Women Singing Out Invitation to Sing
July 7th, 2011 
Master 
Invitation to sing with Women Singing OUT!
If you are a women who likes to sing and your life has been touched by cancer, join us in
singing “Where I Live: A Breast Cancer Oratorio” by Diane Benjamin. Composed in 1999, this
important work stresses the environmental factors that still drive the high rate of cancer through
the experience of one woman.
Women Singing OUT!’s members are women whose unity comes from a deep abiding love
of song that honors the enduring spirit of all people. In performing Benjamin’s piece, we are
committed to creating a concert experience that will inspire, heal and create the sense of
community which has the power to transform our relationship with the Earth and each other.
The following link is an audio recording, furnished by the publisher, of the final song of the
Oratorio: http://www.yrmusic.com/v2/catalog/listing.php?yrID=YR6406.7P
WSO! will begin rehearsals on Wednesday September 7, 2011 and continue for 8 weeks.
The performance of this work, with an orchestral ensemble, will be on Sunday, October 30,
2011 at Christ Episcopal Church in Portsmouth, NH.
Requirements for your participation:
● Women need to have some recent experience singing.
● Singers may not miss more than two rehearsals and still participate in the performance.
● A charge of $40 will cover the cost of your music, a practice CD and portion of the
rehearsal expenses. (Financial aid available for those with need.)
● A commitment by August 31 will insure your place for this performance.
For more information contact :
Claudia Frost, Artistic Director
frostyc@comcast.net
978 468-1579
Web: www.womensingingout.org
Email: wesing@womensingingout.org
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Women-Singing-Out/83070201223
Twitter: http://twitter.com/WomenSingingOUT
Benefit the New Hampshire Freedom to Marry Coalition
July 5th, 2011 Master 
Bestselling author Jodi Picoult comes to the Highlands Inn for an event to benefit the New Hampshire Freedom to Marry Coalition. This fundraiser promises to be a special evening. Jodi and her friend Ellen Wilber who recorded the soundtrack accompanying Jodi’s latest book Sing You Home will be the honored guests at a reception at the Highlands Inn. The event continues at Bethlehem’s Colonial Theater where Jodi will read from Sing You Home and Ellen will share some music from the soundtrack. Jodi will answer questions from the audience and Jodi will be available to sign books afterwards. A selection of Jodi’s books will be on sale at the theater by the Village Book Store of Littleton.
The event “An Evening by the Rainbow Chairs with Jodi Picoult” will be held July 25, 2011 at 6pm. One may attend the reception at the Inn for a donation of $50 or more. Advance reservations are required for this part of the evening. People who attend the reception are invited also to attend the reading. Tickets to attend only the reading at the Colonial Theater (2020 Main Street, Bethlehem) are available for a donation of $10 or more and are available in advance and at the Colonial Theater the evening of the event. The Colonial Theater event will begin at 8pm.
Jodi’s describes the Highlands Inn’s signature rainbow chairs in her book as evidence of the welcoming her protagonists find at the Highlands Inn. This inspired the title of the event and why donors able to make a gift to the New Hampshire Freedom to Marry Coalition of $1,000 or more will be known as Rainbow Chair Sponsors. These special guests will be acknowledged at the reception and will receive preferred seating for 2 at the Colonial Event. To learn more about being a Rainbow Chair Sponsor, contact Grace Newman at the Highlands Inn at 603-869-3978 or email vacation@highlandsinn-nh.c
Tickets to An Evening by the Rainbow Chairs are available by emailing vacation@highlandsinn-nh.c
calling the Inn at 603-869-3978
or online atwww.bethlehemcolonial.org
Rhode Island to get Limited Civil Unions??
July 1st, 2011 Master 
Rhode Island has joined (sort of) the gay marriage movement with a limited (read biased) version of Civil Unions. The new governor of Rhode Island, Lincoln D Chafee, and Gordon D. Fox, the openly gay speaker of the Democratic-controlled House started out with great hopes for Gay Marriage in RI. But later, the evil witch of the west - M. Teresa Paiva Weed, a Democrat and the State Senate president – pushed the issue and made Mr. Fox settle for Civil Unions.
Then other groups got involved and pushed more buttons (or tornados), and provisions were added to the Civil Union bill…..
**Religious organizations are not required to recognize the Civil Unions at all! This means that Catholic hospitals can kick out gay or lesbian partners from the patient’s rooms without a worry. Religious schools and groups can refuse to offer medical insurance or sick leave.
** Civil Unions are still a “second class” status and do not give equal rights in marriage
**Does not recognize civil unions or marriages in states that do have Gay Marriage
If the Governor of Rhode Island signs this bill into law, gays and lesbians of Rhode Island will be set back due to religious restrictions that might stay in place if gay marriages are allowed in the future.
STD & HIV Testing Cut in Manchester
July 1st, 2011 Master 
MANCHESTER, N.H. — City health clinics in Manchester are no longer testing for sexually transmitted diseases and HIV starting Friday due to funding cuts by the state.
The Manchester Health Department said the testing is ending because the state cut funding in its budget for the services. The services had included confidential diagnosis, testing and treatment as well as confidential HIV testing and counseling. None of those services will be offered.
