Scanner : HIV

Sloppy Seconds: Trent Reznor's Love

Emily Farris — Tue, 05 May 2009 23:33:00 GMT

Dom DeLuise, actor, chef, all-around awesome dude, is dead at the age of 75. [The Feed]

The NIH is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on "the prevention of HIV" by studying patrons and proprietors in gay bars in Argentina. FYI: Next time the NIH wants to do a study on drinking and sexual promiscuity, we're available. Hit us up at Scanner@nerve.com. Buy us a drink and we'll give you whatever information you want. [CNSNnews]

A Kansas City newscaster interviewed Guy Fieri, that annoying guy from the Food Network, during a Royals game last night. Except it wasn't Guy Fieri. Oops. [Kansas City Star]

Scanner Crush (we know Scanner Brian is with us on this one) Jeff Tweedy, frontman of Wilco, is being sued by an ex-bandmate. Jay Bennett, who played with Wilco from 1994 to 2001 wants $50,000 for five albums he recorded with the band. [BBC]

Trent Reznor has decided to tie the knot with girlfriend Mariqueen Maandig. [The Inquisitr]

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German Pop Star Arrested for Spreading a Little HIV With Her Message

Emily Farris — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 18:51:00 GMT

A member of one of the most famous girl bands in Germany has been arrested on suspicion that she knowingly spread HIV to at least one man.

Nadja Benaissa (pictured second from the left), a member of the band No Angels, is accused of sleeping with at least three men, sans condom, full-well knowing she was HIV positive. At least one of those three men has tested positive for HIV, supposedly as a result of sleeping with Benajssa over a period of a few weeks in 2004.

Benajssa was arrested at a nightclub on Saturday night where she was set to give a solo concert and is now being held in a one-person cell in a women's prison.

Under German law, knowingly infecting another person with HIV qualifies as "grievous bodily harm" and can result in six months to ten years in prison. However, if Benaissa can prove she did not know she was HIV positive, the infection will not be considered a crime.

The organization German AIDS Help believes that the way in which her status was made public was unacceptable. "This case fits fantastically into the tabloid and media landscape," said Jörg Litinschuh, spokesman for DAH. "It centres on a famous woman, sexuality and possible guilt. It's a form of modern witch-hunting and I hope it's not an indication that the politics of dealing with HIV and Aids is becoming more restrictive."

Yes, but remember kids: no matter what that boy or girl says (and no matter how famous he or she is), you need to see those STD test results before the condom comes off.

[Guardian: German singer in jail after ex-lover claims she infected him with HIV]

Related:

HIV Outbreaks Started Much Earlier Than Previously Thought

Don't Try This at Home: Penis Cream to Prevent the Transmission of HIV

Today in The Future: Can Bone Marrow "Cure" HIV?

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This Week in Gayness: Matt Drudge Does Not Love Gay Sex With Men

Brian Fairbanks — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 15:39:00 GMT

Tony Blair stood up to the Pope on homosexuality. Too bad no one cares what he thinks anymore.

Rick Warren tried to rewrite history on Larry King's show the other night. Apparently, he didn't support Prop8 or say all those hateful things.

Isn't it nice to finally have an Administration that allows gay couples with children to join the Easter Egg Hunt?

North Dakota had to get all "God hates you" on the gays. See you in the next century, guys.

More about the Vermont gay marriage law. And Iowa's.

Headline of the week: Graydon Carter Has Monster Cock, Is a Very Good Fuck (According to Rupert Everett)

Matt Drudge issued a sort-of non-denial denial from the platform of his right-wing hate blog: "I Do Not Love Sex With Men."

A gay mom with two kids is not going to be deported from the US after all. Yet.

Just because a thinking man like Barack Obama hails from Chicago doesn't mean people are taking it easy on the gays there.

