika.

Para ilmuwan itu mengatakan, program untuk mengatasi masalah ini merupakan hal yang "sangat mendesak". Para ilmuwan yang melakukan studi tersebut berasal dari Universitas New South Wales, Australia. Mereka mengkaji data luas yang sudah diterbitkan sebelumnya.

Mereka menarik kesimpulan, jumlah pengguna narkotika dengan jarum suntik dan tingkat infeksi HIV di kalangan mereka mengalami peningkatan. Virus ini pada umumnya disebarkan oleh pemakaian jarum suntik secara bersama.

Di pelbagai negara di Asia Tenggara, Amerika Latin, dan Eropa Timur, tingkat infeksi HIV di kalangan pengguna jarum suntik di atas 40 persen. Di Estonia, angka itu lebih dari 72 persen.

Namun sebagian negara berhasil mempertahankan tingkat infeksi rendah, seperti Inggris Raya dengan 2,3 persen, Selandia Baru dan Australia dengan hanya 1,5 persen pengguna narkotika jarum suntik yang positif mengidap HIV.

Two French scientists — Luc Montagnier, director of the World Foundation for AIDS Research and Prevention, and Francoise Barre-Sinoussi of the Institut Pasteur — won for their research identifying the AIDS virus, which lead to the development of more than 20 drugs that can keep HIV patients healthy.

Harald zur Hausen, from Germany, “went against current dogma,” according to the Nobel Assembly, when he discovered that human papilloma virus (HPV) causes cervical cancer, the second most common cancer in women. His research led to two vaccines for the virus, which can be detected in about 99% of women with cervical cancer, affecting some 500,000 women per year.

Montagnier and Barre-Sinoussi will each receive one-fourth of the cash prize of 10 million Swedish crowns ($1.4 million). Zur Hausen will receive the other half.

Fore more, check out the Nobel Prize’s website.

Two French scientists — Luc Montagnier, director of the World Foundation for AIDS Research and Prevention, and Francoise Barre-Sinoussi of the Institut Pasteur — won for their research identifying the AIDS virus, which lead to the development of more than 20 drugs that can keep HIV patients healthy.

Harald zur Hausen, from Germany, “went against current dogma,” according to the Nobel Assembly, when he discovered that human papilloma virus (HPV) causes cervical cancer, the second most common cancer in women. His research led to two vaccines for the virus, which can be detected in about 99% of women with cervical cancer, affecting some 500,000 women per year.

Montagnier and Barre-Sinoussi will each receive one-fourth of the cash prize of 10 million Swedish crowns ($1.4 million). Zur Hausen will receive the other half.

Fore more, check out the Nobel Prize’s website.

ANIMAL WELFARE: Boy fed zoo reptiles to crocodile: A seven-year-old boy has been filmed going on the rampage at a popular zoo in Australia, killing rare reptiles and feeding live ones to a crocodile

ARCTIC MELTING: Arctic Ice in "Death Spiral," Is Near Record Low

AUTO INDUSTRY: No "Revolting" the Volt: Chevy Battery Does Not Recharge While Driving

BUSHMEAT: Bush-Meat Ban Would Devastate Africa's Animals, Poor?

CARBON: Heat Hinders Ground's Ability to Absorb CO2

E-WASTE: 7 Hurdles to Electronics Recycling

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: 19 Electric Car Players Pitch San Francisco, 30 electric cars companies ready to take over the road, China Planning Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

ENERGY: Researchers Developing the “Internet for Energy”, New Energy Project Will Be Even Larger than the Pickens Plan: Move over, T. Boone Pickens. You’re about to be overshadowed by Babcock and Brown

ENDANGERED SPECIES: Croc Hunter's 'Bum-Breathing' Turtle Faces Extinction

EVOLUTION: Scientists Discover Fish in Act of Evolution in Africa’s Greatest Lake, From the Onion: Dolphins Evolve Opposable Thumbs 'Oh, Shit,' Says Humanity

FUEL CELLS: First Fuel Cell-Powered Plane Presented in Germany

GOOGLE: Google search finds seafaring solution

GREEN CONSTRUCTION: 15 Inspiring Glimpses into the Future of Green Housing, The First LEED Platinum Skyscraper Nearly Completed, Lost middle-class tribe's 'secret' eco-village in Wales spotted in aerial photograph taken by plane, Paint it white: Cool roofs save cash and carbon, New experimental homes will heat themselves

HIV/AIDS: Colonial clue to the rise of HIV: The arrival of colonial cities in sub-Saharan Africa at the dawn of the 20th Century may have sparked the spread of HIV

HYBRID TECHNOLOGY: Honda Takes on the Hybrid Motorcycle, Mercedes-Benz S400 BlueHYBRID unveiled

HYDROGEN FUEL: Scientists Reach Hydrogen Storage Milestone

INVASIVE SPECIES: State wildlife commission seeks tougher rules for owning pet snakes, Stop slithering intruders: Asian swamp eels are an invasive foreign species that is dangerously prolific and adaptive, threatening fish and other native creatures

NATURAL GAS-POWERED VEHICLES: Pickens Overlooks Existing Natural Gas Cars in Energy Plan: Reality Check

NEW SPECIES: New Iguana Species Revealed

OFFSHORE WIND POWER: Huge Offshore Wind Farm Wins Approval, Offshore Wind To Supply 15% of Rhode Island Electricity

PHEV: Plug-In Hybrids Aren't Coming — They're Here, Houses passes bill with $5k Volt tax-credit, mandatory alternative fuel pumps

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION: California’s 220 MPH High-Speed Train Will Be Emissions-Free

RECOMMENDED IMAGE(S): Earth From Above comes to NYC, Yup, still a pig, Monk Seal

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REDISCOVERED SPECIES: Rare Plant Thought Extinct Re-discovered in Upstate New York

SCIENCE: Sciencedebate2008: Presidential answers to the top 14 science questions facing America, Japanese Scientists Plan to Build Space Elevator

WASTE-TO-ENERGY: Indiana will get $227 million waste to fuel plant

WATER AVAILABILITY: When Will Los Angeles Run Out of Water? Sooner Than You Think, Cactus Goo Makes Water Safe: The slimy ooze inside prickly pear cactuses that helps the plants store water in the desert can also be used for scouring arsenic, bacteria and cloudiness out of rural drinking water, according to research at the University of South Florida in Tampa

WATER CONSERVATION: Harvesting Rainwater by Not Letting It Go to Waste

WTF?: Cheney: Wildlife Conservation Has Been A ‘High Priority’ Of Bush Administration

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK: Yellowstone seeks to balance nature, cell phones, Judge refuses to let snowmobiles roam Yellowstone

ZOONOTIC DISEASES: Hamsters, Exotic Pets May Put Young Children At Risk, Doctors Say

Now-the sad part.  All the tickets have been sold.  I waited to long and don't have one....so if anyone has a spare and feels sorry for me....I would love to go.