censorship

White House Witch Hunters Watch While We Wank

Lou FCD — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 17:33:02 -0700

What turns a person on? Is what arouses one person the same as what arouses every other person? Should it be? According to the current wave of successful obscenity prosecutions by both federal and state governments, the answer is not only a resounding “yes,” but exactly what is permissible under the law is subject to the whim of the FBI, the local and state governments, and a person's neighbor down the street. Video store owner Rick Krial was recently convicted in Staunton, Virginia, on one of two misdemeanor charges of obscenity and his store was likewise found guilty on one of two similar charges. He and his store still face trial on sixteen obscenity-related felony charges for selling pornographic DVDs to consenting adults for private viewing in their homes. Mr. Krial applied for and received all the proper business licenses and permits required of him, and the videos were made by legally documented consenting adults.

At the heart of this case and others like it is the legal definition of the word “obscene.” What is truly problematic here is that the definition of the word is as malleable as the sixteenth century definition of the word “blasphemy.” Current obscenity laws are based on a 1973 ruling by the Supreme Court in the case of Miller v. California. From that precedent comes the Miller test, whereby an item is deemed legally obscene (and thus unprotected by the First Amendment) if it meets all three of the following criteria: “a) 'the average person, applying contemporary community standards' would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest, b) the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law, and c) the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.” Each of these three standards is so subjective as to allow them to be brandished like Sixtus IV's pernicious bull of 1477.

(Continued below the fold)

What happened in Staunton, part 1: Store owner convicted for selling legally produced porn to adults

Elizabeth — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 18:59:21 -0700

A couple years ago we had the Alabama Vibrator case. Now we have the Staunton Pornography case. According to NewsLeader.com, Rick Krial, owner of After Hours Video, a store whose express purpose was to sell "adult" material to adults, was indicted on 16 felony charges and 8 misdemeanor charges for obscenity because in his shop he sold pornography to ... wait for it ... adults. From August 12-15 he was tried on two of the misdemeanor charges. He was convicted on one. His store was convicted of the same charge. An employee was found not guilty of the same charges. My attempt to make sense of this is below the fold.

A Valentine for Gene Nichol

Elizabeth — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 03:40:30 -0800

So maybe this isn't your typical Valentine's Day post. This is in reaction to the letter Gene Nichol addressed to the College of William and Mary community yesterday announcing his resignation as President of the college. It was a love letter, of the sort that comes at the end of a sudden and painful breakup. (Mimi alerted me to it, and I found it published by the campus paper, DogStreetJournal.com, but it's widely Google-able. Here is the transcript and audio of a passionate statement he gave to supporters. Video is available here.)

Nichol resigned after being informed that his contract would not be renewed. The nonrenewal seems to be largely because of controversy regarding four important decisions he made.

FCC: Men's butts are not sexual but women's are!

Elizabeth — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 09:05:39 -0800

This story about the FCC planning to fine ABC 1.4 million dollars over a shot of naked female buttocks on NYPD Blue back in 2003 is all over the net this morning.

The best comment I've seen about it so far is by Auguste at Pandagon. He writes:

...if I’m not mistaken, we’re still waiting for the first fine for an NYPD Blue male ass. And you couldn’t go five minutes in the first few seasons without seeing one of those.

The FCC's "indecency" rules prohibit certain images including those that depict sexual or excretory acts or organs from being broadcast between certain hours of the day (basically daytime and primetime hours). So it would seem that, at least according to the FCC, men's asses just aren't sexy.

I'm leaving the excretory inferences alone for now.

Technorati Tags: FCC, indecency, media

Photo of mannakin by Ordinary Guy on Flickr and used under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.

Things That Make Ya Go Hmmm....

JanieBelle — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 08:50:36 -0800

It's been a while since I've posted here, and for my recent lack of desire to do much blogging, I must apologize. I've been feeling the urge creeping up, however. Whether that's a good or bad thing remains to be seen, I suppose. :)

Anyway,

As long as the subject of zoophilia is currently in the spotlight at UDoJ, let me bring up something that I've been pondering for several weeks. In France there is an AIDS awareness campaign out that plays on our societal aversion to the "Ickyness" (to borrow a phrase) of sexual contact with animals to make the point that sex can be dangerous.