The department recommended that people seeking those services should contact their doctor or go to a community health center, hospital emergency department or urgent care center.
Read more: http://www.wmur.com/news/28417095/detail.html#ixzz1Qs9g7sc5
One step closer to HIV cure?
June 29th, 2011 Master 
Sooty mangabeys, a type of monkey found on the western coast of Central Africa is immune to SIV (Simian Immunodeficiency Virus). After much research scientists now have a better understanding of how this little monkey is able to ward off SIV, while other apes contract the infection.
First, it’s important to understand that SIV is to monkeys, what HIV is to humans. And just like HIV, SIV develops into AIDS like symptoms in primates. However, this certain species of monkey, Sooty mangabeys are able to avoid Monkey AIDS through what researchers are calling a Central Memory T Cell. This special type of T cell responds to the virus and assists ‘normal’ T cells in surviving the infection.
Emory University researcher Mirko Paiardini comments:
“Not all T cells are created equal. Some appear to be more important than others for keeping the immune system up and running. This is why having central memory T cells resistant to infection is so valuable. By protecting central memory T cells, sooty mangabeys avoid the loss of T cells and the chronic immune activation that are the hallmarks of AIDS in humans. For several years, we and others thought lack of chronic immune activation was the main factor protecting sooty mangabeys from AIDS. This study changes this working model and proposes that lack of immune activation in sooty mangabey is secondary, deriving from their ability to protect and maintain their central memory T cells.”
Sooty mangabeys might just be the key to unlocking the body’s coping mechanisms when HIV infection is present, and locking away AIDS for good.
Thirty Years of HIV
June 27th, 2011 Master 
There are more than one million people with HIV in the U.S. and more than 1,200 people with the virus in New Hampshire as of Jan. 1, 2011. There are approximately 40 to 50 new cases per year, and an estimated 21 percent of people with HIV do not know they have it, said State Epidemiologist Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis, who provided these statistics.
Though the numbers aren’t concrete, Richard Wagner, executive director of AIDS Response Seacoast, said he has seen an increase in infection rates on the Seacoast. In the last year, ARS has received more than a handful of referrals from the Lovering Health Center, he said, and many are newly diagnosed young men.
“Everyone should be tested and take control,” Wagner said. “The sooner somebody is diagnosed with having HIV, the sooner that person has less of a chance of spreading it to others by taking precautions. And the sooner they are in medical care, the chances of them living a relatively normal life are fairly good now.”
Currently, almost 40 percent of people with HIV are not diagnosed until they have already developed AIDS, Wagner said, and irreparable damage will have been done to their body.
Highlands Inn Up For Sale
June 27th, 2011 Master 
Summer is upon us in the White Mountains and I am reminded of the first summer I spent here 28 years ago after buying the property that has become the Highlands Inn. I had no idea then, what the Highlands Inn would become and how important it would be in the lives of so many women. It touches me very deeply to know that some of you who are reading this have met some of your best friends and even partners at the place born of my dreams and many people’s hard work. I am profoundly grateful for all of you who have expressed how much the Highlands Inn means to you and the part it has played in your lives.
FREE HIV TESTING MONDAY
June 26th, 2011 Master The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services is offering free HIV testing at 11 health clinics throughout the state.
Monday is National HIV Testing Day and the New Hampshire clinics will offer free mouth swabs tests, with results available in 20 minutes.
HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. Health officials say 21 percent of the people infected with HIV in this country don’t know they carry the disease.
Testing is recommended for everyone age 13 and older.
The clinics are being held in Berlin, Colebrook, Concord, Laconia, Littleton, Manchester, Nashua, Ossipee, Plymouth and Portsmouth. Hours of operation vary.
Call the health department at 271-4502 for times and locations.
Read more: http://www.wmur.com/health/28361090/detail.html#ixzz1QQL45FH6
New York to Allow Gay Marriages!
June 24th, 2011 Master
New York joins the rest of us grown up states in extending gay marriage rights to us!!!
By a vote of 33 to 29 tonight (Friday), New York senators voted to allow gay marriage to become the sixth and most populated state to do so!
After Governor Andrew Cuomo signs the bill into law, same-sex weddings will begin in 30 days. Religious institutions and nonprofit groups with religious affiliations will not be compelled to officiate at such ceremonies if they decide to stay in the dark ages though.
New York joins five other states — New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut, Iowa — and the District of Columbia to grant same-sex marriage licenses.
Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo has promised to pass the bill into law.
Predictably, the Catholic Church condemned the historic law, saying, ““We strongly uphold the Catholic Church’s clear teaching that we always treat our homosexual brothers and sisters with respect, dignity and love. But we just as strongly affirm that marriage is the joining of one man and one woman in a lifelong, loving union that is open to children, ordered for the good of those children and the spouses themselves. This definition cannot change, though we realize that our beliefs about the nature of marriage will continue to be ridiculed, and that some will even now attempt to enact government sanctions against churches and religious organizations that preach these timeless truths.”
**Since they didn’t put any residency requirement on this bill, that means any couple from the US can get MARRIED in NY!**