The ads were meant to tell Chicago that health issues for gay men are about more than HIV and AIDs. Gay men practice yoga, swim and meditate, too. But someone removed or taped over three key words in the ads on the back of CTA buses: Gay, sexy and healthy. White tape had been affixed over the words on an orange poster on the back of a bus. Someone told him a red poster had been defaced with red tape. He also saw that the three words were cut out or scratched out on some posters. [Gay News Blog]

Related:

Senate Majority Leader to Conservatives Regarding the Gays: You've Already Lost

This Week in Gayness: Sacha Baron Cohen's Gay Sex

Gay Bishop is About to Get All "Gay Bishop" on Your Ass

This Week in Gayness: Fred Phelps Attacks London

This Week in Gayness: Aubrey O'Day May Be Gay

This Week In Gayness: America vs. Fred Phelps

Sloppy Seconds: The Pope Spreads a Little AIDS With His Gospel

Emily Farris — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 22:38:00 GMT

Fifty-seven-year-old Ralph Reese was fired from his job as a clerk at Whole Foods after he took a tuna sandwich out of a trash can at the end of his shift, this violated the company's policy that food cannot be takine without being paid for. [CityRoom]

"Not an Onion headline: Gwyneth Paltrow's Bikini Waxer to Pen Book About 'Being Sexy'" [LustyLady]

Taylor Swift still does not want to talk about sex. [People]

What kind of douchebag puts fake money in a stripper's underwear? This kind. [AP]

At a SXSWi panel today, a blogger for PETA asked the icanhazcheeseburger guy how he could make the PETA blog funny. Pamela Anderson's lettuce bikini is a good start, no? [Inquisitr]

Pope Benedict “What Holocaust?” XVI is at it again, this time claiming that condoms are not the answer to the AIDS crisis in Africa. The pontiff, speaking to journalists on his flight, said the condition was "a tragedy that cannot be overcome by money alone, that cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which even aggravates the problems". Whaaaaaat? [Guardian]

[Image via PETA]

Sloppy Seconds: Gwyneth Paltrow Has a Cure for Joaquin Phoenix

Emily Farris — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 23:01:00 GMT

A round-up of those who are about to die. On TV, of course. [EW]

Is South by Southwest is a pointlless party? [Gawker]

Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson apparently came this close to joining the mile high club on a recent Virgin Atlantic flight. [Mile High Club Book]

Researchers say a compound often found in cosmetics and foods like ice cream could help prevent the spread of HIV when used in lube. [CollegeNews]

When we find out a guy we think is cute can't spell, we get really disappointed. Same goes for Joanna Angel. But hey, she Twitters some pretty great stuff. [Twitter]

Gwyneth Paltrow thinks her buddy Joaquin Phoenix needs some street cred if he's doing to keep rapping. She thinks he should take a trip to the projects. [People]

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Sloppy Seconds: Bobby Jindal Is A Big, Fat Liar

Emily Farris — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 22:05:00 GMT

Some whack job is in custody after mailing HIV-tainted blood to President Obama. [CNN]

As if you needed more reasons to have sex. [Physorg]

Oh no! Ed McMahon is hospitalized with pneumonia, and he's in serious condition. Can this poor guy not get a break? [Us]

It appears Jessica Capshaw will remain on the cast of "Grey's Anatomy" for at least the duration of the current season. And you know what that means: more hot, lesbian doctor action! [AfterEllen]

Hey, remember that heartwarming story about Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal standing shoulder to shoulder with a sheriff who was trying to rescue people during Hurricane Katrina? Yeah, turns out it was a big, fat lie. [TPMMuckraker]

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Today in Old People Are Still Dating: Old People Are Still Dating

Emily Farris — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 16:51:00 GMT

We're glad to know that old people are still dating and having sex—we really are—but we wonder why the subject continues to be newsworthy.

Is the intent of the authors to make us more comfortable with the fact that seniors still have sex? Maybe some of us would like to not think about Grandma getting it on. Perhaps we assume that once Grandpa kicks the bucket, Gamma devotes her life to church and biscuits, and maybe she does. But she doesn't have to.

If the articles are supposed to encourage the old people who aren't getting it on to actually go out and get it on, we're all for it. But we think the pieces should be more servicey, like: "Online Dating for Seniors: Adult Friend Finder is Not Your Friend," "Vibrators That Won't Give You a Heart Attack" or the all-important "Yes, Vagina, Seniors Can Still Get HIV." However, if we can keep getting quotes like this, we say keep the stories coming:

"For women, it's difficult because the competition is very high," Laumann said. Because the death rate is higher for males, he noted, it is more common that a woman is single after 60.

