This morning the Federal Trade Commission launched the National Do Not Call Registry to give consumers a choice when receiving unsolicited telemarketing calls. As of today, you can register your phone numbers online and be placed on the National list. In addition, a toll free telephone registration number will become available in early July. If you register by August 31, 2003, you will be placed on the first edition of the list and you can expect to receiving fewer telemarketing calls beginning October 1, 2003 when the federal government and states begin enforcing the new telemarketing rules. See related story on June 26.

To register your phone numbers online, go to DoNotCall.gov.

» 9:18 AM :: permalink

In a decision gay rights groups hail as historic, the U.S. Supreme Court Thursday struck down a Texas state law banning private consensual sex between adults of the same sex. I've been following this law to an extent based upon research colleagues and I are conducting at the University of Connecticut Health Center as part of the federally funded multiyear HIV Criminal Law and Policy Project. This project is examining the effectiveness of public health and criminal laws on the transmission of HIV. One of the minor types of laws we are looking at are sodomy laws.

The court's 6-3 decision reverses course from a ruling 17 years ago in the case of Bowers v. Hardwick on the Georgia anti-sodomy law which was similar to the Texas Homosexual Conduct law. At the time, the court affirmed that states could punish homosexuals for what many of the laws have historically called deviant sex or unlawful carnal knowledge. The 1986 decision became a rallying point for gay activists. Yesterday, Justice Kennedy concluded that the 1986 ruling "was not correct when it was decided, and it is not correct today."

Generally, sodomy laws criminalize oral or anal sex, between consenting adults even in the privacy of their homes. As recently as the early 1960s, all 50 states had some sort of criminal law that outlawed consensual sodomy. Today, only 13 states have sodomy laws. Four states -- Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri -- prohibit oral and anal sex between same-sex couples. Nine states ban consensual sodomy for everyone: Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah and Virginia. It appears that Thursday's ruling apparently invalidates these state laws, as well. The remaining states repealed their sodomy law legislation or it was invalidated by the courts.

As a related aside, if one were to look geographically (or statistically) at the states with existing sodomy laws (before this ruling) and at states with the highest prevalence of HIV, one would find that these two pieces of data are related and correlated together statistically. You'll find that both high levels of HIV (and other STDs) can be found in the southern U.S. and that these states also tend to have anti-sodomy laws. In some way, the presence or absence of sodomy laws can be used to predict the prevalence and incidence of HIV. Are these laws "causing" higher rates of HIV in the south? Of course not, we can't assume causation in this instance especially since these laws were around long before we even knew about AIDS and HIV. However, it does seem that the culture, the conservative nature of the region, the religious nature of the "Bible Belt," the anti-homosexual and political climate, etc. are related to higher rates of HIV and may be contributing to say lower levels of condom use and safe sexual behaviors. We've just begun to look at this phenomenon and more on this will be forthcoming in the next 6 months.

The Texas case stemmed from a 1998 arrest of two Houston men, John Geddes Lawrence and Tyron Garner, under a 28-year-old Texas law making same-sex intercourse a crime. Responding to a reported weapons disturbance in a private residence, Houston police entered John Geddes Lawrence’s apartment and saw him and another adult man, Tyron Garner, engaging in a private, consensual sexual act. The couple was arrested and convicted of deviate sexual intercourse in violation of a Texas statute forbidding two persons of the same sex to engage in certain intimate sexual conduct. The Supreme court held that the Texas law and others like it violated the due process clause of the 14th Amendment.

To obtain a copy of the decision in Adobe PDF format, visit the Supreme Court website or Lambda Legal Defense. The case is Lawrence and Garner v. Texas, case no. 02-0102. For further information on the ruling, reactions and related news stories, try Google News. If you would like to learn more about the HIV Criminal Law and Policy Project, visit our website at http://www.hivcriminallaw.org.

