Sunday, January 20, 2008

The "Gay" Superbug and the Big Smear












Five days after writing a story about a study that suggested that a new "gay disease" was threatening to kill us all. And swallowing it hook, line and petri dish. The New York Times now says it isn't a gay disease after all.

And so do the people who did the study....or the BIG SMEAR.

“We deplore negative targeting of specific populations in association with MRSA infections or other public health concerns,” it concluded. Dr. Henry Chambers, one of the report’s authors and a professor of medicine at the university, said he was surprised by how the report had been spun.

As for the idiot researcher, Bien Diep, who had breathlessly declared that if the infection ever spread to the "general population" it would be "unstoppable." Well he's backtracking too.

Mr. Diep, 29, said on Friday he regretted not being more thorough in communicating his research to reporters. He said that the term “general population” was part of medical jargon used in the report, which did not translate well.

“It’s really meant to be used to mean all inclusive, including the men-who-have-sex-with-men population,” he said.

But only after the Centers for Disease Control rapped his homophobic knuckles.

Indeed, the Centers for Disease Control, which helped finance the study, affirmed on Wednesday that the disease was not sexually transmitted or limited to a certain type of person. It is transmitted through skin-to-skin contact, the agency said in a statement, and is widespread in hospitals and among hospital workers.

“These infections occur in men, women, adults, children and persons of all races and sexual orientations,” the statement read, adding that while the particular strain identified in the report had been found in gay men, it had also been found in people who were not gay.

Which made me wonder.... after noting how crazy bigots like Kathy Shaidle had used the original story to whip up hatred against gays... how many stories would be written to CORRECT the record?

The answer? According to Google News .....only TWO.

Compared to 154 versions of this one.

Which leaves me with a few troubling questions. One .....how FUCKED UP are the priorities of our idiot and homophobic media?

Two... what kind of a gay porn site runs pictures of guys in BATHING suits?

And three... if I don't think this event should be cancelled?

In the name of safety, the U.S. Naval Academy is considering an overhaul of one of its most bizarre traditions: the annual ritual in which a thousand first-year midshipmen struggle to conquer a 21-foot granite obelisk coated with 200 pounds of lard.

Am I DEFILING the hunky pole climbers by looking at their pictures.... with my gay eyes .... on one of the many gay blogs that post pictures of shirtless guys ... like the one I lifted this one from?

















I HOPE so...but probably not.

So do you think that it would be possible to grease up the pointy obelisk with so much LARD .... I could shove it all the way up the collective ass of our idiot and irresponsible media?

Or watch Kathy Shaidle ride it like a wingnut cowboy?

Now that would be LOVELY.

Aren't we lucky we're so beautiful?

Aren't we lucky we're so STRONG?

10 comments:

sassy said...

Good point Simon - only two corrections!

What are the odds of Kathy Shaidle following up with a post on the updated/correct information?, oh never mind - stupid question.

Anonymous said...

We know it’s not a gay superbug and I have to post on that once I get over another onslaught of right wing assholes looking for another way to put us down. There is no such a thing as a gay disease, we all know that, but the constant fucking fight to bring the words of hateful people back into reality takes more time for me now. I’m only willing to invest so much time on them.

And uh, could you pick better pics of Totally hot men?

JJ said...

I wouldn't expect a retraction from Shaidle anytime soon. Which is just one more reason why these people have zero credibility.

Dr.Dawg said...

MRSA? Sadly, common-or-garden in hospitals these days. My late partner was falsely diagnosed with it while in hospital--there are a lot of false positives. (We were a het couple, btw.)

Out in the population? You bet. It's turning up in the sports crowd, though locker-room facilities and what-not. It's not The Plague (although it's serious enough), and it is not spread on a sexual orientation basis.

Who came up with this crap? Oh, never mind.

Anonymous said...

Um, so the New York Slimes sucks you in and everybody attacks a Canadian blogger?

Huh?

To me the comments here are set to further divide those not gay, and those who are supportive of gays, and those who are not...sad.

I don't like being referred to as just a 'breeder' either, but it doesn't make me lash out at all gays.

Tolerance goes both ways folks.

First time here.

Simon said...

Hi Sassy!!!....um...less than zero.But then I expect that from her...and the other homophobes on that hideous blog. What really upsets me is that respectable media types could get it so wrong...and be so irresponsible.

Simon said...

Hi Bruce!!! yeah I know when I saw the headline on Shittle's piece I didn't really want to go there either. Just picking through the comments made me feel dirty. But at least it's recorded for all to see..
As for the picture of the pole climber... I just included it to make a point...from some blog called Beautiful Men if I remember.
There were all kinds of other pics of guys sliding up the larded obelisk...but I thought the one I chose was pretty good...you're so DEMANDING!! ;)

Simon said...

Hi JJ!! No I as I mentioned to Sassy I wouldn't expect that rat to change her stripes. Although I must say the episode makes the CBC offering her a place to blog even more outrageous. I don't mind them running bloggers who write about religion. But what on earth is religious about her?

Simon said...

Hi Dr Dawg!! You're right....like all these other antibiotic resistant bacteria it's a huge problem in our hospitals...as they are in locker rooms and other places. I read that one of the most vulnerable groups are football players who suffer from skin burns caused by artificial turf.
So it's a serious problem and much more must be done to tackle antibiotic abuse before some bug really does come along and kill us all. And discussion of this threat should be above partisan politics. Just like I would never even think of making fun of Shaidle because she suffers from Lupus...on the contrary I'm sorry for her..she should know better as well...

Simon said...

Hi anonymous! first let me make one thing clear: I don't refer to straight people as "breeders" on this blog OR in my real life. Ever.
Secondly how am I attacking HER? All I'm doing is reprinting her headline and some of the revolting comments. And just saying that I find that kind of stuff disgusting. What do you expect me to say? Thank you? And lastly I'm not lashing out at straight people...I have lots of straight friends and I CELEBRATE their lives and their loves.
I'm just attacking the bigots who think we should be ashamed of ours....