"Men who are presentable may have women chasing after them with pot pies" at that age, Laumann said and laughed.

Make it a casserole and that will be us in 45 years.

[Daily Iowan: Entering the swinging 60s, senior citizens dating]

Related:

Shocker! Old People Are Still Alive.

Time to Talk to Grandma and Grandpa About the Birds and the Bees

Old People and Technology: In Which Our Dad One-Ups Us

When Are You Too Old And Senile To Have Sex?

What Does this 93-Year-Old-Man Love So Much About Old-People Sex?

What's Cuter than Old People Writing About Young Peoples' Sex Lives? Nothing!

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Thirtysomething is the New Stupidsomething

Emily Farris — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 20:51:00 GMT

Give the gift of condoms this holiday season—to your mom. Okay, maybe not to your mom, unless you're a teenager (in which case, turn off your computer and go watch "Saved by the Bell" right now!), but maybe you should give your older, divorced sister some condoms. Because according to a new study out of the UK, people in their 30's and 40's are much less likely than teenagers to use condoms when having sex with someone new.

While 68 percent of 16- to 19-year-olds said they used protection for the first sexual encounter with a new partner, just 38 percent of men and 29 percent of women aged 35 to 44 reported doing so, Dr. Catherine H. Mercer of University College London and her colleagues found.

"Increasing rates of STIs diagnosed among those in their 30s and 40s suggest that interventions that promote consistent condom use with new partners are urgently required, not just for young people as has been the focus recently, but for people in their 30s and 40s and older who are increasingly forming new partnerships," Mercer and her team write in the International Journal of Epidemiology.

The researchers surveyed 11,161 men and women 16 to 44 years old. Each person was interviewed face-to-face, and then answered more sensitive questions about sexual issues using a computer-assisted self-interview. Study participants reported the number of sexual partners they'd had, and also gave detailed information on the nature of their last three relationships.

The survey turned up 15,488 heterosexual partnerships reported by 9,598 people. For men, 39 percent of these partnerships were casual (defined as "not (yet) regular"), while 20 percent of women's were. Overall, 37 percent of men and 29 percent of women said they used a condom the last time they had sex.

When having sex for the first time with a partner, 55 percent of participants used a condom. Couples with an age difference of five years or greater were less likely to use condoms when they had sex the first time. And 23 percent of men said that they'd had sex within 24 hours of meeting their current partner, compared to about 11 percent of women.

The high rate of unprotected sex they identified, especially in casual partnerships is "worrisome," the researchers say. They conclude: "Condom use with new partners needs to be promoted among all age groups."

[Reuters: Older people more likely to have unprotected sex]

Related:

What Does this 93-Year-Old-Man Love So Much About Old-People Sex?

Shocker! Old People Are Still Alive.

What's Cuter than Old People Writing About Young Peoples' Sex Lives? Nothing!

When Are You Too Old And Senile To Have Sex?

Cure For AIDS Discovered? Or Is It HIV?

Brian Fairbanks — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 19:25:00 GMT

As Scanner Emily reported earlier, hemotologists in Berlin claim that a bone marrow transplant has cured an American patient of theirs of the AIDS virus. Or is it HIV? These things can be so confusing to the media, which hasn't given a shit about this issue since The Ryan White Story...

An American man who suffered from AIDS appears to have been cured of the disease 20 months after receiving a targeted bone marrow transplant normally used to fight leukemia, his doctors said.
While researchers — and the doctors themselves — caution that the case might be no more than a fluke, others say it may inspire a greater interest in gene therapy to fight the disease that claims 2 million lives each year. The virus has infected 33 million people worldwide.