» 7:33 PM :: permalink

Tomorrow at 8:30 AM EDT, the National "Do Not Call" registry will be launched at the White House in the Rose Garden by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and President Bush. The list will give consumers a choice about whether to receive telemarketing calls at home. The Federal Government created the national registry to make it easier and more efficient for you to stop getting telemarketing sales calls you don't want. You will be able to register online or by calling toll-free from the number you wish to register (after July 7th). Registration is free.

The Federal Trade Commission -- the nation's consumer protection agency -- and the states will begin enforcing the National Do Not Call Registry on Oct. 1, 2003. That's when consumers who put their numbers on the registry by August 31, 2003 will notice a drop in the number of telemarketing calls they get. Consumers who register after September 1, 2003 will notice a drop in telemarketing calls within three months of the date they register. Placing your number on the National Do Not Call Registry will stop most, but not all, telemarketing calls. Most telemarketers will be required to synchronize their call lists with the registry every three months.

Currently, I am on the State of Connecticut "Do Not Call" list which went into effect in January, 2001. Since placing my number on Connecticut's list, I received substantially less telemarketing calls; heck now I receive only about 1 or 2 phone calls a week period. My phone used to ring off the hook every night from about 7 PM until 9 PM with folks trying to sell me vacuums, carpet cleaning, and other unwanted items. Thank God for Caller ID, because before that I'd be stuck on the phone talking to these bozos who don't know how to take no for an answer! Most of the 26 states, including Connecticut, that have active do not call lists will transfer the numbers on their lists to the National Do Not Call Registry. Consumers in states that are transferring the numbers on their do not call lists to the national registry do not need to re-register. But consumers in states that are not transferring numbers to the national registry should register their number on the national registry if they choose to limit the telemarketing calls they get at home. I strongly encourage all consumers to consider joining the National list to stop most unwanted telemarketing calls and find out if they will need to re-register with the national listing.

For more information on the National Do Not Call list and the FTC's New Telemarketing Sales Rule, visit the FTC's special site at http://www.ftc.gov/donotcall/.

» 6:25 PM :: permalink

Most men have seen it at bars, clubs, and restaurants; advertising and entertainment creaping in the bathroom just above the urinals. For instance, I've seen in numerous places the daily sports page, comics, advertisements or even a TV screen (ESPN zone in Washington, DC and elsewhere) right above the hanging porcelain bowl. Watching the Yankee-Redsox game was cool and I didn't miss anything but, the reading materials and ads could probably go since I don't plan on sticking around in there all that long. If they keep this up, the lines at men's rooms might rival those of the opposite sex and if students at MIT have their way, soon above the urang could be a video game geared among other things to entertain and help you to become a more accurate urinater.

Two graduate students at MIT in Cambridge, Mass. have devised the "You're In Control" (Urine Control) system -- a video game for the urinal. The You’re In Control project is an effort to enhance the act of urination using computational technology. Sensors inside a urinal detect the motion of a stream of urine, so you can play games such as an offshoot of Whack-A-Mole while taking a leak. The prototype game shows hampsters leaping out of the ground and urinal operators try to shoot at them with a stream of mellow yellow. A successful hit turns a hamster yellow, makes it scream and spin out of control, and rewards the player with ten points. According to the students, "You're In Control encourages cleanliness while reintroducing play to the act of micturition."

Now I don't know about you but, hampster's and body functions are a little too close to home for my taste in public places especially if the guy two stalls away is firing away. Note how I said two stalls away, guys prefer to pee away from other guys unless forced to in a large sporting venue and they've got to go! I guess for me hamsters conjures up images of Richard Gere and those anoying dancing ones found on the Internet. The inventors also say however that the system could be modified for variety of additional software applications including uncovering a hidden image with their urine (sort of like a pee scratch ticket), displaying ads or stock quotes or other forms of bathroom multitasking.

For more information about a gadget only students at MIT could come up with as well as pictures of people playing at the urinal and a demonstration video, visit the You're in Control project website. So go ahead and grab your joystick to start some pentertainment at a urinal near you.

