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The strain was found to resist five classes of antibiotics, a first in the U.S., according to the Massachusetts Dept. of Public Health (DPH). The two cases were ultimately cured with ceftriaxone, the lone remaining treatment recommended for gonorrhea. As of Thursday, officials said there was no known connection between the cases and that contact tracing was underway to see if there were any other infections. ... The novel strain has been seen in Asia-Pacific countries as well as the United Kingdom, but not in the U.S., according to the DPH. One case in Nevada had an infection that shared...

I’ve received a lot of e-mail asking why I haven’t written about the controversy over Kevin Jennings, Barack Obama’s “safe schools” czar. To be honest, the story is so shocking that I haven’t quite grasped how to approach it. Jennings ran an outfit called Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) from its inception in 1995 until last year. During that time, as Jim Hoft at Big Government has detailed, GLSEN offered sex education seminars to young teenagers within the framework of public education that went way, way beyond explanations of human biology and disease transmission. According to multiple sources,...

Obama’s Safe Schools Czar’s Teen Conference Literature Pushed Anal Sex in Parks With Strangers December 10, 2009 Jim Hoft In March 2000 the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) organization of Massachusetts held its 10 Year Anniversary GLSEN/Boston conference at Tufts University. This conference was fully supported by the Massachusetts Department of Education, the Safe Schools Program, the Governor’s Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth, and some of the presenters even received federal money. During the 2000 conference, workshop leaders led a “youth only, ages 14-21″ session that offered lessons in “fisting” a dangerous sexual practice. During the same...

BOSTON --Gov. Deval Patrick warned Thursday that Massachusetts will be crippled by a "political circus" if a proposed constitutional amendment banning gay marriage makes it to the state ballot. The Democratic governor, speaking to reporters a day after lawmakers delayed a vote on the proposed amendment, said he was actively lobbying legislators to kill it. "If this does get to a popular ballot, there is very little other business that will get done in Massachusetts politics and policy making while that is pending," Patrick said. Lawmakers on Wednesday postponed a vote until at least June 14. As expected, a joint...

Gov. Deval Patrick yesterday admitted he “really screwed up” by spending tax dollars on a leased Cadillac and high-end office furniture, but he strongly defended the hiring of a $72,000-a-year chief of staff for his wife. “Every governor has had staff to help support the work of the office, including the work of the first lady,” Patrick said during an impromptu press conference. “It’s official business.” However, a Patrick aide could recall only two events Diane Patrick has attended this year, one to promote early education initiatives in the State House and a second to appear at a reading event...

He’s not ready to run “Mitt for President” TV ads yet, but Gov. Mitt Romney has already hit the Internet with a video painting him as a hero in the battle of Beacon Hill, a move political watchers say should remove any doubt about his White House ambitions. Romney’s Commonwealth PAC Web site now features a video of the Republican’s “great American story,” which opens with a victorious Romney standing amid falling election-night confetti. Then, using not-so-subtle imagery, the video cuts to shots of Boston’s skyline under ominous dark clouds and crackling lightning, and an uphill shot of the State...

With 15 years' worth of failed gubernatorial races behind them, Massachusetts Democrats are gathering in Lowell this weekend for the party's platform convention, where prospective candidates will take center stage and the state party is expected to formally endorse same-sex marriage. ADVERTISEMENT The delegates will get to take the measure of three candidates who say they will probably seek the party's 2006 gubernatorial nomination: Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly, former federal civil rights enforcer Deval Patrick, and Secretary of State William F. Galvin. Another potential candidate also emerged or perhaps reemerged this week -- US Representative Michael Capuano, who stepped...

MASSACHUSETTSHundreds of gay couples exchanged vows in Massachusetts, which became the first state to let same-sex couples marry. Despite the joy, legal uncertainty remains. CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - More than 600 gay couples rushed to town halls and courthouses across Massachusetts on Monday to exchange vows and be pronounced 'partners for life.' They emerged to cheering crowds, live bands and rice-throwing relatives as the state became the first in the nation to allow same-sex marriages. Along with the party atmosphere came moments of somber reflection and deep emotion as the day marked two sorts of milestones: the leaping of a long-unthinkable...

<p>US Senator John F. Kerry is facing a serious challenge from Democratic rival Howard Dean in Massachusetts, according to a Boston Globe/WBZ-TV survey of likely voters in the state's presidential primary.</p> <p>The poll shows Dean getting 27 percent of the 400 likely Democratic primary voters, with Kerry receiving 24 percent. The two are far ahead of seven other candidates, with retired Army General Wesley K. Clark running a distant third with 6 percent.</p>