Dr. Gero Huetter said Wedneday his 42-year-old patient, an American living in Berlin who was not identified, had been infected with the AIDS virus for more than a decade. But 20 months after undergoing a transplant of genetically selected bone marrow, he no longer shows signs of carrying the virus. [Yahoo! Health]

That's according to the AP. But the BBC has a different story, the one Emily reported on:

The researchers in Berlin said the man, who suffered from leukaemia and HIV, had shown no sign of either disease since the transplant two years ago.
But they stressed it was an unusual case which needed further investigation.
Experts said the result may boost interest in gene therapy for HIV.
Berlin's Charite clinic said the 42-year-old patient was an American living in Berlin, but the man has not been identified.

Either way, we're trying to stay positive (hey, at least it cured one person, whether or not anyone else is ever cured) although, yes, it could be a fluke... or a glitch in their readings... or poor research. Or some other answer that would automatically discount their findings.

But we're hoping that the 42-year-old patient goes on to live a long life... and that millions of other people are able to as well. What do you think?

This Week In Gayness: Gay Leader Assassinated

While You Were Sleeping...

Today in The Future: Can Bone Marrow "Cure" HIV?

Emily Farris — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:42:00 GMT

Doctors in Germany, who treated a man for leukemia with a bone marrow transplant, say the treatment had a very, very unexpected side effect.

Though it's supposedly an unusual case that obviously needs further investigation, the man, who also carried the HIV virus was, miraculously, cured of it.

From what we know about viruses, they can't really be cured—they can only leave your body—apparently the donor of the bone marrow, who had a genetic resistance to the virus, passed along the resistance in his bone marrow, thus curing the man of his HIV.

[BBC: Bone marrow 'cures HIV patient']

Related:

HIV Outbreaks Started Much Earlier Than Previously Thought

Don't Try This at Home: Penis Cream to Prevent the Transmission of HIV

While You Were Sleeping: The Sexy Mrs. Freddy Kreuger

Brian Fairbanks — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 14:16:00 GMT

We can picture it: a Cleopatra movie starring Catherine Zeta-Jones as the title character and Hugh Jackman as Marc Antony. But a musical? And directed by Steven Soderbergh?

Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClelan endorsed Obama on D.L. Hughley's new show. John McCain really needs a high profile endorsement soon-- really, he needs just about anything and everything soon to turn this thing around. Some observers think McCain could be down to funds of only one million dollars a day... you don't even want to know how that compares to Obama's staggering total.

Although we suspect it to be an exaggeration, this is nonetheless the most shocking HIV scare story we can recall...

Students at a suburban St. Louis high school headed to the gymnasium for HIV testing this week after an infected person told health officials as many as 50 teenagers might have been exposed to the virus that causes AIDS.
Officials refused to give details on who the person was or how the students at Normandy High School might have been exposed...
A teacher in a neighboring district singled out a girl who dates someone at Normandy High and instructed her to get tested, Hochstedler said. A competing school's football team initially balked at playing Normandy's 8-0 team.
Jasmine Lane, a 16-year-old sophomore, said her boyfriend from a neighboring high school broke up with her on learning of the news -- after she bought them tickets to homecoming.
"I cried so hard," she said.

There's nothing positive about this story whatsoever. It has the potential to be an explosive, ongoing saga... we'll keep you posted. (Jasmine, we'll totally fly to St. Louis to go to the homecoming with you.)

Yet another downer: a woman was sentenced to forty years in prison. Her crime? Lighting her boyfriend on fire. His? Not beating up the guy who was checking her out.

Anne Hathaway's ex was sentenced yesterday...

A dashing Italian conman who went out with Hollywood actress Anne Hathaway was sentenced by a court in New York on Thursday to four and a half years in prison for fraud. [Yahoo!]

Note to crackheads: it's easy to get busted for faking crack prescriptions... since there's no such thing as a crack prescription.

And this Halloween costume is pretty stupid. Although, we have to admit, Freddy Kreuger has great taste in women.

Related:

Sloppy Seconds: Which Power Ranger Is Guilty of Murder?

Who Would You Rather: The Anne Hathaway...

Alain Baxter's Nude Calendar Artier Than We Expected

Today in F*ck Yeah: Pacman Halloween Costumes

Because It Isn't Halloween Until a Dog Is Wearing a Tiara

HIV Outbreaks Started Much Earlier Than Previously Thought

Brian Fairbanks — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 15:02:00 GMT

If you thought AIDS was caused by gay men having sex in the 1980s, perhaps you need to read this startling new story from Nature.