» 8:27 PM :: permalink

Our lovely British friends across the pond are reporting that a British comedian could face criminal charges for jumping into a shark's tank while naked and possibly causing a shark to croak. The 12-year old, three foot, smooth hound shark died suddenly two days after Guy Venables jumped into its tank as a publicity stunt at the Brighton Sea Life Center in southern England. According to staff at the aquarium, this species of shark is very susceptible to stress. The deceased shark is currently being examined by biologists to determine the cause of death. A spokeperson from the acquarium said, "if it is found that he [the shark] died from stress, we will prosecute Mr Venables for criminal damage." Read the full story courtesy of Reuters.

» 3:39 PM :: permalink

Human Monkeypox, a rare disease primarily found in central and western Africa related to smallpox, has never been seen in the Western Hemisphere before. But now infected prairie dogs are believed to be spreading the disease to humans right here in the United States. Some 33 people in Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana are reported to be the first cases of the illness in the western hemisphere after coming into contact with sick prairie dogs. This unusual outbreak in the Midwest was transferred to humans from exotic prairie dogs who got the virus from a diseased Gambian rat from Africa. Experts say this strain of the monkey pox virus started with an animal distributor in Illinois. The infected prairie dogs were then sent to another distributor in Wisconsin where they came in contact with customers.

According to the CDC, the disease was discovered in laboratory monkeys in 1958. People can get monkeypox from an infected animal through a bite or direct contact with the infected animal’s blood, body fluids, or lesions. The disease also can be spread from person to person, but it is much less infectious than smallpox. Symptoms of Monkeypox include headaches, blisters, coughing and a high fever. The illness typically lasts for 2 to 4 weeks. There is no specific treatment for monkeypox though no deaths in the US have been reported to date, however in rural Africa the case mortality ratios are as high as 10%.

First of all, who the heck owns a prairie dog as a pet? And what the freak do you do with them? Do you walk your prairie dog(s)? In case you haven't realized it, they are not real dogs! Won't it try and dig through your house? Where do you house them? In a dirt filled basement? Do they sell prairie dog cages? I am sure they are not as nice as the bubble filled complex at most zoos. Is somebody down in Texas wrangling up prairie dog babies and shipping them around the country as pets? I don't particularly think prairie dogs are all that exotic either -- they live in the prairies of the United States. Why are we selling them as exotic pets and who's buying these critters? Plus isn't at least one species of prairie dogs endangered? So wouldn't it be against the law to sell them? And they live in social groups. So you'd have to buy multiple prairie dogs to keep the little ground squirrels happy. Not to mention, they live in burrows in the ground, not living room sofas! They are banned in 17 states and now quarantined in 3 others.

Look prairie dogs as pets are a bad idea! Not just because they can get and spread this disease but its wrong. Keep prairie dogs where they belong -- in the wild and on the prairie, the prairie ecosystem depends on them. If you want to see a prairie dog, do us all a favor and go visit them at your local zoo. You can see them from those nice round bubbles in something that's much closer to their natural environment than you could ever provide!

Secondly, why the heck are we importing rats from Africa? For pets none the less! Don't we have enough rats in the US? We've already got roof rats and Norway rats which have managed to populate themselves all over the place. If you want a pet rat, visit New York City or some other large metropolitan area. Do all the cosmopolitians a favor, and take some of our own rats away and stop importing these things too.

