President Obama Signs World AIDS Day Proclamation

President Obama today signed an official proclamation recognizing this year's World AIDS Day. "Creating an AIDS-free generation is a shared responsibility," the commander-in-chief said in his prepared remarks.

More from the remarks, which I've included AFTER THE JUMP:

Today, we reflect on the strides we have taken toward overcoming HIV/AIDS, honor those who have made our progress possible, and keep in our thoughts all those who have known the devastating consequences of this illness. The road toward an AIDS-free generation is long -- but as we mark this important observance, let us also remember that if we move forward every day with the same passion, persistence, and drive that has brought us this far, we can reach our goal. We can beat this disease. On World AIDS Day, in memory of those no longer with us and in solidarity with all who carry on the fight, let us pledge to make that vision a reality.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States do hereby proclaim December 1, 2012, as World AIDS Day. I urge the Governors of the States and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, officials of the other territories subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, and the American people to join me in appropriate activities to remember those who have lost their lives to AIDS and to provide support and comfort to those living with this disease.

Read the remarks in their entirety AFTER THE JUMP.

Join Cleve Jones and ONE's Fight Against HIV/AIDS

In anticipating of World AIDS Day this weekend, activist Cleve Jones called on a few of his friends, including Colin Farrell, Kellan Lutz and Zoe Saldana Lark Voorhies, to participate in a new video series for the group ONE's campaign fight against HIV/AIDS: "It Starts With Me."

"Things only change when a new generation of people decides that something that was tolerable and acceptable is no longer for them and they say, 'It's got to be changed,'" Jones says in the video.

Watch Jones and company explain the disastrous, preventable gap in HIV/AIDS treatments around the world and how you can help end the nasty retrovirus once and for all AFTER THE JUMP.

Dr. Oz Says He Sees The Light On 'Ex-Gay' Therapy

Television doctor Dr. Oz's show yesterday to explore so-called reparative therapy, the harmful and distorted "therapy" that claims to cure people of same-sex desires.

As most of us already know, this is junk science that deserves less-than-zero credence, which is why GLAAD, GLSEN and PFLAG joined forces to deride Oz's decision.

"Producers of the Dr. Oz Show framed their program on so-called reparative therapy in a way that provided a lengthy platform for junk science," they said. "Although the show also featured guests who condemned the idea and practice of “reparative therapy,” Dr. Oz himself never weighed in, and the audience was misled to believe that there are actual experts on both sides of this issue. There are not."

Dr. Oz was apparently persuaded to their side, because on his website he wrote that he "agrees with the established medical consensus."

His post, via JMG:

Some guests argued that they have been changed thru these treatments, but I was overwhelmed by the pain of individuals hurt by the experience.  After listening to both sides of the issue and after reviewing the available medical data, I agree with the established medical consensus.  I have not found enough published data supporting positive results with gay reparative therapy and I have concerns about the potentially dangerous effects when the therapy fails, especially when minors are forced into treatments.

My biggest epiphany occurred after hearing where the opposing groups found some common ground. The guests who appeared on my show on either side of this debate agreed that entering into any therapy with guilt and self-hate is a major error. Trying to change who you are instead of loving who you are leads to broken spirits and broken hearts.

Encouraging self-acceptance is the only way to help alleviate the shame experienced by those who are struggling with their sexuality – and help them reach a place where who they are matches who they want to be.

Okay, great. So, moving forward, instead of calling this "reparative therapy," perhaps we can call it manipulative, repressive hocus-pocus?

News: Natural Gas, Exhuming, Another Bush, Manbar

90s stars we still know and love today.

Deceased Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's remains will be exhumed on Tuesday as officials investigate yet another rumor that the Israelis poisoned him. Great, just what the region needs: the ghost of Arafat hanging over a cease-fire.

Celebrities react to Larry Hagman's death.

A Chicago-area Catholic Church has offered to confirm Lennon Cihak, the Minnesota teenager denied confirmation at his own church after he supported marriage equality on Facebook.

Early reviews for Les Misérables are sensational.

Bush: The Next Generation: "George Prescott Bush, the son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and the nephew of former Texas governor and ex-President George W. Bush, has filed preliminary paperwork to run for office in the Lone Star state in 2014. That leaves the new Bush poised to become a key face in the next generation of Republican politicians."

Umm... "Does being fat make you more jolly?"

A natural gas explosion damaged 42 buildings, including a strip club, in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Critics are not being kind to Liz & Dick starring Lindsay Lohan. Tim Goodman from The Hollywood Reporter called it "spectacularly bad."