And if you thought HIV came about in the 20th century, you might want to read this as well...

According to a version of the story published on HealthDay News (via Yahoo), it was the rise of urban centers around Africa's west-central region that saw the first cases of HIV outbreaks, sometime between 1884 and 1924. Scientists previously pinpointed 1930 as the year those outbreaks began in the sub-Saharan areas.

Michael Worobey, an assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Arizona in Tucson, said in a university news release... "[F]or the first time, we have been able to compare two relatively ancient HIV strains. That helped us to calibrate how quickly the virus evolved and make some really robust inferences about when it crossed into humans, how quickly the epidemic grew from that time and what factors allowed the virus to enter and become a successful human pathogen."

HIV-1, one of the two species of the virus, is widely believed to have been transferred from primates to humans at the start of the outbreaks.

Via Yahoo.

Related:

This Week In Gayness: Gay Leader Assassinated

Don't Try This at Home: Penis Cream to Prevent the Transmission of HIV

Saddam Hussein: Drop the Soap, Just Don't Share It

John McCain Unaware of the Uses of Condoms

Yet Another Comic Book About Multiracial HIV+ Superheroes!

Don't Say Bill Frist Didn't Warn You About AIDS Saliva

This Week In Gayness: Gay Leader Assassinated

Brian Fairbanks — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 17:30:00 GMT

Amazingly, Google (as a corporate megapower) is stepping into the debate over gay marriage: they claim they will do everything they possibly can to insure it stays legal in California.

Almost ten years to the day of his death, the Matthew Shepard memorial has been publicly unveiled at the murder victim's former university.

A teenage boy upset that his friend was apparently spreading rumors of his gayness has confessed to the murder of said friend.

The Orlando Fox affiliate first claimed it would film at Come Out With Pride 2008, now they're acting all Fox News and turning their backs on the community...

The trans Top Model continues to raise positive interest in this so-called "alternative lifestyle."

A Lowell, Massachusetts man is guilty of beating another man for being gay.

A 27-year-old university student in Bagdhad, who was leading the LGBT movement there, was assassinated while getting a haircut:

He was one of the organisers of safe houses for gay men in Baghdad and was co-ordinator of Iraqi LGBT in the city.

Peter Tatchell of LGBT human rights group OutRage! said:

"On 25th September, I received the sad news from Iraq that the coordinator of Iraqi LGBT in Baghdad, Bashar, aged 27, a university student, was assassinated in a barber shop.

Trying to end on an upnote for a change... the South African health minister, who thought it was wise to suggest vitamins over drugs for HIV patients, has been removed from office, thanks to AIDS and/or LGBT activists.

Related:

Gay Community Attacks McCain By Outing His Chief Of Staff

You Can't Argue With A Conservative... No, Really, It's A Fact

This Week In Gayness: Guys Making Out On CNN

This Week In Gayness: Discriminated By McDonald's

Crush of the Week: Jamie Clayton, The Hottest Transsexual

Don't Try This at Home: Penis Cream to Prevent the Transmission of HIV

Emily Farris — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 19:59:00 GMT

Because people are always trying to find a way around using condoms (which we understand, but you just have to do it) and in some cultures just won't wear them for whatever reason, researchers in Melbourne have discovered that rubbing oestrogen on the head of a penis could help prevent the transmission of HIV.

Regular topical applications of oestrogen on the head of the penis could increase "could induce a thickening of the keratin layer of the foreskin epidermis in the same way as it acts in the vagina.”

We weren't aware of how keratin works in the vagina, but apparently, it acts as a barrier for viral infections, which helps prevent the spread of diseases.

But first of all, if this is really being developed for use in countries where circumcision and condoms are rare, how much more likely is it than men will use this? And, um, how are they actually going to test this to make sure it works? "Sir, we'd like to pay you one million dollars to be part of a clinical study where you get to have lots and lots of sex. But you might get HIV...Okay, okay. One point five million."