» 3:53 PM :: permalink

Connecticut and four other Big East schools sued today to try to prevent Miami and Boston College from moving to the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), accusing them of secretly taking part in an expansion plan that could decimate the Big East. Filed in state Superior Court in Hartford, Conn., the lawsuit says Miami and Boston College professed loyalty to their conference while devising a "deliberate scheme to destroy the Big East and abscond with the collective value of all that has been invested and created in the Big East." Connecticut, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Virginia Tech and Rutgers are suing for financial damages and want an injunction to prevent Miami and Boston College from leaving. The lawsuit charges Miami and Boston College of making repeated assurances of their loyalty to the conference. It quotes Miami president Donna Shalala on March 6, 2002, reiterating Miami's commitment "in the strongest terms possible, emphatically stating that the University of Miami is in the Big East and has no interest in leaving it for any other conference." Based on that statement, and others like it, the lawsuit says several Big East schools financed major construction projects. Recently UConn spent $90 million on a new football stadium in preparation for Division IAA action. The other schools have invested millions in their athletic facilities with Pittsburg spending $100 million on a new athletic center. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said the state has "rock solid evidence" to support claims that there was a conspiracy to make misleading statements. Read the full story in the Hartford Courant.

» 6:50 PM :: permalink

Martha Stewart has stepped down as CEO of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSO). Stewart's resignation came hours after federal prosecutors in New York charged her with obstruction of justice, conspiracy, securities fraud and lying to investigators. Sharon L. Patrick takes the reigns of the company. The queen of home decor remains with the company as the Chief Creative Officer and a member of the Board of Directors. At Stewart's company, the scandal had already caused earnings to slump. Revenue in the first quarter dropped 15 percent from the same period a year earlier. You can read Martha's open personal letter at Martha Talks, http://marthatalks.com. Read the MSO press release.

» 12:46 PM :: permalink

In a related story, Martha Stewart, the 61 year old CEO of Martha Stewart Living - Omnimedia, style guru, and hero of housewives everywhere was indicted by a federal grand jury in Manhattan today. She pleaded not guilty to charges in the nine-count federal indictment, including securities fraud and obstruction of justice, which stemmed from her alleged involvement in the ImClone insider-trading scandal. Stewart's broker, Peter Bacanovic, also named in the indictment, entered a plea of not guilty too. Besides her plea in the courtroom, Stewart herself made no other comment.

Her company has been reeling since news broke a year ago that Stewart's name was tied to an insider trading scandal. Shares in the company stock have fallen by 50 percent and earnings have suffered: its first quarter loss were wider than expected. Can the company survive the latest troubles of Martha Stewart, the executive? Or will the company have to push the domestic diva off the perch she built to save itself? If so, can they survive without her? Only time, business and justice will tell.

» 7:33 PM :: permalink

Last night Sammy Sosa shattered his bat, but will it shatter his image? When home-run marvel Sammy Sosa's bat broke last night on an infield hit in his home town stadium, something didn't look right. Umpire Tim McClelland, who has a bizarre history of involvement in bad-bat incidents including the 1983 Kansas City Royals George Brett pine tar episode, picked it up and found it stuffed with cork - a serious rules infraction. At least nine others have used or admitted using corked bats at one point during baseball's history as the national past time. Sosa was ejected from the game and his 77 bats were confiscated by security to be checked. He had been caught red-handed in front of the hometown crowd.

Sammy said it was so and admitted the bat was juiced -- hollowed out and filled with cork to make it lighter and springy, but said he only used it for batting practice to entertain the fans. He said it was all a mistake and he grabbed the wrong bat. Sammy likely will serve a 7- to 10-game suspension, but his career will remain tarnished if his other bats are found to have been altered.

Sosa, arguably one of the best in baseball, won the 1999 home run derby with St. Louis Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire. Both helped bring fun back to baseball after the 1994 strike left a sour taste in fans' mouths. He's No. 17 on the career list with 505 homers. And at just 34, many believe he'll have a chance at Hank Aaron's record of 755 homers. How will this incident effect his three consecutive 60-plus home run seasons not to mention his nice-guy image? What about the kids who look up to this guy as a role model? What about cheating and the message it sends to them?

The Cubs beat the Devil Rays 3-2, but shouldn't sports be a cheerful diversion from the swindlers of the world like Martha Stewart, Enron, and WorldCom -- not another reflection of them!

» 6:56 PM :: permalink