Sally Ride, first American woman in space, dies of pancreatic cancer; survived by partner of 27 years

• Sally Ride Pancreatic Cancer Initiative (Fund 4191)

Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, has died at 61 of pancreatic cancer, according to her website.

The Sally Ride Science foundation also announced that Ride is survived by her partner of 27 years, Tam O'Shaughnessy:

Sally Ride died peacefully on July 23^rd, 2012 after a courageous 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer. Sally lived her life to the fullest, with boundless energy, curiosity, intelligence, passion, joy, and love. Her integrity was absolute; her spirit was immeasurable; her approach to life was fearless.

Sally was a physicist, the first American woman to fly in space, a science writer, and the president and CEO of Sally Ride Science. She had the rare ability to understand the essence of things and to inspire those around her to join her pursuits.

Sally’s historic flight into space captured the nation’s imagination and made her a household name. She became a symbol of the ability of women to break barriers and a hero to generations of adventurous young girls. After retiring from NASA, Sally used her high profile to champion a cause she believed in passionately—inspiring young people, especially girls, to stick with their interest in science, to become scientifically literate, and to consider pursuing careers in science and engineering.

In addition to Tam O’Shaughnessy, (pictured right) her partner of 27 years, Sally is survived by her mother, Joyce; her sister, Bear; her niece, Caitlin, and nephew, Whitney; her staff of 40 at Sally Ride Science; and many friends and colleagues around the country.

AIDS Memorial Quilt on display at White House

News release from The White House:

The return of the International  AIDS conference to the U.S. marks a moment to celebrate the American leadership and efforts that have transformed the response to the epidemic, to remember the lives lost to this disease, and to recommit to the vision of an AIDS-free generation.

One enduring symbol of the lives that have been lost is the AIDS Memorial Quilt. First started in 1987, the quilt now contains the names of more than 94,000 of individuals who have died of AIDS on more than 47,000 panels.  The quilt was first displayed on the National mall in 1987. During the conference, panels of the quilt will be shown on the mall and in over 50 locations throughout the District of Columbia metropolitan area, including the White House.

Earlier this week a section of the Quilt was put on display in the East Wing, so that the hundreds of visitors that go through the halls of the building each day can stop and remember the human toll that this disease has taken, and how far we’ve come as a country in the fight against HIV/AIDS.  While much work remains to be done, we all look forward to the day when there are no more panels to add to the quilt. Thanks to our collective efforts, that day is closer than ever.

As President Obama said on World AIDS Day, together we can and we will win this fight.

Posted by Grant Colfax, Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy

US donates extra $150 million to battle AIDS

BY LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP MEDICAL WRITER

WASHINGTON -- Science now has the tools to slash the spread of HIV even without a vaccine - and the U.S. is donating an extra $150 million to help poor countries put them in place, the Obama administration told the world's largest AIDS conference Monday.

"We want to get to the end of AIDS," declared the top U.S. HIV researcher, Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health.

How long it takes depends on how quickly the world can adopt those tools, he said - including getting more of the millions of untreated people onto life-saving drugs that come with the bonus of keeping them from infecting others.

"No promises, no dates, but we know it can happen," Fauci told the International AIDS Conference.

Some 34.2 million people worldwide are living with HIV, and 2.5 million were infected last year.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the goal is an AIDS-free generation. That would mean no babies would be born infected, young people would have a much lower risk than today of becoming infected and people who already have HIV would receive life-saving drugs so they wouldn't develop AIDS or spread the virus.

"I am here today to make it absolutely clear the U.S. is committed and will remain committed to achieving an AIDS-free generation," Clinton told the more than 20,000 scientists, people living with HIV and policymakers assembled for the conference.

Click here to read more.

DirectMale.com offers promotional vouchers for products targeted to gay men

DirectMale.com is an online voucher company that provides product specials targeted to the gay male consumer. From the website:

Direct Male started in 1992 and is the pioneer in the affinity and niche marketing arena, connecting you, the gay male consumer, to companies that want to do business with you.  Way back then we were distributing award-winning card packs of promotional advertising material sealed in a foil wrapper to tens of thousands of gay male households through the U.S. Postal Service.  We’re sure a lot of you remember us then, wrapped in layers of luscious black and gold.   What can we say?  It was the ‘90s.

For 10 years, it was our goal to provide quality products and services to gay men from companies that covet your business.  That is true still today.  We are still rooted in the heart of Dupont Circle, Washington D.C., we’ve polished our look and equipped ourselves to enter this digital age with the same passion and conviction (and some of the same people too).

Anti-gay bill sparks outcry in Ukraine; would ban sympathetic film, TV portrayals and pride parades

BY MARIA DANILOVA, ASSOCIATED PRESS

KIEV, Ukraine -- If a group of Ukrainian lawmakers succeeds in its mission, TV shows and movies sympathetically portraying homosexuals such as "Brokeback Mountain" will be banned. So will gay pride parades.

The recently introduced bill, supported by the president's representative in parliament, would impose prison terms of up to five years and unspecified fines for spreading "propaganda of homosexuality" - defined as positive public depiction of gays in public.

It has sparked an outcry from rights organizations in Ukraine and beyond, who condemn the bill as a throwback to Soviet times when homosexuality was a criminal offense. They also warn that harassing the gay community could lead to a spike in the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Ukraine, one of Europe's most severe, by driving gays further underground.

Click here to read more.

Report: Grindr gay dating app overloaded, crashes just as Olympic athletes arrive in London

Grindr, the gay dating app, apparently is so hot in London right now, its server crashed as the first Olympic athletes arrived, reports people.co.uk:

Technicians believe the arrival of Olympic teams on Monday sparked a flood of new customers – and loss of the service in East London.

On Thursday, Grindr CEO Joel Simkhai apologized on the site's blog, headlined Sorry About That ...:

Hey, guys.

I want to take a minute to personally apologize for the service disruptions that you experienced during the past few days. I know it was frustrating; I was frustrated myself. Just like many of you, I rely on Grindr in my day-to-day personal life, and not having access to it made me feel disconnected.

Click here to read Simkhai's complete post.

Video | Tripp saying 'faggot' to his mother Bristol Palin and Willow on 'Life's a Tripp' reality show

Posted to YouTube:

Tripp saying "faggot" to his mother Bristol Palin and Willow on "Life's a Tripp" reality show