[Science Daily via BoingBoing]

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Don't Say Bill Frist Didn't Warn You About AIDS Saliva

Katie Halper — Thu, 15 May 2008 21:25:00 GMT

Looks like Dr. Senator Bill Frist wasn't a crazy homophobe after all, but a rational doctor when he bravely refused to rule out the possibility that sweat and tears transmitted HIV. Because, If sweat, tears and saliva couldn't transmit the virus, why would an HIV positive man have been sentenced to 35 years in jail for spitting?

The answer to that question is "because the man was sentenced in TEXAS." This story would be so funny, if it weren't sad and true: An HIV-positive man convicted of spitting into the eye and mouth of a Dallas police officer has been sentenced to 35 years in prison because the jury found that Willie Campbell, 42, used his saliva as a deadly weapon. Of course, by Texan standards, this is a slap on the wrist. Plus, Campbell only has to serve half his sentence before becoming eligible for parole. So he'll be a spring 59-and-a-half-year-old chick when he gets out of jail.

Saddam Hussein: Drop the Soap, Just Don't Share It

Emily Farris — Wed, 07 May 2008 14:38:00 GMT

What would you rather: have your hanging/beheading captured on camera phone or contract AIDS in prison? Okay, actually, don't answer that, we don't really want to know. But had you asked Saddam Hussein that question he might have gone with the hanging/beheading. (And he kind-of did, though that wasn't exactly his choice.)

Hussein was afraid of catching HIV and/or venereal diseases while in a U.S.-controlled prison, but apparently he didn't know too much about how said diseases are transmitted.

When Saddam found out his U.S. military guards were also using his laundry line to dry clothes, he wrote that he demanded they stop, according to the excerpts.
"I explained to them that they are young and they could have young people's diseases," Saddam wrote. "My main concern was to not catch a venereal disease, an HIV disease, in this place." He said some soldiers ignored his request.

Yeah, because sharing a laundry line is way more dangerous than dropping the soap, or, you know, having your head chopped off.

Bets on when this will become a South Park episode?

[The AP: Diaries showed Saddam feared getting AIDS in prison]

Yet Another Comic Book About Multiracial HIV+ Superheroes!

Katie Halper — Tue, 06 May 2008 16:30:00 GMT

This is what an HIV positive Superhero looks like. (But, duh, you already knew that.)

Artist Robert Walker "wanted to show people that you could still be powerful with HIV" and "educate young people about the virus and how to avoid it, without being preachy." So he left his job at Marvel and created his own comic book O+Men, whose superheroes-- of all races, ethnicities, sexuality and gender-- are HIV+. O+Men: Negative came out last year, and O+ Men: Positive comes out later this month. Here's the full story

Independent comic book writer and artist Robert Walker has turned to comics as his medium to combat the physical and social epidemics that plague the globe, namely HIV/AIDS. Walker, who founded the comic studio DIGITAL NOIXE, is the creator of Delete, a super-hero epic that highlights racial issues and the dangers of technology. Delete led to the upcoming spinoff series The O+Men, about a team of superheroes afflicted with HIV/AIDS. The O+Men debuted in May 2007 with the first of two prologue issues entitled The O+Men: Negative. The second prologue issue, The O+Men: Positive, will be released in late May 2008.

Walker's interest in comic books with a social purpose first arose during a trip to a local comic book store.

"I saw a group of kids, all different cultures, and they were saying, 'I could be Batman, I could be Superman, I could be Wonder Woman.' And there was a little African American girl saying, 'I wish I was white, cause there are no heroes like me,'" Walker said. "It kind of blew my mind, because I hadn't really noticed--even though I am African American--that there weren't many profound African American women in the forefront of comics."

The eye-opening experience led Walker to the creation of Delete, which features an African American woman named Cynthia Hopps who begins to exhibit mysterious superpowers linked to technology. The series features characters representing a wide range of cultures including homosexual men and women, Latino artists and Hasidic Jews.

"I had to do it because I wanted it to be a comic book with purpose, some social meaning," Walker said regarding the inclusion of so many races and cultures in the pages of Delete.

The writer/artist's comic books would soon tackle an even more controversial topic: the widespread disease of HIV/AIDS.

"I'd always had issues with AIDS and HIV because I'd had family members and friends die of it," Walker said. "When I was doing the second issue [of Delete], a friend of mine told me he had contracted HIV. I felt I really needed to do something that talks about the issues—to make a statement to educate people about HIV/AIDS. I wanted to do a super-team because I wanted to show different people being affect by HIV/AIDS."

And thus The O+Men were born.

The book focuses on eight men and women that each contract the disease in different ways—through unsafe sex, rape, drug use, and even birth—and become volunteers for an alleged experiment that researches an HIV/AIDS antidote. Rather than alleviating their symptoms, the volunteers experience an accelerated form of the virus that threatens to end their lives even more rapidly. However, in addition to the deadly pace of the disease, some of the volunteers become endowed with new and unusual superpowers. These survivors of the project join together and form The O+Men in order to exact vengeance upon the nefarious researchers and to help others across the globe who suffer from HIV/AIDS.

"I'm putting [the series] together to show that you can still be powerful even with HIV," Walker said. "You can be a powerful being and do amazing things. I'm trying to cater both to people who don't have the virus and to educate them, and to people who do have the virus to uplift them while reading the book."
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When asked why he chose the medium of comic books to address issues of HIV/AIDS, Walker said that it was in order to appeal to the group at the greatest risk: youth.

"It's an epidemic that is spreading among our young people at an accelerating rate. A lot of people running around don't know that they're HIV positive until it's too late," Walker said. "I don't think the younger generation really understands the [severity] of it."

Walker has included a plethora of HIV/AIDS related information in the back of each issue of The O+Men. The articles—which include myths and facts about the disease, a listing of Web sites with detailed information and hotlines that readers can call—are included in the book to assist young readers who may suffer from HIV/AIDS or simply wish to understand it better.

"Some people hear about AIDS and are afraid to get tested," Walker explained. "They don't know where to go if they found that they are infected. That listing is in the book so people can be aware of where they can get tested and can get help and support about the virus."

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In spite of its important social message, The O+Men also promises to have all of the elements that draw so many readers to comic books in the first place.

"There's action, power, the excitement of any other comic book that's out there," Walker said. "The characters are gonna fight like any character from Marvel or DC, there will be villains—it just has a different story [than some might be used to].

"I'm going to hit a lot about sexuality, different cultures, global issues," Walker continued. "How other countries deal with the virus and how it differs here in America. Why the epidemic is bigger in some places and not in certain areas. It's going to be an exciting ride for everybody, including myself."

Ultimately, however, Walker is hoping to create a book that will educate and inspire people, and even himself. The writer said that he is always learning more about the virus as well.
"When I got tested myself, I found out how young these kids are," the scribe confessed. "I saw this little girl crying. She was maybe twelve or thirteen and she found out she was positive. It's really educated me about what's really happening...what's not being discussed about the virus.

"I want people to be inspired by The O+Men," Walker continued. "We go through our daily lives—we gotta go to work, got to do this—but when all is said and done, we all have to help each other to better the world. That's what I'm thinking. In my opinion, we are all here to help each other, no matter what background. We can help make the world a better place if we try. If we help each other, the world could be better. That's what I want people to get from my book."

The O+Men: Positive hits shelves in late May.

Abstinence-Only Tip Of The Week: A cup of Bleach A Day Keeps The AIDS Away

Katie Halper — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 18:10:00 GMT

Thanks to abstinence-only education, teens in Florida now know that all you need is one cupful of bleach to treat your AIDS. See how it works after the jump.

Nothing washes away your sins and gives you that fresh, white, clean , T cell abundant feeling, quite like Clorox. How does it work? I wasn't sure. I mean, I always assumed that the "cleaner with bleach" description meant that everything, including sex, was "cleaner with bleach." So I investigated and found the following scoop on the Clorox website:

Go ahead and let your kids be kids because you can trust Clorox® Regular-Bleach to help get rid of those tough kid stains like dirt, grass, and f~~ood messes~~ AIDS better than detergent alone or condoms.

You may remember when Scanner Emily broke the abstinence-only doesn't work story right here, on this very blog!