Skip It!

The LA Times profiles Dave Roberts, the first Democrat elected to the San Diego Board of Supervisors in over a decade. "He's also gay and married to a retired Air Force master sergeant. The two are adoptive parents to five former foster children, ages 4 to 17, who call them Daddy Dave and Daddy Wally."

From Monika Johnson's article "Making progressivism last": "Creating progressive infrastructure will ultimately yield decisions that change our economy and society. For example, I was struck recently when a relative turned down a lucrative deal because the organization was enacting anti-gay policies in conducting business. In making this decision, he took a stand for what he believed in and created a ripple effect that will influence that business’s chances of success."

Michael O’Kane, the editor of the Irish Daily Star, has resigned for his role in the publication of the nude Kate Middleton pictures.

A mural of a shirtless Prince Harry has become a huge attraction for London's Manbar.

The New York Times magazine spent some time with Scott Fahlman, inventor of the emoticon. "In 1982, as a young professor at Carnegie Mellon University, he realized the need for a symbol to temper the bickering that plagued online forums. The Internet was just a baby then, and yet already flame wars raged. Fahlman decided that a smiley face could be useful as a 'joke marker' (as he called it) to take the sting out of mocking statements or pranks."

Indiana's Purdue University has big plans for World AIDS Day.

Have Richard III's remains finally been found?

George Prescott Bush, the son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and the nephew of former Texas governor and ex-President George W. Bush, has filed preliminary paperwork to run for office in the Lone Star state in 2014. That leaves the new Bush poised to become a key face in the next generation of Republican politicians.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1112/84166.html#ixzz2DAwg1UUL

John Boehner Says Obamacare 'Law Of The Land': VIDEO

House Speaker John Boehner wouldn't go so far as to say that he and his Republican colleagues won't waste time trying to overturn President Obama's healthcare law, but the Representative did tell ABC News' Diane Sawyer that the signature legislation is "the law of the land."

"It's pretty clear that the president was reelected, Obamacare is the law of the land," he said, before adding, "I think there are parts of the healthcare law that are gonna be very difficult to implement. And very expensive."

Asked, "You won't be spending the time next year trying to repeal Obamacare?" Boehner responded, "There certainly may be parts of it that we believe-- need to be changed. We may do that. No decisions at this point."

Boehner also told Sawyer, "We don't have a Tea Party caucus to speak of in the House" and insisted failed vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan is not the leader of the party. Rather, he's a "policy wonk."

"He's involved in the cause of trying to bring us pro-growth economic agendas for America and making sure that we're doing this in a fiscally responsible way," said Boehner. "I'm glad that Paul Ryan's coming back to the Congress."

Watch video of Boehner telling Sawyer the GOP will not raise taxes to cope with the forthcoming fiscal cliff AFTER THE JUMP...

UPDATE: And, Boehner walks it back.

ObamaCare is law of the land, but it is raising costs & threatening jobs. Our goal has been, and will remain, #fullrepeal.

'Ex-Gays' Wish People Would Just Leave Them Alone

The New York Times, a paper whose editorial board once described right wing reparative therapies to "cure" homosexuality as "absurd", today has a piece about how so-called "ex-gays" are feeling ostracized and oppressed by all the work against harmful ex-gay "treatments".

According to them, they should be able to "turn straight" without fear of recrimination.

An excerpt:

Cameron Michael Swaim, 20, said he is in the early stages of his struggle to overcome homosexual desires. Mr. Swaim is unemployed and lives with his parents in Orange County, Calif., where his father is a pastor of the Evangelical Friends Church of the Southwest.

He tried the gay life, but “it just doesn’t settle with me,” he said, and ultimately decided “there’s got to be a way to heal this affliction.”

Through weekend retreats and participation in a Southern California support group Mr. Swaim has started to explore his family relations, he said, something that has been painful but seems to be helping.

“I’m building my confidence around men,” he said, “ and that has built my confidence around women.”

Five years from now, Mr. Swaim hopes, he will be engaged or married. In the meantime, he is trying to scrape together enough money to start seeing a reparative therapist.

Aaron Bitzer, the man suing the state of California over a ban on reparative therapy for minors, says that his own experience with innate gay feelings left him depressed and suicidal, two of the side effects doctors say reparative therapy can cause.

"If I’d known about these therapies as a teen I could have avoided a lot of depression, self-hatred and suicidal thoughts," he said. "I found that I couldn’t just say ‘I’m gay’ and live that way."