U.S. Forces Death Toll in Iraq Reaches 3,000

The U.S. military in Iraq reached a grim milestone at year's end as the Pentagon announced a toll of at least 3,000 soldiers dead.

Specialist Dustin Donica, 22, of Spring, Texas, who was killed Thursday by small arms fire in Baghdad, was the 3,000th soldier to die, the Defence Department said Sunday.

Donica was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Airborne Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.

His death was announced just after the hanging of deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein on Saturday, which sparked U.S. forces in the embattled country to be on high alert for potential reprisals by Sunni insurgents.

Donica's death was announced by U.S. military authorities in Washington rather than Baghdad.

Earlier Sunday, the U.S. military announced a U.S. soldier was killed Saturday by a roadside bomb in southeastern Baghdad. It is customary that the military announces deaths a day after they occur.

The latest death comes as President George W. Bush has been forced in recent weeks to re-examine the U.S. strategy in Iraq following escalating sectarian violence in the country — in which bombings, executions and torture have become daily occurrences.

At least 111 U.S. service members were reported to have died in December, making it the deadliest month for U.S. forces in more than two years.

At least 820 U.S. military personnel died in Iraq in 2006, according to a count by the Associated Press.(AP)

Worker

benetton

Hey Judson

All American Guys

Debutantes USA

A U.S. Naval Academy midshipman (C) smiles at debutantes in the reception line at New York's famed Waldorf Astoria Hotel during the 52nd International Debutante Ball December 29, 2006.

Some 53 young women from nine countries made their formal debut at the annual ball where more than 2,000 women from 72 countries have been presented since 1954.

waterboys

New Surveys List Gay-Friendly Favorites

~From the New York Times ~

What do gay travelers want? According to two recent surveys, pretty much one thing. As Aretha Franklin might put it: R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Nearly half of all gay men and lesbians surveyed by the Travel Industry Association — in conjunction with Harris Interactive and Witeck-Combs Communications, a gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (G.L.B.T.) strategic marketing and communications agency — said a destination’s “gay friendliness” was the key factor in planning a vacation.

Also high on their list — safety, specifically a place where they will not feel intimidated or threatened if they publicly hold their partner’s hand. The online study also revealed they want places that are “culturally welcoming” and “support diversity and G.L.B.T. civil rights.” Given those results, it was hardly surprising that panelists named San Francisco; Key West, Fla.; New York; Fire Island, N.Y.; and Provincetown, Mass., as their top five “gay friendly” United States destinations.

More interesting, perhaps, are the results of a second study, conducted by Community Marketing in its 11th Annual Gay and Lesbian Travel Survey. While favorite destinations included Las Vegas, London, Palm Springs, Calif., Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and even China and South America, interest in the Caribbean, the survey reports, “appears to be waning.” While the study points to the bad reputation some Caribbean islands have received after isolated gay-bashing incidents in the last few years, one company specializing in gay travel, Atlantis Events, thinks it may have more to do with the fact that the Caribbean has a “been there, done that” feeling for many high-end travelers.

“A lot of our clients have been to the Caribbean and are looking for a new experience,” said Stephan Roth, director of guest relations for Atlantis, adding that the group’s Baltic cruise, scheduled for this summer, sold out in a week and a half.

Fire Island

Saddam Hussein Put to Death

Saddam Hussein struggled briefly after American military guards handed him over to Iraqi executioners before dawn Saturday. But as his final moments approached and masked executioners slipped a black cloth and noose around his neck, he grew calm.

In a final moment of defiance, he refused a hood to cover his eyes.

Hours after Mr. Hussein faced the same fate he was accused of inflicting on countless thousands during a quarter-century of ruthless power, Iraqi state television showed grainy video of what it said was his body, the head uncovered and the neck twisted at a sharp angle.

A man whose testimony helped lead to Mr. Hussein's conviction and execution before sunrise said he was shown the body because "everybody wanted to make sure that he was really executed."

"Now, he is in the garbage of history," said Jawad Abdul-Aziz, who lost his father, three brothers and 22 cousins in the reprisal killings that followed a botched 1982 assassination attempt against Mr. Hussein in the Shiite town of Dujail.(keep reading)

Strong Shadows

Few Gay Teens Disclose Orientation to Doctors

Only about a third of gay, lesbian, and bisexual teens involved in a recent study said they tell their doctors about their sexual orientation. The survey, released by the RAND Corporation on Thursday, revealed that even though 70% of those who took part said they were aware of their sexual orientation as teens, just 35% told their doctors.

"We were surprised by these results," Garth Meckler, assistant professor of emergency medicine and pediatrics with the Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, told United Press International. "We figured they would have a higher disclosure rate than most youth, and yet, despite being out to almost everyone in their lives, only 35% had told their doctor about their sexual orientation."

Mark Schuster, director of health promotion and disease prevention at RAND Health in Santa Monica, Calif., and professor of pediatrics and public health at the University of California at Los Angeles, said the survey should serve as "a reminder to physicians who take care of teens to try to create a comfortable, safe environment for young people to be open about their orientation, as well as other aspects of their sexuality."

The study by RAND -- a nonprofit research organization -- and UCLA is published in the December issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. Researchers surveyed 131 participants at the Models of Pride Youth Conference. (The Advocate)

Vintage - Bob Bishop & Al Parker

Richard Simmons Has a Message for You!

I thought this would help all of us get over that post Christmas blues!
Thank you Richard!!!

The Great Divide

(thanks Coup for the pic)

"Made In Brazil" Selects Hottest Brazilian of 2006

The winner for 2006 is...

More

Juan Martin Berberian - Hot Argentinian

Rugby Player
Date of Birth: 25.04.1977
Country: Argentina
Height: 1.93m
Weight: 100kg
Position: Wing / full-back
Recently graduated from Universidad de Buenos Aires as a lawyer

Random Boys

Behind the Wheel

Haj in Mecca 2006

Muslim pilgrims pray at the Al-Masjid al-Haram mosque in the Saudi holy city of Mecca. It is an obligation for all Muslims to undertake the pilgrimage at least once in a lifetime, if they are physically and financially able.

Pilgrims complete a series of rituals to cleanse themselves of sin. They begin by walking seven times round the Kaaba, a cube-like building in the centre of the Al-Masjid al-Haram mosque, in an anti-clockwise direction.

Saudi authorities estimate nearly 3 million pilgrims are attending this year's haj - more than 1.6 million from abroad, with the rest Saudis or other residents of the kingdom.

John F Kennedy Boulevard - B.Weber

Cover Me Bree

G Magazine

Pool Boy

Jerry's 2006 Christmas Party - Part II

Part One

Architecture and Morality (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, 1979)

（おーけすとらる・まぬーばーず・いん・ざ・だーく）

［オーケストラル・マヌーヴァーズ・イン・ザ・ダーク］

Hot Chopper Boy

Dangerous Rooftop

A U.S. Army soldier from Company A of the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, stands guard on a rooftop as an Apache helicopter passes overhead in New Baghdad, an eastern neighborhood in Baghdad, Iraq, where soldiers searched for weapons and suspected insurgents.

Christian Yanik

Super Hot Photos by ADAM BOUSKA

Stephen Harmison

England's Stephen Harmison pulls his cap down during a Christmas day training session at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia.

Official ‘Fantastic Four 2′ Trailer!!

Vinci Alonso - Why We Love Puerto Rico

Vinci Alonso is a model who's been featured on MTV's "8th and Ocean".

He was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico and raised in Guaynabo City.

Age: 24

Horoscope sign: Capricorn