Obviously the ads would never fly here in the United States. The modern fundamentalist religion movement has forcibly dragged the societal acceptance of rational discourse about sex and sexuality far enough into the closet to prevent the ads from ever seeing the light of day on billboards and bus stops. Visual depictions of sexuality on this level are verboten in public due to the appeasement by both our society in general and our government in particular of the medieval false-prudery of a group of people with no connection to reality.

Discussion continues, below the fold.

Verizon to its customers: NARAL 2 CNTRVSL 4 U

Elizabeth — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 05:33:33 -0700

The New York Times reports this morning that Verizon has rejected a proposal by Naral Pro-Choice America to use its network for sending text messages to people who sign up for them. Other cell phone networks have accepted the proposal which allows subscribers to sign up to receive text message updates from NARAL.

According to a communication with Verizon that NARAL gave to the times, the company's policy is to reject proposals from groups that “promote an agenda or distribute content that, in its [Verizon's] discretion, may be seen as controversial or unsavory to any of our users.”

There are at least three very troubling pieces of this rationale.

CineKink presents "Liberty in Restraint"

Lisavnyc — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 05:39:27 -0700

CINEKINK @ PIONEER: Liberty in Restraint

The Pioneer Theater and CineKink team up to present another evening of kinky movies, pizza and beer.

LIBERTY IN RESTRAINT

As an aspiring photographer, the clandestine world of BDSM, fetish fashion and alternative sex was a powerful attraction for Noel Graydon, whose recent death saddened the fetish community. This riveting documentary introduces the mentors, muses and masochists who inspired Noel's artistic endeavors over the years, giving a glimpse into a world of S/M enthusiasts who approach their play "like an advanced driving course in sex," one where the initiated take carnal license to extreme limits. (Directed by Michael Ney, 2005, Australia, 90 minutes.)

Free pizza and beer reception follows for all ticket holders.

More info and tickets are at http://www.cinekink.com/pioneer/

Freedom of Speech

RG — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 17:36:38 -0700

Hi All,

RG here...my blog was closed due to an "outing" at work....it was job or blog....

I am being brave...changed my name....the blog...and taking off when I left off....

Please come by and say hello....at http://www.therenegadegoddess.com

My blog is about sacred intimacy....mid life...marriage....bd/sm.....self discovery...it is funny....sexy.....it is my life...

best to all of you,

Mistrial in the Tory Bowen/Pamir Safi rape case

Elizabeth — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 09:23:28 -0700

On my WordPress blog a few weeks ago I wrote about Tory Bowen, Pamir Safi and the ruling made by a judge that Bowen could not use the word "rape" in her testimony against Safi. Bowen alleges that Safi raped her while she was asleep, and his first trial ended in a hung jury. His second trial was just about to begin, but...

According to the AP, via the New York Times:

Filed at 10:00 a.m. ET

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Before a jury was even seated, a judge declared a mistrial in a sex-assault case where he had barred the words ”rape” and ”victim.”

Judge Jeffre Cheuvront of Lancaster County District Court said protests and other publicity surrounding the rape case against Pamir Safi, 33, would have made it too difficult for jurors to ignore everything they heard before the trial, which had been expected to begin next week.
read more

Sex Ed(itorials) in the New York Times!

Elizabeth — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 08:08:04 -0700

Two important sex-related editorials this morning:

First, the NYT comments on the need to pass the Safe Harbor For Exploited Youth act in New York. When NY passed its anti-trafficking legislation recently, it neglected to also pass this piece of very important legislation which would offer at least some protection to US citizens under the age of 18 who are being exploited for sex. As I've commented before, while I support most of the intentions of this legislation, there are problems, and these problems are pointed out by the editorial staff at the Times: