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U.S. Justice Department Prepares Assault on Pr0n
An anonymous reader writes "The Baltimore Sun is reporting that the Justice Department is preparing to reawaken old laws to fight the war on ... no, not terrorists... porn! And not just the kinky stuff either. In the age of Internet connectivity, will this mean these jobs are headed to India too?"
U.S. Justice Department Prepares Assault on Pr0n
About damned time, too. The Long John Silvers giveaway was bad enough.
Stressed? Me? Of course not. Stress is what a rubber band feels before it breaks, silly.
Let's hope so. Indian women are hot.
I hope they do a better job than the director of 'Anal Assault 5' .... Or do I?
I fail to see how this war will help gas prices at all? What's the point? :)
I for one welcome our new Indian porn actresses.
Please send all UCE to scally@devolution.com so I can f
All mediums are used for porn almost as soon as they are made, and AFAIK none has every stopped being used. No laws are going to stop it.
then lets go after the easy targets.
It is amazing what an election year can cause with regard to a countries policies and priorities.
...they pry it from my glazed, sticky fingers!
Karma Sutra MOD me up! Or down.
slashdot article... too easy... brain explodes....
cue the 800+ pr0n jokes (then they came for the pr0n, youll pry my pr0n from my cold dead hands, in soviet russia pr0n fucks you, etc) in 3... 2... 1...
They are going to say the pr0n you download isn't yours and that you can't make copies.
If this law is enforced will everyone once again turn their backgrounds black? Should be nifty and sad at the same time.
how I would get a job there. Everytime I try to browse pRon at work from 9-5 my boss gets quite annoyed and threatens to end my contract. This guy is getting PAID to do it??!! And he is ALLOWED to??!!
>>...will this mean these jobs are headed to India too?
Not jobs, just websites:)
KKHHAANN!!
Is this a joke? Wait, the most serious stories I have seen in the past 7 days were on April Fools.... GMAIL by google.
I am Lord Snowbeam. Heed my call!
> will this mean these jobs are headed to India too?
Yeah I can see all the porn stars moving to India. Imagine the next volley of Playboy TV: "Candy Suxxx: Bombay Butts", "Candy Suxxx: Lucky Lucknow"... et cetera.
Let me tell you, Indian porn was a big draw. The English love it.
"Department officials say they will send 'ripples' through an industry"
Perhaps they mean "jiggles"?
-----------------------
To understand recursion, one must first understand recursion.
luckily for me i have enough porn to last a life time. god bless Bram Cohen (creator of bittorrent)
Don't they realise that it seems moronic to declare a War on Porn all of a sudden? Why didn't they start back in the 70s when it started on Usenet and elsewhere? They're just hypocritical. I bet there's some lobbyist pulling the strings behind the scenes. The whole thing just reeks through-and-through of bullshit.
You'd think with it's war against religious fundamentalists in other countries (and one in which the Bush administration was touting that one of the reasons for attacking these countries is the lack of freedom the countries allow their citizens), that the U.S. would eliminate it's own Taliban killjoys. Nope. Instead these strict politicians get elected to office. My opinion is that people are just about the same no matter where in the world you go.. whether it's Afghanistan or the U.S.. the only difference is the magnitude of how corrupt the power hungry people have become.
This is of course being spear-headed by John Ashcroft, a very conservative christian. The very same John Ashcroft who spent $8000 of taxpayer money to cover up the bare breast of the statue of Lady Justice.
He once gave a speech at Bob Jones university, that contained such amazing lines as "Unique among the nations, America recognized the source of our character as being godly and eternal, not being civic and temporal. And because we have understood that our source is eternal, America has been different. We have no king but Jesus."
If he's offended by the bare breast of a statue, just imagine what he thinks of porn. That this man holds public office frightens me very, very much.
I'm not a USAian, but even I can't wait for the Presidential election at the end of the year. Please, vote these right-wing idiots out and do the world a favour. Enough is enough.
This from a man who is *so offended* by the statue of Justice in the Supreme Court building, he ordered it covered up.
Talk about a right-wing freako nutcase. This is our government, folks. Get used to 4 more years when Bush steals the election again in November.
The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
I can't believe that the DOJ is focusing on this now.
With everything else that they could focus on they are going to waste thier time on this.
Well I guess it is not completely unexpected as we all know that Ashcroft covered up the semi-nude statue.
Que Pasa?
Alright everybody in unison say it like Captain Kirk in Wrath of Kahn. Khan!!!!
Asscroooffft!!!!!!
PS: Ass not Ash is intentional.
Veramocor
If the WTO wants Americans to gamble onlne, I wonder if they will insist that Americans have the right to buy from international image vendors of their choice too?
Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
I certainly hope he is not looking at Tila Nguyen's porno.
The FBI US DOJ Just shut down www.GirlsPooping.com ! (really!!!!)
forced a married couple to sell home, lose all assets... and even lost the domain!!!!
they only had tame scat videos too. very tame.
the fbi is after all porn not just poop videos now!!!
Since when is Pr0n such a bad thing. If it wasn't for Pr0n, our children might be looking at Porn online.
The perfect antithesis then, to all the people who pay for the 'products' on sale. The line "Don't drink, don't smoke, what do you do?" springs to mind. Have you in fact checked he's still alive ?
Sure, I'm dead-set against kiddie porn - string them up by the bollocks and burn them over a slow fire. Sure, there are other people being exploited in this industry. Newsflash: there are people being exploited in *all* industries - it's just that society places a higher importance on sex than fishing, cooking, or cleaning (for example).
Yep, now we see, he is dead. In the water that is. When a public figures decide to go on a non-popular crusade, they're dead men walking. I suppose there's an outside chance (only in the US, [grin]) that he *might* be right - witness the uproar over 1 cm^2 of female flesh after a certain kickabout recently... Naaah.
Simon.
Physicists get Hadrons!
"Lam Nguyen's job is to sit for hours in a chilly, quiet room devoid of any color but gray and look at pornography"
/. crowd. It's just as well it cold in there...
Hmm...sounds like a day in the life of the
You break all the laws of physics and you seriously think there wouldn't be a price?
... only outlaws will have pr0n.
From the article:
(..) He said pornography "invades our homes persistently though the mail, phone, VCR, cable TV and the Internet," and has "strewn its victims from coast to coast."
Okay, it sounds like it's a virus or a mass murderer or something. It's PORN! The most natural thing in the world!
Good luck. I'd say community standards have outgrown Ashcroft and Taylor's antiquated worldview. The guy sitting in the room clicking through porn isn't ridding the world of bad guys as he claims, he's trying to force his religious beliefs on a population which isn't going to let him.
Jonathan Pearce jonathan@pearce.name
3EAAFB2A http://www.jonathan.pearce.name/
When you've fucked up the economy.
When you've screwed up the war on terror.
When you've got us a parriah nation because of the Iraqi quagmire.
Hey! Lets go after howard stern and HBO porn!
Yeah! That'll fool the idiots in voter land.
The funny part... some of you idiots will endorse this action. I hope you die of cancer.
I think I speak for a lot of us when I say: OH SHIT!
Congrats!
A fucking empty suit for a president and a nutcase for a attorney general.
I'm eagerly awaiting my copy of Sexual Ass Gerbil Does Dallas.
Asscroft wasn't elected. He was appointed.
The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
I mean, seriously, of all the things they could have picked........if there's anything us Americans like more than our booze and weed its porn and sex. Is Ashcroft BEGGING to have a lynch mob show up at his front door?
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
Who's Pr0n? Is he the dictator of some oil-rich middle eastern country... :)
This is my sig. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
Browsing at +5 -- check.
+3 bonus to funny -- check.
-3 penalty to everything else -- check.
Let the comments roll in!
No, really.
The only possible conclusion I can draw from this is "I don't partake, therefore it's bad and no one else should be able to, either". I guess this is the same line of thinking that still has people up in arms against homosexuality. "They're doing something I wouldn't do! Let's get 'em!".
Ashcroft, a religious man who does not drink alcohol or caffeine, smoke, gamble or dance
Great, so we better shut down Nevada, kill all breweries, tobacco companies, coffee importation, and *gasp* Rock and/or Roll while we're at it!
They're going to try to go after a multi-billion dollar industry because its material "is obscene by community standards". Um, just who exactly do these people think are paying these billions? Hate to break it to you, folks, but Mr. and Mrs. Joe American. Consentual pornography is, by definition, acceptable by community standards. There wouldn't be so much of it if it wasn't.
Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
NOOOOOOOOOOO! WHY????????
Why does it aleays happen to the wonderful things???? This is the best reason for going to LAN parties!!!
NOOOOOOOO!!!
...is that instead of turning the other cheek, so many of them are bound and determined to be assholes about content that they don't like, but other people do.
I think Martin Luther put it best when he pointed out that chastity was unrealistic and stupid to try to hold priests to.
Most groups don't seem to try to legislate morality on other folks. I don't agree with, say, ecoterrorism, but I don't think that radical environmentalist speech should be suppressed. But religious conservative types *do* try to mobilize and dictate what content people want to view (or at least make it more difficult and uncomfortable for them.)
May we never see th
So the dude's job is to look at porn all day, every day? What a nice, comfy... government job! And talk about "perks"...
I'm glad my tax dollars are going to help pay for his various porn subscriptions.
Federal Porn Budget line item: $xxx,xxx dollars
Outsourced Government, how very colonial. Seriously though a war on porn? Who decides what is offensive? Oh, wait, thats right we're a democracy.
As we push each industry out we reduce the influence we have on them. What would US copyright and patent laws do without some form of localized content creation?
Pop up some popcorn, this one will be a show.
Unix, an obscure operating system developed by bored researchers in an attempt to get a better game playing experience.
And frankly, a lot of companies are scared. At this point everybody is just making sure their 18 USC 2257 links are up to date, and hoping for the best. The company I work for recently stopped selling videos (actually, before the Extreme Associates case) for the reasons listed in the article... and we've maintained a list of states that we will not send tapes to, exactly for the reason that got EA busted. That whole inter-state commerce thing can really get you in trouble.
If they are actually going to go after the major TV and cable networks over their hardcore stuff, the industry as a whole is screwed. The majority of the "good" sites out there now make the spice channel look like hotel porn.
I just hope that Bush gets voted out in november, so that we can ditch Ashcroft. He is completely out of touch with morality in this country! I'm not trying to say we should be selling explicit hardcore porn from vending machines, it has its place in our culture, and he and his cronies seem to not see that.
Apparently, if you're rich/famous (Janet Jackson) or a Warner or some large movie studio, you can get around the law by showing anything *but* the nipple on national TV. I have seen programs on "family" channels, which I couldn't watch with my family without a certain amount of awkwardness. And it's not just visuals...highly suggestive but just-under-the-legal-limit dialogs are okay too - if you are a large company.
I read in the article that they're planning to strike against some HBO programs too - and I hope they either go ALL the way, and get over their hypocrisy and sue everybody including their "pocket liners" in the industry OR even better, leave normal pr0n alone, and go after child-pr0n etc as is more logical/practical.
'turds.
An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
This was Ashcroft's top priority before 9/11. He must have enough time on his hands to pursue it now.
Get it RIGHT next time.
Does anyone doubt our country is run by facists?
Religion is a gateway psychosis. -- Dave Foley
"This job, which Nguyen does earnestly from 9 to 5, surrounded by a half-dozen other "computer forensic specialists" like him, has become the focal point of the Justice Department's operation to rid the world of porn."
First, where do I sign up, and second, I sure as hell hope there are at least cubicle dividers between these "computer forensic specialists".
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
Worst economy in -decades-? What economic numbers are you looking at?
Reading this article reminds me of an urban legend I heard about. Apparently one time, there was a complaint made by someone about a cinema which was playing porn movies or at least one porn movie. For some reason or another, the FBI were called in to investigate. In order to carry out their investigation, the two agents had to enter the cinema, buy some tickets and write detailed notes about one or more movies. After hearing about this, the owner filed a FOI request, and got the transcripts; which amounted to a reversed engineered script of each movie.
Ashcroft downloaded xxxx-hot-britany-spears-xxxx-slut.mpg and got goats.ex instead...
How can they enforce laws which invade upon one's privacy? Laws which the Supreme Court has already said are unlawful by their very nature of intrusion?
If I remember correctly, there was a case not too long ago, in which the Supreme Court said something to the effect that, anything that happens behind the doors of your own home (whether physical, or digital) is your right to do or view.
How will the enforce laws which directly contradict this? Could get interesting, indeed.
-Phyrebyrd
"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." -Thom
Well, it sounds like the internet is going to be depornified any day now. Better download everything while you still can.
P.S. Did any censorware companies make a campaign contribution lately?
...Is to pry it from my hot, sticky hands!
It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. -Frederick Douglass
While obscenity is a Federal crime, the standards applied are "community standards".. So right-wing nutheads from will be determining what's "obscene" in San Fransisco. Presumably, pictures of gay couples getting "married" would be found obscene...
And you've got to love this:
The ensuing years saw an explosion of porn, so much so that critics say that Americans' tolerance for sexually explicit material rivals that of Europeans.
NOOOOOOoooooooooooo!!!! Think of the Children! They'll grow up to be all, all.. European-like!!
Can't have that happening!
Can't the FCC step in and prohibit the use of the words fuck, shit, piss, cunt, motherfucker, cocksucker and tits? (New CHEESE tits!)
SCO employee? Check out the bounty
I'm not too sure about them messing around with the normal stuff, but some of the really so-called "kinky" stuff out there just pollutes the whole batch for people who don't like young Hatian boys' feet. I mean, c'mon, who needs that crap? Maybe it will help to legitimize the online Pr0n industry while they're at it. Which might be nice in many situations, though not all. Over all I don't think they're really going to make that big of a difference. For me anyway. However, for all your French-Maids-Getting-Raped-By-Aliens pr0n lovers out there, you may have something to fear.
Department officials say they will send "ripples" through an industry that has proliferated on the Internet and grown into an estimated $10 billion-a-year colossus profiting Fortune 500 corporations such as Comcast, which offers hard-core movies on a pay-per-view channel.
It's interesting that the government looks for market-based solutions to behavior that actually kills people like dumping mercury into the air, serving arsenic-laden water to towns, or creating vehicular death-traps but when you offend their puritan sensibilities they go for the jugular--even when the market clearly says that a HUGE chunk of the electorate is all for a little obscenity.
The WH admin is pushing its opinions before they are out of office. I see in this a political motive.
The problem with attempting to legislate morality is that the inevitable question of whose morality is being legislated must be asked.
In the case of pornography and erotica in the United States, the morality in question almost always stems from conservative Christian interpretations of moral and immoral behavior based on the bible (side note: conservative Christians are not only found on the religious right; there are plenty of Christians on the left who are conservative about this issue).
In the end, a legal argument whose fundamental principles are rooted in religion is an invalid argument. It becomes impossible to be sure that the imposition of laws based on religion don't conflict with the First Amendment. In other words, John Ashcroft (as a Christian) does not have the right to make it more difficult for me (as an agnostic) to view whatever material I deem appropriate for myself. This has been established in cases that have been considered precendent-setting at the Supreme Court level.
So John Ashcroft can suck my big, fat, hairy...
In a speech in 2002, Ashcroft made it clear that the Justice Department intends to try. He said pornography "invades our homes persistently though the mail, phone, VCR, cable TV and the Internet," and has "strewn its victims from coast to coast." I hate it when I sit down for a nice family dinner and we get interrupted by a call from those pesky phone sex companies. Worse still are the unsolicited porno mags that I get in the mail daily. And there's nothing more annoying than coming home at night and finding a porno tape that somehow materialized in my VCR. Kudos to you John Ashcroft, you truly are a politician for the people.
http://ipod.fresh27.net/
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1112081/posts ?q=1&&page=1
Get an account and post what you think of this on this republican site.
You are a moron... One of the thousands of differences between the Taliban and the U.S. Government is that as you stated in your post our 'strict politicians' get elected to office... If you don't like it vote 'em out. Can you do that in Afghanistan?
If changing our world is playing God, it is just one more way in which God made us in His image. -Aubrey de Grey
In the months before 9/11, this was one of Ashcroft's big initiatives. Of course, that day changed things. Nice to see our law enforcement agencies working on important things.
...why Asscroft pushed so hard for the new "Anti-terrorist" laws. I don't think he gives a rat's ass about catching terrorists; his real objective is putting all the godless sinners behind bars.
I posted a good article about how the Xbox2 won't be using ATI or Nvidia, and it was shot down. But this article makes it?
I should have posted how Xbox 2 was going to stream P0rn on the net, I guess.
I dont think this is a troll. He's expressing his opinion that he wants Bush out of office.
Even if he is not a US resident remember that US action has far reaching consequences of the rest of the worl.
Though in theis case rhysweatherly i believe your foreign porn is still safe.
All limits are bad.
Nothing is indecent.
Money is everything.
Porn can't hurt anybody.
I think independently.
As I recall, he was appointed by a majority of the Supreme Court, two of which were appointed by his dad.
The article mentioned that US citizens just may have a high enough tolerance to sex that just might rival the tolerance of Europeans.
Hmm. And how do they determine that? And what makes us so different from them? Do we have, like, USgov implants?
Whats really bothersome is that they are attacking what adults choose to do. If it involved minors, thats another issue altogether, but these are all adults. If they don't want to participate, then they simply don't. Its not like you're going to suffer by your neighbor's sex-life.
(unless they turn it up too loud)
-CmdrMooCow
It's really wonderful that we're able to focus on naughty pictures and movies that American citizens legally buy. Obviously all the terrorists, murderers, rapists, Enron execs, and thieving digital pirates are safely behind bars, otherwise we couldn't spare the manpower.
Wait... what?
Yeah, the violence is nothing to worry about right -- people getting beaten to a pulp (Fight Club), shot through the head, mutilated, etc. -- what damage could that cause to society?
On the other hand, people engaged in various consentual sexual acts, there's nothing dangerous or immoral about this! I'm not saying that violence should be banned either, just that it's bizarre to censor sex and still allow showing people getting their brains blown out.
In the beginning of the third millenium USA changed into religiously fanatic bushlim state.
Dyslexics have more fnu.
If any of these anti-sex jebus kooks have children, they are hypocrites. Kids don't come form the cabbage patch or the stork.
How ya like dat?
dot dot dot dot dot dot dot dot / dash dash dot dot dash dot dot dash [...]
(Lameness and compression filters prevented original posts)
http://www.scphillips.com/morse/trans.html
What victims would those be exactly? someone who shoots out his eye? Like seriously.. what the fuck are you americans even trying to do? Can you say religious fundamentalist state?
On some messed up level i can understand the wars on drugs, terror and the poor... BUT SEX AND PR0N???? Do these people even realize that the only reason they exsist is because their mother was wet and wild one day with some dude?
"Ashcroft, a religious man who does not drink alcohol or caffeine, smoke, gamble or dance"
this dude ashcroft, you know, if you take away ALL AREAS for constructive wholesome fun.. i guess it really makes you understand why people like that enjoy starting wars. i mean the fucker doesnt even dance!
what a complete square, man...
I'll just use my special getting high powers one more time...
Blowing the shit out of civilians in foreign lands, taking stewardship of their natural resources, selling them land mines, protecting the opium crops of our allies, looking the other way as our allies sell nuclear weapons technology on the black market, channelling hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars to the "defense" industry, making sure Joe SixPack is armed to the teeth back home, destroying our own natural resources, canceling Constitutional rights as necessary, etc. etc.? Good. A God-given duty, in fact.
Wake up, folks. The only thing the religious fanatics that have leached into our government do not insist upon is the use of burkas by American women. OK, they also allow them to be on the same floor in public buildings.
Cur, di cur!? Porno meus est vita mea!
The censorware people are hurt by the crackdown. If you have less porn online, they have less to filter, thus fewer people needed protection.
Fight Spammers!
If I remember correctly, Ashcroft and CO were planning a major anti-porn initiative right before 9-11 happened. Not that I agree with any of this crap, this is probably just a play in Karl Rove's strategy of "strengthening the base" before the election since the theory goes that the country is so divided that there are only a minuscule portion of swing voters.
(Holds pr0n-displaying laptop high above head In dramatic Charlton Heston NRA fashion)
Methinks the moderators don't understand how presidential cabinet members get their jobs...
Hint: irrespective of your beliefs about the legitimacy of the Bush presidency, Ashcroft (like all cabinet-level officials) was appointed.
25% Funny, 25% Insightful, 25% Informative, 25% Troll
A lot of porn is hosted offshore anyway.
Porn generates a whole lot of money, and money greases the palms (oh my, there's a really bad joke here...) in Washington.
"Who are in control, they are not in control of anything - they don't even control themselves!" - Glen Beck
that governments led by religious fanatics are more attracted to bust any sexual activities. It is deep residuum in human society connected with the ethology of apes (primates). Humans who are free in sexual context are more difficult to mind control and they resist more to indoctrination, such as ideology or advertising. It has to do something with brain chemistry as well as with spiritual value of sexual freedom.
There is only one real sin of human being, a sin of monotheism.
There you are, staring at me again.
But John A vs the porn industry; John A doesn't have a chance.
Porn like weeds has its roots deep and will surface and thrive in any scrap of dirt, through the tiniest of cracks.
So I say let Johhny Boy fight his porn war, maybe that'll distract him from doing some real damage.
My days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle...
No more goatse! For once the government is on our side!
Bush didn't get elected, Al Gore did. The prosecution rests.
Terrorism, war, hunger, poverty, homelessness, child abuse, disease, et al. We should be dealing with those issues first. Leave consenting adults alone. But should be be surprised that this administration is wasting tax payers money on this?
That's gotta fit into your schema somewhere
I think the CIA probably don't want the pornography industry to continue outperforming the weapons and drug trades that they spend so much time encouraging.
Si tacuisses philosophus mansisses. If you had kept quiet, you would have remained a philosopher.
If the feds made it so that if you buy porn online, but the credit card companies could not make you pay those charges, they would not allow you to buy porn online.
Fight Spammers!
"This stuff isn't the easiest to deal with," Nguyen said recently while at his computer. "But I think we're going after the bad guys and we're making a difference, and that's what makes it worthwhile."
Did they get this guy and tell him that three puppies have to be killed every time a woman shows her kitty, or what??
Man, I didn't think shit like this happened in america, a "capitalist" economy that values "freedom".
If you want an example of a country run by relegion.. don't look at iran anymore, look at america!
This is getting fucking rediculous.
I pay my taxes, and make payroll on time.
I comply with the law, while still standing up for my first ammendment rights.
I do my best to screen our tallent to make sure that they can handle doing this type of work. Sometimes when it looks like they don't really want to do this type of work, but they're just down on their luck, I'll buy them dinner and help them consider other options.
I even use 100 percent recycled 2 ply Facial Tissues (The brand is seventh generation, btw) when... testing... the product.
In my morning review of all the sources that I get my news from, I continue to watch the Bush administration and their wacko and corrup cronies continue to wage murder under the guise of war to line their own pockets, while continuing to push these insane and unrepresentative extreme right religious agendas, that were bought and paid for by the religious right.
After that, I go through the considerable frustration of trying to forge business partnerships with other business such as banks, credit card companies, insurance companies, etc, etc, to be able to function in the business world. All the while being discriminated against because the widgets I happen to sell have some naked bits.
I choose between people who often have little interest in supporting my business, but would love to freely copy my work, and the people who want to throw everyone in prison for copying anything, and at the same time throw me in prison for making it.
However I don't let either group of assholes get to me. Instead, I remember that there are more people out there who will choose to support what I'm doing in order to see that I keep doing it.
I don't spam. I don't film anyone who is a minor. I work as hard as the next guy, trying to make the economy recover.
However, until I get arrested, just for exercising my first ammendment right to speech, the speech that I'll be making will be against Bush, Cheyney and Ashcroft.
Why go through all this? Why not just go back to being a database programmer working in a cube somewhere? Because I love what I do. I've built my own company from the ground up, and kept it going. The fundamentalists aren't the only people who believe in what they're doing. They're also not the only people who will stick up for their way of life.
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I do not want to go back to 1983.
Who are these people trying to fool. Everybody knows that porn is not going anywhere specially when you got big players like cable companies behind it. Proposed solution. Send free porn to the feds and the folks at DOJ and everyboy can continue watching porn in peace.
Can you do that in Afghanistan?
:>
Sure you can. Impeachment by kalashnikov
Here in Los Angeles county where unemployment is higher then the national average, it's estimated that Pr0n accounts for over 100,000 jobs. Great idea Johnny Asscroft! Get RID of jobs during a recession!!
Conservatives *are* for free markets. Bush, Cheney and Asscroft aren't conservatives. They're right-wing radicals.. i.e. fascists.
For examples of other world leaders that have claimed to be something else, but were actually fascists, feel free to look up Mao, Stalin, or Kim Jong Il.
The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
or give me death!
John Ashcroft endorses John Kerry for President. I understand pandering to your base, but the opposition is already energized against Bush. Is he trying to energize the centrist undecideds against Bush too?
This goes to show the measures the Bush administration is having to go to to even keep their base constituency voting for them. A base which is getting thinner and thinner. Now the good ol' boys who like guns and porn (myself included!) are probably going to stay home in November.
I wish there was a real conservative to vote for. Just because you disapprove of something doesn't mean it should be illegal.
You take away a person's porn they will not vote for you!!! Mark my words :)
I didn't use the preview button, so get over it!!!!
Mike
Frontline (at least I think it was Frontline) had a program about this over a year ago. Ashcroft was all set to get his antipr0n vendetta into gear, in fact the early stages had already begun with some local prosecutions in California and then 9-11 happened.
I have to think the whole janet thing and consequent media-hyped outrage was what emboldened Ashcroft to rev up the persecution machine. It is an election year and they seem to think that if people freaked over janet they are going to love it when some kinky dudes that the straight population never heard of get a nice public humiliation.
Anyone remember Amatuer Action? Wasn't that persecution carried out in Ashcroft's home state, despite the defendents wholly residing in California.
This is what bugs me so much about these ultra-conservatives. I may or may not feel that porn is wrong, but I don't want them deciding it on my behalf!
I guess they have nothing better to do... no terrorists left to hunt for, so they're going after "immoral" people. *sigh*
I personally feel that some kinds of porn ARE wrong.
Consider child porn. Some people say that children are capable of understanding sex. Some say they are not. Either way, the risk of psychological damage is great enough that that we should play it safe. (Actually, I think child porn is a horrible violation of a child's rights, but the "play it safe, because you can't be sure" approach is easier for some people to buy.)
But when you have consenting adults engaging in acts that are intended to be viewed only by consenting adults, who is being hurt?
Here, the "play it safe" argument lands on the side of choice. Children aren't born with much knowlege, so they are to be guided and protected so that when they grow up, they can make informed choices. Until they DO grow up, their rights are restricted. But once they have reached a certain age, the responsibilities for their actions moves from their mentors to themselves, and with that responsibility also comes many freedoms.
So, to play it safe with children, we shield. To play it safe with adults, we allow them to choose. This seems very reasonable to me.
So, while I may feel grossed out by seeing a scat video, I don't feel the need to restrict other informed adults from having a different reaction.
Now, you may ask, is it HEALTHY for people to be watching these sorts of things? Violence can teach violence, and playing with feces is linked to certain mental disorders. Could certain kinds of porn make viewers mentally unhealthy?
Possibly. But consider the FDA and the Surgeon General. The FDA has laws which protect consumers from unknowningly buying foods which contain harmful chemicals, etc. Science has been used to prove that certain chemicals and microbes are harmful. Similarly, tobacco and alcohol containers sport labels which warn of their potentially harmful effects. But once again, science (and many DUI deaths) have proven that people need to be warned about these things.
But (a) Science has not shown any compelling evidence that porn is bad for your health, and (b) you are still allowed to buy alcohol and tobacco.
So, if the government wants to put a warning label on porn that says "we're not absolutely sure, but watching this could possibly harm your mind", then I'm all for it!
But that is the extent to which they should interfere. Oh, and I am definately in support of prosecuting child pornographers.
The sound you just heard was Larry Flynt dropping a bucket of money in John Kerry's lap... right next to the dancer.
I wonder what kind of dirt Flynt might have on DoJ people. He outed one congressman during the Clinton impeachment. I can only dream that he has something on Ashcroft. But, that might be asking a bit much.
ok - so they still exist, the trolls must have gone to sleep or something. ^_^
Asscroft (sic) wasn't elected. He was appointed.
And he thinks by God.
Which, of course, is the crux, no pun intended, of the problem.
Opinions on the Twiddler2 hand-held keyboard?
"Yeah, I can still remember about the first readings of erotic material over the telegraph"
Actually one of my old friends who served in the Navy (comm ops) told me about how they used to keep the morse code students interested - every now and then they'd slip a section of a porn story into the interminable copying sessions.
You'd get keel-hauled for doing that these days, but I imagine it kept folks going. :-)
>Asscroft wasn't elected. He was appointed.
So was Bush
man...I wish they weren't hypocrites so they could evolve themselves out of existance
...but the didn't check with me first.
Oh well. At least *someone* is thinking of the children (who don't pay taxes).
"An ounce of image is worth a pound of performance."
(and just in time for the elections)
What economic numbers are you looking at?
How about the quantity of people I know _personally_ who haven't had work in well over a year?
Just because Wal*mart is making a profit doesn't mean that people can pay their friggin' rent.
Jory
If Ashcroft takes away pr0n, how will geeks ever know what a woman looks like naked?
Hmm, is that what Marconi and Queen Elizabeth chatted about? The air must have been electric.
(okay, so it was 1900's, sue me)
Please help metamoderate.
Yeah, but the problem seems to be that he thinks he was _annointed_.
spelt
n : hardy wheat grown mostly in Europe for livestock feed [syn: {Triticum spelta}, {Triticum aestivum spelta}]
Well, waddya know, I learnt sometin today!
How ever do they find people to do work like this?
In my community it's offensive for extremely hot women to wear clothes. It offends God, whom created such beauty to be observed.
I need to find some hotties to sue.
I thought by postulating that he is in fact dead, it would be obvious I didn't agree with the man. The 'Naaah' at the end was supposed to negate the sentence in front of it...
:-)
Oh well
Simon.
Physicists get Hadrons!
"Can you do that in Afghanistan?"
Only if you get permission from President Bush.
In a speech in 2002, Ashcroft made it clear that the Justice Department intends to try. He said pornography "invades our homes persistently though the mail, phone, VCR, cable TV and the Internet..."
Huh?
I don't know about you, but porn doesn't send me mail, call me, pop in my VCR (even if I had one), or switch my (can't-purchase-individual-channels-yet) cable tv channels to make me watch it. If he wants to pick a fight with malware that pushes porn into the machines of people whose only crime was to be stupid enough to use ms-outlook that's fine, but somebody needs to explain to him the difference between push and pull technologies (insert sexual pun here).
Donald Duck is going to have a SCREAMING SQUIRMING ORGASM when he moves to England where he will sit in his basement and do nothing but eat, sleep and stare at Daisy Duck pr0n.
True true true... the cool thing about indian girls is that they have a much higher leg/torso length ratio compared to white girls. I'm serious. Check it out.
...maybe they're hiring!
http://www.usdoj.gov/06employment/06_2.html
I'd really like to know, is this legitamite? I mean, sure porn is morally bad or disgusting or whatever you want to call it, but only from someone's subjective viewpoint. If someone likes to watch porn in their freetime at home, it's nobodies business stop them (given it's not illegal, such as underage, etc). But really though? Can this be considered an attempt to violate some sort of right to privacy? I think it is. I think it only funnels more immaturity, as it taboos further and further the human body. Pretty soon everyone of all ages in America will view nudity and sexual expression as some sort of taboo. Who doesn't like watching porn? It's entertaining, comedic sometimes. If you don't prefer to watch it, then don't. I remmeber a nice quote but I don't know who said it: I am a human being, nothing human is alien to me.
I found this interesting (from the article):
In a speech in 2002, Ashcroft made it clear that the Justice Department intends to try. He said pornography "invades our homes persistently though the mail, phone, VCR, cable TV and the Internet," and has "strewn its victims from coast to coast."
Mail? In all my life my family has never received porn advertisements by mail. I find this interesting. Maybe others have different stories.
VCR? HOW CAN IT INVADE MY VCR?! Does the tape walk over to my house and pop itself in?
Cable TV? Well, when i was little the video was scrambled but the audio was fine and clear.
Internet? Well I won't argue that. It is all over the net, and bless the fact that it is, but i do find bestiality emails rather repulsive.
U.S. war on religious fundamentalists? Wow, are they finally bombing their own country?
Amusingly, he got the job after losing a Senate race to a dead man (Mel Carnahan). No joke!
People shape laws. Not the other way around.
Yeesh, don't you kids know the difference between "effect" and "affect" ? "Effect" is a noun representing result, whereas "affect" is an action verb. 95% of the time people use effect when they should use affect, and here you've gone to the trouble of quoting it, and you use the wrong word.
I'll let it slide since we're talking about porn.
Not just a conservative Christian, but out and out nutjob. The guy annoints himself with oil, ala the biblical kings, when taking political office.
ehintz
damn it! I click on a link marked 'porn!', and it directs me to a newspaper! What the hell use is that?
Most interesting seems to be the suggestion that the 1970's ruling, which required the application of community standards of decency, must consider the community into which the product was introduced. Here we see a product released over the internet. The producers say this is subject to the [average] standards of the community of the whole internet and not just the town where the order was sent. Of course these internet standards will be different than those of the folks in Pittsburgh. But this raises even more questions...
If a purvey of putrid porn is prosecuted under state law, but the standard of decency is that of the internet as a whole, do we expect a jury of local folks to be able to set aside their personal feelings and understand that the rest of the world feels differently? Or must we find a way to draw a jury from the whole of the internet? Certainly states cannot compell jurors from other jurisdictions... the problem goes on.
In the end, I suspect we'll endure the total federalisation of yet another aspect of the law.
Trying to use sarcasm in text-based forums does not work.
It won't be the end of the world, and it might restore some balance because porn is often more protected than other speech right now. Look on a lot of Universities where they invite porn actresses to talk about sex, but ban anti-abortion rallies (Houston I think, I'd have to look it up again). Other great decisions by courts prevent cities from banning free porn newspapers, so the cities remove all newspaper vending machines to get rid of the problem (California). It would be if the courts would allow some meaningful community standards again that communities could enact. That would allow places like Nevada to allow anything goes, and some other place to put some real restrictions on.
ashcroft is the goatse man. scary but true.
sulli
RTFJ.
If someone invokes Godwin's law, does that mean Asscroft has to STFU?
I guess now I have to get a girlfriend. Damn ASHCROFT!!! Damn those REPUBLICANS!!! VICTIMS they say!? Yeah, only if they count the occasional cramping I get in my hands. I want Clinton back damnit!!! Then, I can be a pervert in peace and not feel shameful about it.
You don't have to be smart to use a Mac, you just have to be smart enough to buy one
... I actually read the article.
The investigation team seams to after some very extreme stuff.
Anyhow I find it curious that they mentioned something like near-european like tolerance of pornography. What's that supposed to mean?
Yes, believe it or not, you can see naked women on billboards advertising skin lotion. You can see naked women (and/or men) on magazines. Open them up and you see: Guess what? Naked women and/or men. Just that. No extreme posing, no sick and somewhat unaestetic pussy tearing or any of that kind of stuff.
As prudish as a large portion of US citizens may be, the most extreme (and sick) porn I've ever seen comes from the US. I strongly suspect there's a link there somewhere.
I met an american once who noticed the same. He said like 'Yeah, here in germany you keep turning your head for those magazines laid out right next to the newspaper and you're all mixed why no one's irritated. But when you look inside it's cuddly inocent naked girls, much softer porn than what you see in the american editions.' Right on.
I'd say it may be time for you across the pond to lighten up a little, no? Ok, so some people say the US may be founded by all the crazy religious fanatics that got chucked out of europe a few centuries ago, but aren't things changing for the better over there? Or are they getting whorse?
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
On a side note, one of the first new types of businesses to open in 'liberated' iraq... smut shops and porno theatres.
"Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
new newsgroup:
nttp//alt.binary.pictures.employed.indian.brunette
Liberals call everyone Nazis yet they are the closest thing to it.
I enjoy porn as much as the next red-blooded male, provided the next red-blooded male is currently spanking the monkey underneath a trenchcoat in a slimy XXX-rated film house, or skipping work to order yet another lap dance from a stripper. Maybe I enjoy porn more than the next red-blooded male.
Either way, this move is overdue.
Most of what I see is fine, if filthy. But there's a large portion I see where the subjects are clearly not volunteers.
Rape porn. "Hidden cameras." Girls under 18. "Amateurs" who don't look willing. You may not see a gun in the picture, but the girl keeps nervously looking at someone off-camera, instead of enjoying her hot dog.
It takes the fun out of wanking. I want to objectify women who want to be objectified, thank you very much.
It's past time for a crackdown. The government has my blessing.
There is an interesting problem in ethics that arises from the pornography debate (and some other debates also.)
Assume for the sake of the argument that it is proven that use some kind of pornography leads people to behave in ways that damage others. (E.g. by watching violent pornography, men become more likely to commit rape.) Furthermore, assume that there is no damage involved in the production of the material (E.g. they are filming simulated rapes, not real ones.)
Is this grounds for banning that type of pornography?
The Utilitarian argument: Availability of this material provides entertainment, which is good. It leads to more rapes which is bad. The badness of the rapes very heavily outweighs the goodness of the entertainment, so overall we are much better off to ban the pornography.
The Libertarian argument: Everyone is responsible for their own actions. If a man commits rape, he is 100% responsible for having done so, whether or not he has watched violent porn. It is unjust to prevent one person from choosing to use this porn because its availability might lead some other person to choose to commit a crime.
(I personally would argue for a middle ground between these extremes, but here I'm more interested in presenting the issues than in arguing for a particular resolution.)
Quattuor res in hoc mundo sanctae sunt: libri, liberi, libertas et liberalitas.
See. This is what happens when your whole family walks in your room and catches you jacking off with a porno mag when your a teenager. You get emotionally scarred for life and grow up to be a pornophobic Attorney General.
Although the article doesn't mention it, Ashcroft has praised the Meese Commission's attempt to "free" the US from pornography during the Reagan administration, despite the fact that it failed miserably.
The sociologists and other experts commissioned to study the sociological effects of pornography submitted a report that the administration didn't like at all: basically, it said that there's no causal link between porn and violent crime (sexual or otherwise), and that pornography is a good thing in general.
Ashcroft admires Meese, of course, and has called him a defender of 'liberty.' Just another example of the modern American trend consistently to refer to the retraction of civil liberties as the definition of the defense of freedom.
So let me get this straight, John Ashcroft, whos never even seen a woman penetrating herself with the local prize winning giant cucumber, wants to tie up who knows how many police, fbi agents and judges pursuing a massive 'war' on pornography so that thousends of people can join prisioners from the 'war on drugs' and the 'war on terrorism'? Actually this is a great idea, now the police that would otherwise be busting 12 year-olds for downloading music will be doing something else and im sure the porn industry outside america will be delighted with the news! btw europe is laughing at you guys, you cant even swear on tv!!? you cant even show 1 nipple?!?! land of freedom? dont make me piss myself!
:(
er 50 quid says blair or the eu will follow with their own draconian war on porn within 6 months
This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
I remember a recent article on the BBC web site that covered the topic of American sensitivity to sex etc compared to other countries. I can't find the link right now but it was an interesting third party insight. /. I have been given more reasons to be proud to be a Canadian than I have had in my whole life. We are not flag wavers or Anthem singers, but damn, we sure use our heads when it comes to sensibility.
I really don't know what to say about this. It appears to me, IMHO, things will not get better or freer(sp) in the United States until the bible thumping nut jobs y'all vote in, or let steal elections, are put safely back into the padded rooms from whence they came.
Over the last few weeks here on
I am not nocking the United States, where would the world be without you guys? Oh yeh.... nevermind...
Feed my eyes...
Hmmm. Heavy breathing using morse code. Tricky but *so* kinky.
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty.
Ben
Although it's not fair to color them all with the same mental crayon. I have friends in that community and they're good people, conservative but tolerant of those with different beliefs. But if push came to shove, they'd go along with the religious right trying to legislate their agenda.
That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
- Prostitution
- Poverty
- Aids
- Terrorism
- Spam
- Wellfare fraud
- Corporate corruption
and all with the same level of success. And here I thought that the Bushites were all in favor of free-market capitalism. Silly me.Some mornings it's hardly worth chewing through the restraints to get out of bed.
"Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
...that's a third nipple!
Ashcroft is going take the tax payer's money and try to assault the First in court again, which the U.S. justice system will let him do over and over again for ever. In countries where these things are handled by laws that are set down in books, he wouldn't even get to court until the legislative changed the law itself -- and fat chance lawmakers would be caught debating pornography at a time when U.S. combat deaths in Iraq are climbing to at least a dozen a day. The War against Terrorism can't be too pressing if Ashcroft can take time off to push his puritan agenda.
The whole SCO-farce has shown how bad the U.S. legal system is for companies and customers -- IBM and RedHat will still be in court years after German judges bitch-slapped SCO so loud it resonated all the way back to Utah. Ashcroft is demonstrating why the current U.S. system cannot protect the individual's rights adequately. Not that this could surprise anybody after parts of Cuba were turned into Bush's private holding pens, to the horror of the rest of the civilized world but with the go-ahead of U.S. courts...
Time to admit that the system is beyond fixing, time to admit that case-based law needs to be dumped where all those other countries have already put it: On the scrap heap. Other countries don't have to go through this kind of crap, and there is no reason we should have to, either.
Donald never has pants on! The pervert...
"Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
In fact, he lost his last election to a dead man. I can't think of a weaker mandate than that.
The 'Puritan conspiracy' theory (us vs. them) is less useful here than the 'Alcohol analogy', IMHO. Alcohol can be consumed legally in moderation, but extreme use needs to be policed precisely becuase it is an addictive substance: it interferes with the end user's ability to self-regulate its use.
In the case of pr0n, people get addicted to the 'hyperreal' (ie. exageratedly artificial) presentation of sex, and it undermines their relationships with others (who can become permanently objectified), their self-esteem, and their bank balance. (Wo, nearly thought I mistyped 'bonk balance' for a minute there... but if their capacity for relationships suffers, then that's a point as well.)
For these kind of reasons, bars in the western world are not legally allowed to sell alcohol to someone who is drunk. When will the pr0n conglomerates take similar reponsibility for their 'customers' (if they wish to use the term with any credibility at all)?
Especially agrivating is that it seems like these people know it's a lost cause. From the article: So what results are those? Making porn produced by US companies slightly more expensive or difficult to get ahold of during an election year? Putting more people in jail? What does he think the net effect of his labors will be 5, 10, 50 years down the road? He says it himself, that he's trying the same tactics that have failed in the past, and that he knows they'll fail this time too. Except for those mystery results he's counting on.
It's hard to even get steamed up enough to care about, it's so asinine. If it weren't for the tragic waste...
"Stop throwing the Constitution in my face, it's just a goddamned piece of paper!" - George W. Bush Nov. 2005
I recall my father telling me when I was very young that when I grew up and had my own house I could do what I wanted in it as long as I didn't deliberately hurt anyone. Now Asscroft is saying I can't, just because HE doesn't. 'he' is capitalized because obviously HE think's HE's Jesus or something and HE needs to save US from OURselves.
'He who would sacrifice essential liberty for temporary safety deserves neither' -- B.F. (or something just like that)
If your job was to surf for extreme porn all day, is it still considered slacking if your boss catches you browsing softcore?
Either way, Nguyen, father of a 2-year-old girl, and his co-workers spend their days scouring the Internet for the most obscene material, following leads sent in by citizens and tracking pornographers operating under different names. The job wears on them all, day after day, so much so that the obscenity division has recently set up in-house counseling for them to talk about what they're seeing and how it is affecting them.
Time to call Childrens Services, Nyuyen surfs porn all day, he must be an unfit parent. Take his child away.
The knife cuts both ways, go after the puppets in government with the same tactics. This is why you triple check your IRS reportings, and make sure that girl you making home sex tapes is over 18.
The right wing controlled Government will go after you with all its powers, and any little law can be used against you. Fight back with the legal system, they will use it against you. (A man sued a judge in montana, the judge classified him as a terrorist.) (A gay couple has to fight all the way to the supreme court to fight for their right to be gay. You can thank Texas.)
The legal system is neither just nor fair. The hardcore religious faction is on par with the Taliban, they just use the courts instead of violence. The voilence comes after you loose in court, while you are being handcuffed and thrown in a cell.
So remember folks, BUSH is pulling the FBI off terrorism to fight PORN. PORN didnt bomb the trade towers on 911.
I realize you are flame-baiting but I'll answer your question anyway.
Sex outside marriage is wrong, and sex in and of itself is a sacred act, the use of which God set strict rules for. Pornography may encourage violation of these rules while portraying no consequences. The hard truth of the matter is that while everyone can choose whatever they want to do, NO ONE can choose the consequences of their actions, and that is one thing that porn (and a bunch of other trash in the media) fails to portray. That is one reason why some of us are all-too-happy to see porn attacked, because we are tired of the lies, the filth, and the scourge that it places over society.
Sex within marriage is the only acceptable way to practice sex. Anything or anyone who suggests otherwise is deceived.
... the Bible was written by people too. In some cases (King James Bible), people with agendas.
Bush wants everyone to have broadband. The DoJ wants to rid the internet of porn. I don't think the left hand knows what the right hand is doing. (no pun intended - well, ok, it is)
http://www.indiansex4u.como m
http://www.desibaba.c
Americans are fucking schizophrenic, and it's only getting worse. This Puritanical neoconservatism is really, truly dangerous.
Don't read their websites unless you don't need to sleep tonight. After the FCC ruled that you can use "The F Word" as long as you are not using it to describe copulation, the AFA had a letter writting campaign that has now but a stranglehold on talk radio.
They also lead a letter writting campaign for Jane'ts Boobie. I heard that there were 40 Thousand letters complaining about that sent to CBS. What was a lot less publicized was that they received ten times as many letters complaining about their refusal to show the moveon.org ad.
So maybe there are more people against censorship than for it, but the mainstream liberal media isn't reporting it?
I hate Liberals and Conservatives.
If you are a Liberal or a Conservative, then HAVE A NICE DAY!
Courage.
Yeah, the great unwashed are up in arms about SCO trying to hijack our OS, but fuck with our porn and they all will be lined up along the walls. I guess they missed Real Time when Ol' Bill pointed out terrorism is probably the result of sexually frustrated Arabs. Could you imagine what would happen to SCO if we didn't have porn for our release? I would feel sorry for Utah and Asskraft.
ymmv
Yeah, but both the man who appointed him was elected (as were the hundred people, mostly men, who confirmed the appointment). And according to the latest polls, it appears that the electorate is willing to re-elect the President.
So yeah, Ashcroft does come from the people, even if he wasn't directly elected. When the original poster refers to "these strict politicians", he means Bush and the 50+ Republican members of the Senate.
Footnote: Yes, Bush was elected. It was a close election, and the rules were followed to determine the winner. I'm not happy about the result, and I'm not happy about the rules, but we still have the rule of law in this country. When the divisions are that closely drawn, the result will always be unpleasant.
This same topic is on the cover of reason magazine (from the past few days) most recent issue. check it. www.reason.com . No, i'm not a corporate shill. just pointing out another news source. ::rolls around in ill gotten gains::. mauahahahaha
Don't worry - its just stigmata. Pass me a napkin and don't you dare tell my mother.
OK, so I could do without the penis-enlargement spam. But how does porn "invade" your VCR?
Is it like this: "Aaaaaagh! How'd that porn get in my VCR? Go back to the shadow, foul tempter!"
Similarly, I've never received unsolicited porn in the mail or over the phone. My chief problem with cable TV is that the porn is so lame. Late-night movies on USA are the worst, because they edit out the good parts. Just when the chick is about to get naked, they cut to the next scene where the chick is lying in bed with the covers over her. Hey! WTF? Maybe someone will do something about this when we get a Democrat in the White House and appoint Howard Stern chairman of the FCC.
The difference between Janet Reno and John Ashcroft is the Ashcroft hasn't killed children, yet.
I heard over the weekend that 70% of American men age 18-34 visit a porn site at least once a month (and I'm guessing the other 30% just don't admit it), so this might be an uphill battle.
Sadly, PS/2 was yet another victim of USB, which doesn't care what you plug into it, the electrical slut.
Dude, you need to start making campaign contributions. Seriously, they are only going after your industry because they think there won't be repercussions to their bottom-line. Buy a congressman or two, they are surprisingly affordable.
PS, this is not a joke. Freedom is not free, you gotta pay your toll if you want to keep it.
This article provokes a knee-jerk reaction against John Ashcroft, but the man has been quite fair in his carrying out of the laws of the United States, regardless of his personal beliefs. If you don't like anti-porn laws, fine. But then please work on your congressmen to deal with Title 8, Part I, Chapter 71 of the U.S. Code, at a minimum.
Much of the porn for sale in the United States is being sold solely because law enforcement has looked the other way. Nonetheless, the sale of the stuff routinely violates national, state, and local laws. You can't blame the attorney general when he devotes resources to battling clear violations.
Personally, if porn is the mark of an enlightened Western society, I'll take a little less enlightenment.
It is a sad but inescapable fact of modern America that most of the populace has left the defense of basic first Amendment values to commercial pornographers. I'm glad to hear this guy's voice, but it is disappointing that we aren't hearing many more such voices among Americans who don't make pornography for a living.
There's a difference between saying "what that man said should put him in prison" and "someone saying these things should not be elected to high political office".
(Admittedly, the grandparent poster did say "put him in the nuthouse")
It's time to show how ridiculous the Neo-Puritan position is in the twentyfirst century.
Watch, mirror, broadcast and create parodies such as Come Join the Fun!.
Thanks. Comments like that one help me to feel like I'm not alone. I always tell people that you want your first amendment fights to be in the "fringe" areas like porn... Because when it's in the places where all the "normal good decent" people live, you've got a serious problem, and the games probably already over.
HaXXXor.com - Naked Chicks Teach You How To Ha
... is that Big Media has demanded an end to innovation on the 'net. Think about what drove most of it (the stuff of merit, at least) up until now... and then consider how much Big Media hates the possibility of innovation by "the great unwashed".
help me i've cloned myself and can't remember which one I am
If your wife can't fuck, you're ahem, well, hm FUCKED. Thanks for sexual revolution, we can fuck everything that moves. Hell I like it that way!
> Ashcroft (like all cabinet-level officials) was appointed.
By whom?
Electected members of parlement^Dsomething-or-other, so they are elected by proxy.
This isn't a crusade against porn. This is that scumbag Bush and his scumbag friends bitchslapping a $10 billion industry for not contributing to the kickback fund.
It's obvious that the current administration is in it for as much money as they can get away with stealing. The porn industry would probably do better coughing up a few mil in 'contributions' than it would legal fees incurred fighting the good fight.
Charge a 15 year old girl for sending nudie pictures of herself to people she met in chatrooms.
Americans give less than a shit about their right to free speech or their Fourth Amendment privacy rights. But if you mess with their right to drive an grossly oversized vehicle or watch porn, you're playing with fire.
n/t - see topic. Laugh.
C|N>K
when are these morons going to wake up and realise.. hey, its just a body, in its natural form, doing what its supposed to do, or what it enjoys doing. Oh hang on, their religion is built on crap like "sex is evil, sex is a sin" to keep everyone but the REAL wierdos sinning. Now Im not advocating child pornography, nor anything in which all involved parties have not consented to the action, but really, its 2004 for cripes sake, GET OVER IT ALREADY. if you werent all such prudes, you wouldnt mind explaing to your kids how sex works, without geting all embarrassed. I mean, it is HOW THEY WERE CREATED!!!!!. Note that this rant (and yes I realise it is a bit) is not aimed at all americans, or even the majority of americans(in fact the issue is world wide), just at those people who are too silly to realise a natural human act and desire when they see it. Unfortunately, these can screw it up for everyone else.
watch "the money masters" on google video
bush wasnt elected, either...
It's time to get tough. No wimpy ribbons this time. It's time for the Bukkake Ashcroft Campaign for Free Speech.
1. Download a picture of the Attorney General.
2. Make a color print of the picture.
3. Jerk off on the picture. Do not look at the picture while you jerk off. Well, you could, but I don't want to know about it. I suggest you close your eyes and think of Asia.
4. If the face of the man who wrote "Let the Eagle Soar" isn't liberally (heh) covered with spooge, GOTO 3.
5. Take a picture of your Bukkake Ashcroft. Do not, REPEAT, do not use a flatbed scanner.
6. Post this picture on your home page. Or use someone else's site if you're so inclined.
7. ?????
8. Free Speech!
I guarantee that if enough people do this, it'll have an effect that a million EFF ribbons couldn't hope to match.
Maj. Kong
Shoot, a fella' could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all that stuff.
I hear there's quite a few recently unemployed ex-Taliban who are highly skilled in the areas of repression, banning things and generally sticking their nose into other peoples business.
They should be perfect for the role.
Boffoonery - downloadable Comedy Benefit for Bletchley Park
I do have a cause though. It is obscenity. I'm for it. Unfortunately the civil liberties types who are fighting this issue have to fight it owing to the nature of the laws as a matter of freedom of speech and stifling of free expression and so on but we no what's really involved: dirty books are fun. That's all there is to it. But you can't get up in a court and say that I suppose. It's simply a matter of freedom of pleasure, a right which is not guaranteed by the Constitution unfortunately. Anyway, since people seem to be marching for their causes these days I have here a march for mine. It's called...
Smut!
Give me smut and nothing but!
A dirty novel I can't shut,
If it's uncut,
and unsubt- le.
I've never quibbled
If it was ribald,
I would devour where others merely nibbled.
As the judge remarked the day that he
acquitted my Aunt Hortense,
"To be smut
It must be ut-
Terly without redeeming social importance."
Por-
Nographic pictures I adore.
Indecent magazines galore,
I like them more
If they're hard core.
(Bring on the obscene movies, murals, postcards, neckties,
samplers, stained-glass windows, tattoos, anything!
More, more, I'm still not satisfied!)
Stories of tortures
Used by debauchers,
Lurid, licentious, and vile,
Make me smile.
Novels that pander
To my taste for candor
Give me a pleasure sublime.
(Let's face it, I love slime.)
All books can be indecent books
Though recent books are bolder,
For filth (I'm glad to say) is in
the mind of the beholder.
When correctly viewed,
Everything is lewd.
(I could tell you things about Peter Pan,
And the Wizard of Oz, there's a dirty old man!)
I thrill
To any book like Fanny Hill,
And I suppose I always will,
If it is swill
And really fil
thy.
Who needs a hobby like tennis or philately?
I've got a hobby: rereading Lady Chatterley.
But now they're trying to take it all
away from us unless
We take a stand, and hand in hand
we fight for freedom of the press.
In other words,
Smut! (I love it)
Ah, the adventures of a slut.
Oh, I'm a market they can't glut,
I don't know what
Compares with smut.
Hip hip hooray!
Let's hear it for the Supreme Court!
Don't let them take it away!
Look out!
And the question begs, are they accepting applications??
Ashcroft, a religious man who does not drink alcohol or caffeine, smoke, gamble or dance ...
-from the article
I don't care if he avoids alcohol, caffeine, smoking, or gambling
But I don't trust a man who won't dance. He can dance badly, I don't care -- but if he wants my trust, he's got to dance.
-kgj
-kgj
> Temporary injunctions also work well for business disruption.
That Bush administration, always looking for jobs.
How many people does the porn industry employ? From production to video stores in has to be a giant industry.
This is what you get when you mix politics and religion, people.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/porn /
One of the most interesting things was that Ashcroft was preparing a big push against porn, to be launched in late 2001. Then Sept. 11th happened and all that got shelved.
It was of course a truly disturbing show to watch, because the depravity just gets worse and worse, and the girls are always lining up to do it, no matter what it is, because the money is so good.
One simple rule for its versus it's
However, until I get arrested, just for exercising my first ammendment right to speech, the speech that I'll be making will be against Bush, Cheyney and Ashcroft.
Ugh... the use of the word "until" in that sentence is telling.
It's a sad state of affairs when you have to concede to the fact that one day you'll be arrested just for doing something that is entirely in your right.
I hope you don't get arrested, that would mean the end of what we hold dear. Well, SOME of us hold dear, others just don't appreciate it or realize it.
I make porn. That's what I do. I work a 50 to 60 hour week.
I'd like to thank you for making the world a better place (I watch porn 50-60 hours a week)
In Soviet Russia Slashdot cliches use you
Lets restate that a little bit, it is the only way that is acceptable to you.
And who the fuck do you think you are to tell me what is acceptable to me?
If your only answer is your belief then just believe what you want and let others believe what they want.
Not doing so makes you equally close minded as Islamic fundamentalists (who incidentely will quite agree on this specific issue of sex and marriage)
...it'll be at least some consolation getting the disk space back.
Obscenity is generally considered a victimless crime, since nobody is forced to watch it, but here is an exception: Lam Nguyen and his six associates are required to watch obscene materials. Indeed, the article even said that they get counseling for it. I don't think producing obscenity should be a crime, since if it is really bad nobody will buy it and it will go away. However, I do think it should be a crime to require people, as a condition of their employment, to view so much obscenity that they become sickened by it. We have workplace rules that forbid even relatively light-hearted sexual banter if it gives offense; surely required viewing of obscenity should also be forbidden.
John Sauter (J_Sauter@Empire.Net)
This won't work because these days a lot of Christian Fundamentalists watch porn. A friend of mine manages a video store in the heart of the bible belt. He gets lots of respectable married Christian couples who come in for a tape to watch and get themselves in the mood before they do the act. They think it is just fine because it makes for a good sex life, which makes for a good marriage, which is part of being a good Christian.
This whole puritanican anti-sex thing is not very biblical, anyway. Check out the Song of Songs. The Hebrews had typical middle eastern attitudes toward sex.
Heil Dubya! Sieg Heil!
This argument is no more applicable to porn than it is to rap music, cartoons or computer games.
Sex || Pr0n
Condemnant quod non intellegunt.
In Soviet Russia pornstars watch you!
Frontline did an excellent documentary called "American Porn", where it talked about how obscenity prosecutions were put back on the agenda when Ashcroft was confirmed. They had meetings with old US attorneys who did obscenity work in the 80s, and this was only put on hold because of terrorism concerns. (You can watch the entire episode online.)
Two of the most interesting points: one US attorney basically said that no prosecutor should ever lose an obscenity trial since there is (no matter what the Supreme Court tells you) a common decency standard in 99% of the US: penetration. The second interesting bit is that one of the porn industry's main attorneys came up with a list of things never to be filmed if the company distributing it wants to stay in business.
I think that the government's resources could be better spent elsewhere, and for the most part consider myself a libertarian, but after seeing some of the more extreme parts of the porn business covered in the documentary I think I would be hard-pressed to not call it obscenity.
I've heard that with golf instead of hunting too. Great joke, either way.
Counterpoint: sex is an obsession to the USA. But many people fear it and want to see it stamped out. For this reason, many Europeans see the USA as a nation of seriously strung-out, hung-up, sexually deprived people ready to go postal at a moment's notice.
The tone of the paragraph suggests that not only are those Americans insufficiently intolerant of it, but so are many Europeans!!
*cough*FREENET*cough*
Of course, knowing how some Republicans are with computers, someone could take out the domain http://www.barelylegalteenagegirlswearingskidmarke dboxers.com/, and they'd think that was somehow hidden too.
Here's to hoping that Ashcroft gets his ass... well, I'm not going to say "kicked." Let the punishment fit the crime, I say
You cannot truly appreciate Dilbert until you read it in the original Klingon.
This is truly a disturbing parellel.
This guy basically just looked at something that a LOT of people shell out their hard earned money for and said "I don't like it, let's crack down".
This guy is absolutely off his fucking rocker. I want to know what he bases this crackdown on? Has a large portion of the consenting adult population suddenly decided to go on a porn-free diet? Does he have persuasive documentation to show that a significant number of children are being adversely affected by pornography despite a reasonable effort from parents to monitor their children?
I don't know how many more people I speak for when I say this. But, Mr. Ashcroft. Get the fuck out of my life. If you don't have better things to do with your time than this, you don't have anything worthwhile to do with your time, and I'm tired of paying your salary.
Alito: A vote for Alito is a punch in the eye to put that bitch back in her place!
or to be one of the justices, and request an indepth search for "blonde, lesbian, and cute, on my desk, with (cough cough) a box of tissue for my (cough) nose"
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
This will end up like the war on Alcohol (1920's) and the War on Drugs. Miserable failures that do nothing but give more power to organized crime. If they have a problem with porn then they should put a tax on it, Same with drugs. Ashcroft strikes me as the type that would make it illegal to copulate accept for the purpose of procreation.
Platypuses is the correct plural, NOT platypae.
'Thats they exact same thing a banana wrench monkey.'
So when we hear or see the phrase "No More Bush!", whose campaign slogan is it?
"But I trust in the people's capacity for reflection, rage and rebellion." -Oscar Olivera
Now really...
If you're in the prawn... er, pr0n industry and you are fearing outsourcing, I don't think you should be worried about India.
Regardless of whether you're an actor, a cameraperson, a producer, or a computer geek - you should be worried about Central and Eastern Europe.
This outsourcing wave has been underway for years already. On 01 May it's going to become a whole lot cheaper, as certain borders vanish into memory.
So please, before you take yet another jab at the Indians, have a look around the industry in question.
It's really shocking how often self-proclaimed "open-minded" (or even self-proclaimed "smart") people around here default to these borderline-racist positions.
This Like That - fun with words!
-
Yeah, but the problem seems to be that he thinks he was _annointed_.
That's still probably too kinky for him. (Yes I know what annointing is, just making light here to show how much of a prude the man is.)Actually when he first became junior senator, he litteraly had friends annoint him with oil, like the old kings of Isreal.
This guy is crazy, check it out
Pretty funny actually. Ashcroft did lose to a dead guy. How does an incumbent lose to a dead person?
Porn is big business as reported in a past Business 2.0. I wonder how big a business it would be if there wasn't an expectation of privacy involved with viewing porn? How many people that view porn and subscribe to porn would no longer continue in such actions if it was no longer, private?
To know is to have knowledge....to understand is to be enlightened.
Moral conservatives constantly say that liberals want to make the US into somekind of utopian society yet IMO it's the conservatives that want to make the US into the "United States of Jesus" or some other claptrap.
I have a great idea: Leave people the fuck alone. So long as all parties are adults and consenting let them be. Pray, fuck or smoke a joint, I really don't give a shit, it's your life not mine. Whatever happened to "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness"? Oh, I forgot, AG Ashcroft believes dancing is a sin (no shit, he really believes this) so porn must become illegal.
I can't believe how fucked up this country has become. BTW, the Democrats have done their share to fuck things up too. Term limits people, that's the only way we'll get ourselves out of this mess.
Over a dozen brave US Marines died today holding their position in Iraq and the DOJ has the balls to bring this crap up? We are truly FUBAR.
pherris quietly puts on a fire retardant suit and watches his karma head south.
"And a voice was screaming: 'Holy Jesus! What are these goddamn animals?'" - HST
I have a motocross fetish. I surf the web for hours at a time to find photos of men in full MX gear so I can jerk off. The best pict i have is of Chad Reed right after a race, the only skin showing is his neck between his helmet and his jersey.
It's the hottist thing I've ever seen.
I could go into detail about this pict and why it turns my crank . However I'm nice enough to know that most of you don't want to hear it.
My Playboy is the copy of RacerX I get every month. The guy doing the check out a B&N asked if I was a motocross fan, I just smiled and said yes.
My point is, porn is something that helps us get off. Maybe it's a girl with big tits, maybe it's a fat hairy guy in a tool belt. As long as the people making and using it are responsible adults there should be no problem.
Porn is just something that makes feel good for a little bit. And there's nothing wrong with that.
You're assuming that the consumers of pornography would otherwise be "normal" people if they weren't exposed to porn. The majority of people can look at porn without it becoming a problem. It is the minority who are affected, when "it undermines their relationships with others."
It's a big assumption to say that they are capable of having a normal relationship with others in the first place. Perhaps the reason they turn to porn is because they are, in fact, incapable. Porn is not the cause of problems, it is the effect.
And, similarly, taking it away doesn't fix those problems. In fact, if porn were made illegal, I think we'd see an increase in rapes and similar crimes -- from people who need other outlets for their sex drive.
Honestly, it's rather narrow-minded to believe that all people are "normal," and it's things like porn and drugs and alcohol that turn them into freaks. Of course the "normal" people can be content without porn and drugs and alcohol. They have good genes, they were raised right... They have what it takes to be happy, without needing vices to get them there.
Everybody else, though, needs certain things to help them through their struggles. If they need those things, then taking them away won't make their struggles any better, and would often make them worse.
So there's no benefit in going after porn. People who choose to view it do it for a reason. If they don't need porn to get them through life, fine. Nobody's forcing them to look at it. But if they do need it, then taking it away would be infringing upon their rights.
Remember: "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. "
...things the middle class holds dear, like porno and Howard Stern, don't be suprised when the middle class declares war on you-- and votes your boss right the fuck out of office in November.
"Regime change" begins at home.
Back in the day, people had a greater degree of respect for those in authority. Though certain people may not have agreed with the viewpoints of those in authority, they respected those as figures of authority.
Back in the day, people understood the responsibility that came with freedom of speech. People understood what freedom of speech *really* meant.
Back in the day, people understood the values that made America great. People seem to think morality is based on the popular concensus of such... but this thinking is dangerous. If humans themselves make their own law, their own viewpoint of what is right and what is wrong, society is doomed to collapse. Humans themselves are in no way capable of deciding for themselves what is moral.
Its astonishing how much thinking has changed since.
The viewpoint shown here seems not to be the popular one here with most of the posters...
They can trace our mp3 files, they can outsource our jobs, they can sue children for downloading music, they can invade our privacy, and may be even take our freedom, but when it comes to pr0n, they have crossed the line.
I object!
Conservatives *are* for free markets. Bush, Cheney and Asscroft aren't conservatives. They're right-wing radicals.. i.e. fascists.
I wish more people would realize this. I generally vote either independent or democrat, but I tend toward libertarianism (not the kind represented by the Libertarians, but that espoused by President Jefferson). I do not believe a completely unregulated free market is the right way; otherwise, we end up with corporations in control, as they wield all the power. (Kind of like we have now.)
Just wanted to clarify, so you know my biases.
But: those fuckers in control right now are *not* republicans in anything but party affiliation. I've known too many republicans, held intelligent and useful discourse with republicans, and generally agree with most of their viewpoints.
Bush, Cheney, Ashcroft, and the others in charge of our country do *not* practice republican ideals: small government, reduced spending, fiscal responsibility, and a respect for personal liberty and responsibility.
They are fascists, pure and simple.
Microsoft is to software what Budweiser is to beer.
I even use 100 percent recycled 2 ply Facial Tissues (The brand is seventh generation, btw)
What is 7th generation recycled facial tissue?
Just visit www.prawnography.net if you don't believe me.
Filthy, absolutely filthy. How can the government allow people to publish this smut--and online, where anybody can access it! Please, won't somebody think of the children?
Dlugar
Computer Go: Writing Software to Play the Ancient Game of Go
Pretty please. This guy is right. Asscroft lost the 2000 Missouri Governor's race to a DEAD MAN. The former Governor who was running for reelection died in a plane crash. He still won the election over the living (barely?) Asscroft.
and why has he stated it so prominently?
And if you think you live in a democracy... then you're a bigger moron.
First they take away our right to download free music, now they want to take away our right to learn how to give a blowjob properly on HBO? What else is there to live for?
sleep easy, for tomorrow we take over the world...
Fools, anyway. Plus it's April.
Makes you wonder if that's a wise thing to do in an election year. More pandering to the (presumably) non-wanking "Christian" right? (What would Jesus wank to?) Perhaps Ashcroft knows that a real crackdown would never fly, but he has to pretend to attempt one anyway to make certain groups of likely voters happy? Any backlash against a crackdown can always be blamed on liberal wankers, thus further riling up the non-wanking moralists. Maybe this is a brilliant move after all.
Seventh Generation is a line of recycled tissues and whatnot. Take a look at their website. Usually you can find them at organic food stores and the like.
HaXXXor.com - Naked Chicks Teach You How To Ha
The current issue of Reason magazine. www.reason.com has a cover article on this issue. I am sure it is far more free speech centered then the Baltimore Sun article. How did the Moonies get to own so many newpapers anyways?
Wait a minute! No more porn! What are we on Slashdot to do without something interesting to look at when the DSL line malfunctions and we can't get online?!!
sleep easy, for tomorrow we take over the world...
On usenet, I dig the female imagery with a good healthy look at their genitals, but I hate it when they tug, tear, flap, or otherwise manipulate their snatch. Of course, sticking objects in there is a serious turn-off for me, especially all of those kitschy, brightly colored or shiny dildos. Unfortunately, most of the stuff out their has that sort of thing.
Are you all nuts. This is just a big "WAG THE DOG" to put some controversial issue for the big Bush re-election. Just like Gay marrage, it something to soldify his base voters. Nothing more.
In other news, the Department of Justice's Human Resources website was slashdotted by those seeking jobs as computer forensic specialists.
I call them fair weather Christians. They make the religious arguement when it suits their needs. Otherwise they live their lives like the rest of us. I swear this country is breeding a bunch of fucking prudes. It's embarrasing. George Carlin had it right when he talked about the pussification of the United States.
With resources available to spend time on these actions, it makes me glad the war on terror must now be over, and the world is free from thugs like Osama Bin Laden and...oh wait
Shadows on the road behind, shadows on the road ahead...
It's the same "Family Values" crap that they ran on last time. It *is* an election year, after all, and the Republicans are hard pressed to come up with issues that they can be strong on.
My advice: "It's *still* the economy, stupid!"
Ryosen
One man's "Troll, +1" is another man's "Insightful, +1".
...I'm SO GLAD the Anthrax Mailer has been caught!
Oh what? He hasn't?
But at least Tommy Chong is in jail! And thank GAWD they covered up that OBSCENE STEEL BREAST on the statue of justice...what will the CHILDREN think?
It is almost never incorrect to form a plural by using '-s'/'-es'. The exceptions generally are Old English words with established irregular plurals (children, sheep), words with latin endings where no-one ever uses the English plural (these are generally technical terms in origin) such as labium, vertebra, and words which have two different plurals which mean different things, such as index, indexes (in books), indices (in mathematics).
The law's the law
So you follow laws simply for the sake of them being laws?
It really bothers me that so many people follow rules handed down to them without question.
"Anyone in a free society where the laws are unjust has an obligation to break the law."
-Henry David Thoreau
After reading the article, I decided to send Bush and Ashcroft an email to let them know how I feel. And then it became completely clear to me why they're doing this. They want to keep all of the porn for themselves!
I really don't give a shit, it's your life not mine. Whatever happened to "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness"?
Indeed... I think all this really illustrates how we've strayed from the founding principles of this country... as such, we're definitely on a fast track to being totally fucked.
pherris quietly puts on a fire retardant suit and watches his karma head south.
If you're modded down, it's truly a sign of how screwed up things are and how brainwashed the masses have become...
Yeah! He lost an election for the Senate to Mel Carnahan in spite of Carnahan being dead. Some suspect Ashcroft was behind the plane crash that killed him.
How ya like dat?
I know this has been said, but... what the hell?
A: This country was founded on the premise of the government not being allowed to control what we do in the privacy of our own homes.
B: Consenting adults!!! People who are offended by pr0n don't have to watch it.
C: Without pr0n, what are people going to wank to?
68.3% of all statistics are made up on the spot.
Just yet another of the MANY reasons to not vote for Bush.
You can bet once Asscroft goes after the porn sites, next he will go after any person who purchased adult pornography. This is what Bush has brought our country to.
The U.S. didn't arrest the girl. The PA state police did. Granted, PA is in the U.S., but it's not the federal government in this case.
I have blog like everyone else
...and they elected a dead guy instead of re-electing Ashcroft.
Sorry for the off topic post, but I just love your name. A transcendental raised to the power of another transcendental times an irrational derived from an integer.... is an integer! (Or so nearly so that it doesn't matter. Where did you find that? Is there a theorem behind it?
They'll pry my porn from my cold, dead, sticky hands!
Folks. This November, remember these things! This is the stuff that just has to stop. We've been on a downward spiral for close to four years with regard to freedom and, one way or another, it has to stop. Remember this: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. This is the soap box. This November is the ballot box. If Bush wins (and my God, I hope he doesn't - I've never felt so strongly about a topic like this), we have to move on to step 3. Out of fear of being caught, I want mention step 4, but I, for one, refuse to live in a country that is guided by this type of person. I have no desire to live my life in the way that Ashcroft thinks I should. I don't care if the family down the street doesn't think the same way I do - that's their RIGHT and what was fought for more than 200 year ago.
It's interesting, because I just looked at your site, and I really don't consider it to be porn at all. Not even softcore. There's nudity, but no sex. Why shouldn't people teach me how to use some basic Unix tools in the nude? They could be wearing any other sort of clothing.
:P
You should really have used your Powerbook for the picture at the top of the main page, though. Nothing takes away from a nice nude pose quicker than a bunch of legacy ports on the back of a notebook.
Does Bush *really* want to lose the "porn lover" vote? Especially since a great deal of these voters are closeted conservatives? Who won't this administration piss off this year in its reelection bid?
Steve Magruder, Metro Foodist
Way to drive away those independant voters during an election year. Let me tell you something, you can outsource a man's job to the moon but never, EVER fuck with his porn.
Njah, i think his site is good.
...then they'll have to deal with Judge Clarence Thomas! :-)
-- Boycott Shell
or taken to a morgue because of a porn overdose.
Apparently you've not been introduced to the joys of autoerotic-asphyxiation...even had a cousin die from this one. Plus people have hurt themselves stimulating their prostates with wierd items.
if you werent all such prudes, you wouldnt mind explaing to your kids how sex works, without geting all embarrassed. I mean, it is HOW THEY WERE CREATED!!!!!.
To ad on top of your point of view, then its ok to show people get killed and beaten on tv but not making love.
Or let's talk about fear factor, I think its les degrading for a human being to make love live on tv than to eat cow turd just to entertain the masses.
Anyway I am certainly not advocating to ban any of those issues I am just saying that using the public money and resource on those matters is the most stupid thing that a government can do.
Yahh, hiii haaaaa! -Major Kong, from Dr. Strangelove
I can say from CLEAR memory from college - Indian chicks are quite capable of being supadupa hot.
...
In fact there was this one chick who was probably only 5'2" but
nevermind.
I don't think sex is all that taboo in America. It is discussed freely on television, in magazines...it is taboo only to the religious who feel that sex is a cherished act between a married man and woman...No anal play allowed, lest they violate the Word.
The religious who are in power seek to keep it taboo though. Take the Governor's Program on Abstinence that was instituted in my home state of Louisiana. We were not allowed to be taught about the technicalities of sex or about birth control in my high school health class. Only that we shouldn't do it and condoms don't really work that well. Which sent the message: "Don't bother with a condom - doesn't work anyway!" And we had a woman from the local anti-abortion "Women's Health" clinic telling us about sex. No bias there.
With the public slowly waking up to the simple fact that Iraq is a Hell hole and that the Bush administration spun lies and half-truths that would make Bill Clinton wonder how it was he who was impeached, Bush needs to energize his core support base. You know, the good, God-fearing, church-going Christians bent on defying every principle set down by the Framers of the Constitution to drag all us heathens back into The Light, whether we want them to or not.
Those people don't particularly give a shit about what goes on in Iraq. They barely know that a world exists outside of their quaint, sub-1,000 population towns with as few branches on the family tree as Catholic churches down the street. All they know is that Saint Dubya is bringing justice and light to those heathen, savage "sand niggers" and/or "Aye-rabs." But what really concerns them is Bush's refusal up until now to deal with the utterly critical issues of mutually consensual, same-sex marriages and perfectly lawful pornography. That's the stuff causing society's collapse. All that sex and dancing. Oh, and the hip-hop. That's got to be next on Ashcroft's agenda. Getting those silly negro rappers off the street, in prison and America back into church on Sundays (specifically fundamentalist Protestant churches), that's what'll get America back on track. Then God will be on our side.
I could watch Fight Club with my mom could you watch Deep Throat with yours? if not then shut up.
That is pretty much what happened when Ashcroft was prosecuting cases in Missouri. He would go after small smoking accesory dealers. He wasn't going to go after Afghani Drug Lords (who own a controlling interest in companies that distributes paraphernalia in hotel rooms.) He knew he couldn't win even against the small guys, but he would seize their assets over and over again and hold onto their inventory for a period of time (long enough for them to have to reorder it) to disrupt their business and cost them tons of legal fees till they went bankrupt. He would let them get it back, seize it again... He did eventually bring several of them to trial (and I don't remember him winning though I believe a couple of the stores closed from all of the disruption of their business). Temporary injunctions also work well for business disruption.
... at a retail outlet.
I've always thought that this trait in Ashcroft could be put to good use by telling him most spam is advertising perscription drugs and a good portion of it ends up in the in-boxes of kids and teens. Try to get him to go after spammers instead through the back door. Unfortunately that has not happened.
To me it's all kind of silly. Drugs (& paraphernalia) wouldn't be a multi-billion dollar industry with exceptional growth rates if people didn't want it. It also wouldn't be the money maker it is without the internet there to let people shop in relative privacy. It's worked out fantastic for the sellers of sex toys as well, eliminating the barrier to entry for customers that would be averse to buying the double ended
Given his prior history if I hosted a site that sold water pipes or bongs I would probably try to move it off-shore.
Now, i realize lots of people would argue for porn and against drugs, but a lot of the arguments are the same.
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
The taliban moved to dc after being removed from afghanistan? Also why does it feel like i've woken up in the martha washington storyline from Frank Miller? Just waiting for the inevitable no elections in nov 04 after some "event" then we'll be all set.
"First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists, but I was neither, so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew so I did not speak out. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me." - Martin Niemoller
Right here.
What Future?
PITTSBURGH (AP) ? A 15-year-old girl The girl, whose identity was withheld, was accused of sending out photographs of herself in various states of undress and performing a variety of sexual acts. She sent them to people she met in chat rooms on the Internet, police said.
. . .
She has been charged with sexual abuse of children, possession of child pornography and dissemination of child pornography.
Rest at the URL.
So if you're a 15 year old with a Webcam. . . Ashcroft says that it is not only illegal to send out nude photos of yourself, but it is even illegal to take and keep nude photos of yourself on your own hard drive.
If the DOJ is so well funded that they can fight terror and send little girls to jail at the same time, maybe it's time to start looking into cutting their budget. They obviously don't need it to protect Americans.
If Bush manages to get himself reelected after this kind of crap, time to look for a free country.
Tech Public Policy stuff
If we use what MPAA and RIAA are doing with little old laides as a guide, anybody who accidentally opens a porno-spam from China is a potential target for the Feds.
Actually, no clicks and you're guilty (thanks to IP spoofing).
Prediction: a lot of people who think that this issue won't affect them will get a rude awakening in the form of an arrest warrant.
Wow, I guess the people that lived before they invented clothes must have been completely insane!
Or were they sane and those of us who feel ashamed of various parts of our own bodies the ones who have been dehumanized?
The age of this business compared to the age of
governing business ? Give me a break ! Who you
think will win ?
NT
The thing is, it's not a war angainst religious fundamentalism, it's a war against someone else's religious fundamentalism. The only difference between us and them is that they're not us.
While I realise that the issue is more complex than that, I do believe that religious fundamentalism in and of itself is not a real issue for the US.
- Razor Magazine suddenly started coming to my home every month. I have a feeling it might have been because I subscribed to Men's Fitness a decade ago -- when it was about fitness and not about sexual technique (I canceled when they switched for that reason).
- Walking through a mall and Victoria's Secret has a 12-foot high photo of a completely nude woman in the window.
- Stores display unshrouded soft porn
- South Beach Diet banner ads
- Spam (which you noted as your sole exception)
- Women jogging down the street in training bras. Folks, the first bra on TV was the 1986 Playtex cross-your-heart bra commercial -- 10 to 20 years after the so-called sexual revolution. Immodesty accelerated through the 90's.
- Even at the office -- before 1990, sleeveless dresses were considered improper work attire. They used to be called "sundresses." Now stores don't even sell dresses with sleeves.
Your standards may be different than mine, but I don't think it's unreasonable to expect to be able to choose whether or not to consume what was considered porn in 1980.My GF likes porn AND my stupid jokes on /.!!!
This is a serious posting though it will sound absurd. Things I'd like to see done in this fight:
* An ASCII porn image or ascii porn animation that uses words and political statements in part of its animation to illustrate an erotic act.
* Someone who videotaped themselves masturbating when they were under 18 use the tape to make an informative video about masturbation tips and techniques. You may be able to find some advice from jackinworld.com. The end result shouldn't be erotic but educational. If you have footage of yourself reaching to start and stop the tape it would be helpful to prove that no one filmed this "kiddie porn" other than the kid who is now of legal age to properly know what to do with his work. You'll still have a hard time finding someone who will publish this but such a tape could be a key case.
* Make a sex education presentation (powerpoint, keynote, etc) that uses text only to communicate its points. Film a version of this presentation with live human models illustrating the points (keep it educational rather than erotic). Make a derivative version that uses still photographic clips from this film for illustration. Finally make a version that uses only vector and hand drawn graphics of the models. Distribute these versions with the only difference being their bandwidth.
* Get a group of people from community theatre to film a classic in the nude. Something like an interracial version of Romeo and Juliet. Naked versions of the story of Eden or the Psalms. Make sure that it's something out of copyright and that has been performed in many places without accusations of pornography when done clothed.
And I have to say it...
* Vote against George Bush and John Ashcroft in the next election. This means that it you aren't registered to vote you need to get that way NOW and make sure you are still on the rolls. If you live in an area that uses the new digital voting machines you may want to consider taking a trip out of town on election day and therefore being able to vote by absentee ballot in advance so that there is a real paper trail.
You leave us perverts alone! If you do this, I will personally beat the crap out of every single one of you.
Sincerely,
bersl2
Many times over a proud pervert
do you read ancient greek? latin? hebrew?
the so-called bible you refer to is not authentic. it has been changed over the years to suit the needs or wants of those in power.
Lameness filter encountered. Post aborted!
Reason: Your comment looks too much like ascii art.
B ( * ) ( * ) B I E S
People seem to be too willing to sit back and let corrupt governments tell them how they should live their own lives. In the past, this was not put up with so readily. Revolutions happen. Time for another one. Waiting for the election is one thing, and you know you MUST vote, and vote out that hideous representative of your sorry country that calls himself the "president", but if that fails, well, it's time the people took it into their own hands. History shows that in the end it's the only way.
Religious mania of any flavour is bad - Bush condemns Islamic fundametalist, but his own brand of sickening Christian fundamentalism is just as bad.
Bush's "war on terror" is CREATING terrorism, just as his foreign policy is fuelling it.
The rest of the world, including America's firm allies, is looking on with increasing dismay and worry. The people of America have GOT to do something about it. We are unable to vote in your election, despite the fact that the outcome has a direct impact on all our lives, so we are looking to the people to do the right thing.
The porn thing is not the issue - it's a smokescreen, but one that clearly shows the true nature of the forces in charge of YOUR country. Are you going to sit back and just let all this shit continue to deeply damage your nation's reputation and your own daily lives? There is an alternative - but you have got to make it happen.
Note - the people of Germany were in a very similar position back in 1933, and they chose NOT to make the right choice. Will the citizens of the US repeat that tradgedy?
I'm married so this is my only way to relieve myself.
Porn isn't health for you... I guess if you do it as much as I do. Think about it. You watch porn, then you do your "business"... and take a nap. Guess what? That's an hour or more of your time wasted on stupid things while you could have done some planning for your next vacation, a homework set, or some work that'll get you to some place where you'll be happy. This can really add up too. I can go on for months (currently) without watching tv, but I can't spend more than a couple of days without porn. All that time wasted could've made me richer, smarter, or gotten me a girlfriend.
I don't have anything against the content of porn, because I still watch porn. I have things against profit off of wasting other people's time (this includes video games).
So I guess on a personal level I feel I'd be much happier without porn and video games. If porn was not accessible as they are now on the net, and if I had never gotten exposed to it during my teens, I would be happier now.
Many people probably didn't know he was dead. His name WAS still on the ballot, which means those running the election fucked up.
I hate Ashcroft about as much as anyone else posting here but I'm tired of seeing this argument.
Trees everywhere, and not a forest in sight.
It's about time!
I'd really like to see the end of goatse and tubgirl.
Both are revolting and offensive.
I thought it was "for the people, by the people?" Sex and pron has been the number 1 thing on the net since the net was let upon the masses. That says something to me - like most people want it. How can they even get away with this crap? Ashcroft is a moron. I wrote a dozen letters to keep him out of office... alas to no avail. People had it coming.. they let the conservatives get what they want... a world where nothing is bad and all there is to live for is work, shopping, tv and death. No sex, no fun and no individuality inbetween. When I lived in China they called us Nazi Americans. For a communist third world country - I felt more free there. And yes, I am considering moving back... and staying forever. We'll see if Bush can steal this election first.
I would love to make a wisecrack about Ashcroft, but I'm afraid of the repriasial. Seriously.
...reminds me of this one.
He covered up the statue of Justice.
You can't get any more ironic, symbolic, or prophetic than that.
I need to get a new vibrator for my girlfriend.
"Lam Nguyen's job is to sit for hours in a chilly, quiet room devoid of any color but gray and look at pornography. This job, which Nguyen does earnestly from 9 to 5...."
Mr. Nguyen's sex life is going to be permanenty fucked up.
You sound like something from a bad Stephen King novel. (I guess that's porn, too, huh?)
Get help.
but it's not a sure thing. This bizarre alliance of fundamentalists and oligarchists has an amazing amount of money and power.
But I could watch DeepThroat with *your* mom! ;-)
Doh!
"Republicans claim government doesn't work, then get elected and prove it."
-- P.J. O'Rourke, "Parliment of Whores"
It's called temptation. There are things we know are bad for us, but we do them anyway because of our base impulses. This is all the more reason that public nudity is so infuriating to people who want to be pure. Christians are human. Nude breasts are stimulating to nearly all men. But outside of private relations with your spouse, it's displeasing to God.
The Apostle Paul addressed the issue of struggling with sin in Romans, chapter 7 (NLT paraphrase):
My Godly self wants porn out of my face because my sinful self does want it. Here's a good Christian perspective on pornography and sexual addiction.Guess Asscroft ..oops AShcroft hasnt heard of the INDIAN KamaSutra by Vatsyayana so he'd better get his facts right before he decides to offshore that job to India.
Maybe the Bush administration needs to concentrate more on why they still give billions of Do$$ars as aid to Pakistan (maybe to kill more innocent Kashmiris) when they have proof that Osama Bin Laden is hiding in Pakistan under the benevolent gaze of the General !!
There are a lot of small businesses -- I hesitate to say "mom and pop outfits" tho you do see those occasionally ;) -- who will bear the brunt of Ashcroft's pathological desire for control. Larry Flynt can afford the lawyers, somehow I doubt that Wifey's World (just an example, no I didn't do any work for them) can ... and fucktarded bullies like Ashcroft always seem to go after the people who can't fight back.
Oh, and thank you for not spamming. Advertising responsibly is tough enough in any industry, but spammers just give pornographers a bad name.
FUCKING AWESOME POST.
Intolerance for ambiguity is the mark of the authoritarian personality.
Look at the history. War on poverty. War on Drugs.
Do we have less poverty? Less use of illicit drugs?
Different day, same crap.
They are fascists, pure and simple.
First of all, these criticisms (only those I quoted above) apply only to Bush. I think that Cheney and Ashcroft are solidly conservative.
Your complaints are really that Bush has been acting like a liberal, not a fascist.
and a respect for personal liberty and responsibility.
You're all wet on that one, IMHO. I give a thumbs up to all three of them on that measure.
In Russia, the pr0n assaults you!
Bush is taking away the bush! Damn neo-cons...
Liking kiddie porn is suddenly funny on Slashdot?
I vote they pay the SomethingAwful guys to decide what should be banned and what should not. Hell, they already do it for free: http://www.somethingawful.com/horrorsofporn/
Here we have a proud smut pusher complaining about corruption. LOL Oh, what a twisted world we live in.
Sex isn't taboo, per se. Immoral sex is. Explanation
The last fucking straw. The one that broke the camels back. Enough already. And take your little dog Asscrack with you. Don't let the door hit ya in the ass. Sayonara.
As far as I'm concerned John Ashcroft is waging war on the American people. I don't see anything difference between him using the power of the state to attack pornography, and other regimes using the power of the state to attack political dissidents. Porn is harmless. I don't particularly like it myself, at least not the crude garbage that accounts for 95% of it. But even though I don't like it doesn't mean I don't appreciate its value as a tool for creating a healthier society. Porn serves a very important purpose, and that is to make sex and sexuality something that is seen as ordinary and commonplace. When talking about sex is as uneventful as talking about the weather then society will be a lot better off. As it stands right now there are still an awful lot of neurotic people out there. Talk about sex and they get all twittery. Some even become angry or embarassed. Why? Because they've been conned into thinking of sex as something bad, or something to worry about. That is not just stupid, its sick. For many people like that there just isn't anything that can be done, except wait for them to die that is. Luckily people aren't born that way. Instead they are psychologically conditioned to have those thoughts and feelings. This conditioning is little more than mass brainwashing. Its end result is a person who has fixed ideas and emotional responses that don't change, even if he or she has experiences that would warrant that they change. They are impaired from thinking, impaired from forming their own conclusions, and impaired from changing their minds when the facts dictate that they should. They feel bad and anxious about sex because they were made to feel that way about it. This brainwashing depends upon lies. And not just lies, but lies told within an environment where the truth is hidden and questions and curiosity are strongly discouraged. This is what has commonly been called sexual repression and it is a form of mental and emotional torture. Porn undermines it, and if for no other reason than that it is a positive influence. Not because porn shows sex accurately or truly, but because it prevents sex from being made into a secret shame. I hate to say this because I'll sound Alec Baldwin, but if Ashcroft's crap is allowed to fly, I do belive I may leave the country.
This country is going to shit in a hurry in general . The american people are stuck between neo-bolshevik nimrods on the left, and puritanical pinheads on the right. How are we supposed to elect a wise and prudent government when this what we have to build it with?
Ashcroft has, in one fell swoop, angered and incensed me more than just about any of the crap I've seen come from the left over the past decade. You have to go all the way back to the 60's to find something that the left has done to top this nonsense.
Any SOB who will put a man like Ashcroft in power and give him free reign to persecute the American people sure as hell isn't going to get my vote.
I'm at a loss for words. I think my beer money's going to be going to the EFF and the ACLU this year.
Lee
Muslim community leaders warn of backlash from tomorrow morning's terrorist attack.
As one of the Missourians who voted for Mel, I can say that my vote was firmly based on my belief that whoever they got to take Mel's place would be better than Asscroft.
Hard Pour Korn
stupid dang "goody two shoes" USA pollies
Heh. Goodie two shoes. Like saying the Inquisition was run by freedom-loving hippies.
I am NOT a number! I am a - oh wait, I'm number 761710. Look! 761710!
Bush, elected? I remember something about missing ballot boxes in the state his brother ran.
You only live once, so you might as well have fun before you die.
Yeah, actually.
It'd just be really, really weird. I can drink with my parents. I've done drugs with my parents. That was pretty fucking weird too. I can't imagine why I'd want to, or under what circumstances I would wind up watching porn with my mom, but I can comprehend it happening.
It'd just be totally fucking bizarre.
On the other hand, I can't watch Fight Club with her, because she doesn't like violence in movies. Freakin' hippie.
There are many people (myself included) that are only attracted to children. (Why else would there be so many child porn sites?) What are we supposed to do if we can't partake of child "porn"? Note that I'm not talking about the kind of porn that depicts sexual acts. That kind does tend to harm the children involved. I am talking about the kind that merely depicts nude/semi-nude children. How are the (consenting) children harmed by that?
P.S. I don't drink alcohol (at all) or caffeine (lately), and I don't smoke, gamble, or dance (I'm way too shy). However I do look at child "porn" (the non-sexual variety), and, of course, that is why I am posting as an AC.
What would be the problem for 'Pron'-stars should they instead of travelling (to name a NorthEast state) New England to California they travel to Mexico instead. The fight is lost before it is started. The industry will move over the border, get government funding and make even more profits. Where can I buy stocks?
How would good programs ever get done in a reasonable amount of time without caffeine.
You only live once, so you might as well have fun before you die.
Did anybody else read this as "hand jobs to India"?
(Ha. Up-in-arms -- hand-job. God I love blowing karma.)
... a country which forbids to get 2 people married who love eachother and will do no harm to anybody, you know, 2 people of the same gender, now wants all the titties and asses hidden behind curtains and cloths? Gee... I didn't see that one coming.
I'm very happy I live in a country where we've legalized these normal things ages ago.
Never underestimate the relief of true separation of Religion and State.
...I'm not wanking to bloody "Cosmo", I want cumshots and I want them now!
But his widow objected and the Attorny General is appointed not elected.
When will people learn not to shove thier morals down others throats? It calms me, somewhat, that people do stuff like This ... when I stumbled across that I couldnt stop crackin up for hours every time the idea passed thru my head....You should see thier other auctions.
This may specifically offend a certain select few people specifically....but that is only the same as I feel they are doin to me.
WTFuxx0r. I watched the vol2 clips and ive got to say thats the worst porn and worst tech vid ive ever seen. but at the same time i commend you for doing what you are passionate about. good luck with your release tomorrow.
Im dreaming ofa big bndwdth, That can resist the
It happened a few years ago: Yahoo Erotica Editor Fired for Excessive Programming.
Disclaimer: If I disagree with you I'm probably trolling...
How does one make sense of an ever more complex world than can only described in an ever widening vareity of generalities all of which are guaranteed to fall short?
... so many things on every side. Ashcroft is like an Ed Meese E Strike Lawyer. No one is outlawing booze again, hell they won't even be able to pass a gay marrige amendment. (One would hope they'd add a line item veto amendment first.)
Why is a big question. In the see of uncertainy, maybe it's comforting to not have to fight the current. To trust than an opportunity will avail itself. As an abstract mathmatical argument, "Keep swimming, but don't tread water and don't kill yourself fighting the current, it's bound to change for the better" seems to at least guestimate to true. But it'd be nice to have that emotional componant. To be able to set down, not my moral compass, or personal responability, but the worry, the what-ifs. To have that feeling of absolute clarity or purpose when the going is tough and you don't know what is comming next.... That's an intoxicating concept.
I've been in a couple (two) of what someone might call emergencies. And they were miserable. But there was one thing. Everything was very simple for those moments. There wasn't any thinking, or rather doubting. I didn't know if I was doing the right thing, but I knew *exactly* what I wanted to do. And I'm not completely certain. But I think that's what faith feels like. I don't really have anything else to comparity too.
But man, that little part of it, that is a great feeling, every bit as good as that first breath of sudden understanding when a hard problem reveals it's answer.
I think religion is just the mess that gets in the way, the get quick rich scheme for spiritual wealth.
But if that feeling is really what people get, I would be religious as a mo'fo' jack. To just have that on all the time....man! Maybe the answer to the uncertain "Why?" cast into the void, or pillow, is a the certain "Why not? It's all cool in the end, my friend." I can see how people might be asking that question a lot, especially after 9/11. But I don't think it started there.
Look at movies. How many of them eschew reason over intuition now? That wasn't always the case. Plenty of movies started off with the hero/anti-hero knowing who the villain was, but they had to know how and why.
I don't think Nazism or its ilk can hold sway for long here. That rugged individualism, and reliance on personal initiavite are too much a part of our mythos. Things aren't better than they have been over the course of my short life. But man, things have been really bad, much more dangerous for our little experiment in America before. A President with a child out of wed-lock, native american VP's (a Republican!), JP Morgan wielding more financial clout than the country, trusts, FDR trying to stack the supreme court, the great depression, two world wars, a civil war
Things might be a little worse than they have been recently, but they're pretty much as they have been if one takes a few steps back.
Not for me, I'm ..uh asking for a friend....
- brief
research....adjective or noun, I'm compelled to offer my sympathies.
What makes you think it was human?
On the internet no one can hear you scream, but you can know they're screaming with you.
It means that if you live in Mississippi, you now will have to drive to Saudi Arabia to get your porn.
But on the other hand it acts like the stereotypical no-brained violent red-neck, where guns are readily available and violence is rampant in games, TV, movies, etc...
It's OK to teach consequence-free killing, bigotry and maiming to our children in today's America... but god forbid we/our children should see an accidental nipple on TV!!
Sometimes I think the majority of the USA's citizens need a wack across the head and an additional 70 IQ points, sheesh! (It was only when I moved out of the USA into the UK that I realized how f*ck*d up the USA's priorities are...)
Rhamathore Jerpathemagali doesn't roll off the tongue the same as Ron Jermey, and you know that's one American who isn't going to re-hired at the local Taco Bell. Or at least I hope not. Christ.
if they'd only buried Bell attached to a giant bar magnet in a coil of wire we could power a small new jearsey suburb.
Mel always was a lucky stiff.
Thank you Miss Jackson for tipping over a sacred cow of American broadcasting and phuqing it up for all of us. You're stunt has caused more good programming to be removed and censored, giving the FCC an excuse to treat us all as children, everyday, all the time, no matter if it is broadcast or cable. Thank you Miss Jackson, for ruining it for all. Skank.
I like to where the condom inside out so it is ribbed for MY pleasure.
i was scared for a moment. i just checked and the First amendment to the constitution is still in place. fuck off DOJ.
What I want to watch it up to me not u. If i wanna see amputee midget cow bukkake porn thats for me to decide. As long as its between consenting adults fark off out of my life.
-- Karma Karma Karma Karma, Karma Chameleon - Boy George
Can't speak for this particular moderation but I've always felt that if a post is at a higher score than you think it deserves (whatever that score is) you can knock it down with overrated. Perhaps someone felt you didn't deserve to use the karma bonus. Perhaps someone missed and hit the wrong option/post. Who knows what goes through the minds of moderators?
I've used overrated as a kind of "-1 wrong/misleading without being a troll" option before and I'll do it again!
Posting as AC due to being several miles off-topic
I make porn. That's what I do. I work a 50 to 60 hour week.
I checked out your site.
There was something missing, though.
I didn't see any big banner ad reading: "Attorney General Ashcroft wants to make it illegal for you to visit this site. Vote John Kerry for President."
Now, I understand that you might be reluctant to put up such a banner, since it's pretty well documneted that Ashcroft targets those, like pornographer Rob Zicari and bong seller Tommy Ching, who he thinks are "defying" him.
But presumably you have some contacts with other porn site owners. If you all put up the banner at the same time, even Ashcroft can't single out every one of you.
You must do what, of all people, Howard Stern is doing: you have to take the fight to your customers, make them aware of what's going on, make them realize that the fight is for their rights too.
In the short term it will scare away some customers, and lose you some business.
But better a short term slump than being shut down and sent to prison.
Opinions on the Twiddler2 hand-held keyboard?
"In the case of pr0n, people get addicted to the 'hyperreal' (ie. exageratedly artificial) presentation of sex,"
That sounds more like a fantasy than reality. The only place this happens is in the minds of people who think porn is evil.
Get over it. Looking at a dick going into a pussy or anus is not a big deal. Seriously. You're really hung up if you think looking at it harms anyone.
He died too late to remove his name from the ballot. They continued with the understanding that his widow would be appointed if he won. So, while technically Ashcroft did lose to a dead man, he really lost to a dead man's widow, who had no previous elected experience. That may be even worse.
To understand recursion,
you must first understand recursion.
"We" as in "you and yours" not "we" as in "us". It's you and your god that have the problem, not me and mine. I suggest you reevaluate your condemnation of Creation and its godly beauty because the problem originates inside of you and your inability to appreciate it properly. If you can't view a nude woman without lusting, if you cannot appreciate form and grace, if you cannot separate eroticism and lust, that's YOUR problem, mister, not mine. If you still cannot abide it, I suggest a blindfold. At least then, you won't be ruining Creation with your temptation problems and the rest of us can appreciate or lust as we see fit.
-l
"ex-fundie"
Help cure AIDS, cancer, and more. Donate your unused computer time to worldcommunitygrid.org. Join Team Slashdot!
I personally am not worried about actions against porn. If it were gone, I wouldn't really care. IMO ideas, ideals, thoughts, beliefs, inspirations, etc... must not be censored whether I believe them or not. Artwork - images to evoke a reaction (wherever that reaction may be) is up to society as a whole to compromise on what is an acceptable standard. Images that promote excitement about abuse of rights or innocence (child porn, bestiality, rape, torture) need to be destroyed and their producers disabled from ever creating it again.
The huge pro-porn posts on here are incredibly defensive. I'm happlily married with a bunch of kids and don't have any obsession with porn that needs to be defended.
Porn to me is a small piece of reality torn out of context. Refined beyond benefit. It is like drugs, refined sugars, white flour. People try it and say "I like it. And it didn't kill me. Everyone is full of crap when they said this is bad for me."
Those that keep that attitude and show no restraint end up OD'd, too fat to get through the bedroom door or dying of a myriad of complications and diseases. They also often greive everyone that cares about them.
Sex is a perfectly good thing and so is the human body. I teach my kids that. I don't have any problem with real art that portrays the form of the body for what it is. I don't have any problem with my kids seeing the naked indian tribes on National Geo channel. I don't have a problem with my wife nursing in public. I don't have a problem with "lady justice" statues.
I do have a problem with the sex based purpose of dating in movies and tv, sex in commercials, and in general, the huge obsession that our society puts on sex. It is ONLY a good part of a full life.
People who sit in at a computer for hours (days, months, decades) at a time browsing porn really need to get out and meet real people, contribute to society and get involved. There is alot more out there. Every relationship that I have ever seen that lasted was based on a broad spectrum of things that sex was only a part.
Many relationships that I have seen fail ended with "he/she cheated on me", "the sex was great but there was nothing else", "we just weren't in love anymore".
The whole obsession with romance and sex is crap. marriages last longer in countries where they are arranged. They understand choosing to love instead of "falling" in love.
When my kids are forming their ideas about relationships, I don't want them pushed into a fictional, fractional view of what will be. I don't want them to think that porn is what life is about.
I also don't want them living in the kind of world that I see now where the 6 year old kid down the street gets mollested by the neighbor kid because the neighbor kid saw something "really cool" that his father had videos of.
This is my view. Flame away.
Its noted that while the bible was the most reproduced book by the printing press, pornographic stories were in the list of top ten uses back then.
And don't forget that the Bible itself contains porn (Like Abraham pushing his virgin daughters to a crowd of men and fucking his maid, or Adam and Eve prancing around naked, or Christ and some hooker with a foot fetish).
Those who sacrifice security to condemn liberty deserve to repeat history or something. - Benjamin Santayana
Well, my GF/finance and I both enjoy porn and strip clubs and will both be voting against Bush this fall...
/. crowd should start another "rock the vote" type thing.. "/ The Vote in 2004!" A sub section of /. dedicated to issues we all care about and where the canidates (or their cronies) stand on those issues? Perhaps get some of us in the /. crowd press passes and get the chance to ask the canidates questions US voters actually give a damn about beofre the election?
Perhaps the
Shrug..
Have a nice day!
Vote anyone but Bush in 2004!
It has already been reported (in the Washington Times - about a year ago) that the Patriot Act 1 (which was written for terrorism and national security) has been used by the DOJ to circumvent the Constitution in a variety of cases against garden-variety criminals.
This doesn't seem like consistency in the application of the laws of the US, but enforcement to the contradiction of the law itself and the metalaw (the Constitution) under which it is empowered.
There is of course the issue of dealing with large problem first - a policy which works in most cases but seems to be ignored here. If porn were the US's only problem, then this might make sense. The Patriot Act, in theory, was passed to fight terror - yet the main initiatives that are designed to fight terrorism (Afghanistan, the search for OBL) have been ignored, downplayed, and given minimal resources while others with less saliency (Iraq, porn) have been given more resources, while the PA is used to do other things.
Even if the world were better off with less porn (an unproven assumption, at best), the resources spent fighting it aren't spent fighting more important issues, and so fighting it might (probably) make the US worse off. Considering the issue from which GWB draws much of his support (the "War on Terror") is the loser of the support being lavished on porn and obscenity, while the Administration's strength on terror is touted continually, I don't see how this fits any sense of either consistent law enforcement or policy.
+5 Informative.
Without any God, there is no right or wrong.
Okay, say I admit I believe in God. And He is Eros.
Clearly, without a doubt, the pornographers are "right". The DOJ is "wrong". Ashcroft has condemned himself to an eternal life without any happiness. In fact, he's already started. ("Ashcroft, a religious man who does not drink alcohol or caffeine, smoke, gamble or dance ...") Maybe he has already crossed over.
Do you mean to tell me I am "wrong" about God? How can that be? You said God defines "right" and "wrong". If your view of "right" and "wrong" does not match "mine", then obviously you are the one mistaken about God!
@HbFyo0$k8 tH!$
Except that a large portion of sex that sells is sick and twisted. It's not individuals enjoying each others' physical company, it's on girl and a gang of guys, or a guy performing back-end penetration and then receiving fellation, or sheizer-fetishism etc etc.
If there is one good result of the raunchy porn, it is that it's made the clean stuff more socially acceptable (Playboy being considered "tame" quite often in comparison).
Not that I support in any way a legal attack against porn - that's no different than (as you mention) going against any other regime that one finds personally offensive.
However, I wouldn't mind seeing some of the more blatant advertising for such sites online relegated to dark-corners, and things such as bestiality (and other already-illegal content) could use a good tromping. Even stuff that seems tame like Hentai (anime) porn often goes overboard as you can get away with much more when real people/bodies aren't involved.
The problem with government intervention is that it's like a landslide. It may help uproot some dead wood but in the end it more-often-that-not blasts the whole hillside and anything underneath. Overzealousy and personal priority just do not belong in the hands of the powers-that-be.
idiot
I did some heavy-duty searching, and I was able to find several similar speeches from a variety of high-ranking government officials who feel the same way as Ashcroft. I was going to provide some links, until I watched a few and realized that most of the /. crowd would complain about the quality, given they were rips of talkie reels from the 30's, and even fewer would be able to understand them, given that they were subtitled in German.
If I knew the wedgies I gave you back in 6th grade would have resulted in this . . . I might have taken a moments pause.
Please go kill yourself.
America is Dead!
Long Live Amerika!
Good pr0n here...
I can deal with sex on TV and adds. It is a natural thing that nearly everyone engages in at some point in their life (as evidenced by the continued propogation of the species.) People walking around shooting people by the dozens is not natural behavior and is typically not only illegal, but are (compared to sex) rare experiances for the average person.
What really pisses me off is that I have to have a remote in my hand when I watch a basketball game on ABC to filter out the movie trailers for Hellboy or whatever cars exploding, shoot up, undead alien, fantasy violence show is out. They compress all the impact into 30 seconds which is fine for the intended 17-35 year old male target audiance...but completely inappropriate for my 4 year old.
There is a big difference between censorship and good judgement. All I ask for is the later!
When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.
...Ashcroft, you're a fucking moron.
Do you know how many rapists, murderers, serial killers, hitmen, and girl scouts like pornography? DO YOU? If you take Penthouse off the shelves, people will be hunting you down at YOUR penthouse to give you a piece of their mind.
And some pieces of yours.
All over the room.
The last thing I think you want right now is more people that hate you with nothing but a lot of time on their hands.
Reinvent the wheel only at either a lower cost, greater effectiveness, or your own personal enrichment and satisfaction.
I think we can all agree Missouri had the goods on Ashcroft... the man is a nut. I'd prefer a dead guy, or his widowed wife, any day. Preferably Jimmy Stewart.
God Bless America. Why? Did it sneeze?
After porn, women must cover themselves from head to toes since we know how evil those thumbs are and women's hair is just the work of the devil. However, they are not as evil as br**st, n**pl* and v***v*. God knows what happens if any of them are mentioned. End of civilization, I tell ya. Ever wonder how ancient civilizations got destroyed?
Of course, I have some suspicion that the difference may be in what various people consider extreme.
Coprophilia, Bestiality, and rape porn are not seen here to any significant degree. Perhaps they've cleaned up in the last 10 years or so, but they were common when I was there.
Mind you, I'm not necessarily complaining about that... whatever turns you on...
But who the fuck cares about L.A.? It's not like California's electoral votes are going to go Republican, anyway.
Also, the recession ended two years ago, haven't you heard? Productivity is up! The stock market is up! Yaaaay! All hail Bush's brilliant economic strategery!
Just trying to open someone's head! I mean "mind!" Open someone's mind, um, to the possibilities! With explosives!
As Bill Hicks once said 'Maybe the bible should have a centerfold'.
Come on moderators, you can't see the obvious signs of trolling here? Please read and re-read the Moderator Guidelines. It talks about troll postings.
This is an obvious case of a troll whoring for karma, so that they can eventually get mod points and abuse them.
In this case, the parent poster is trying to be subtle by taking the stance that he's pro-pr0n (as most geeks are) and yet includes ridiculous quotes and really vacuous questions with no real point. And look, it worked! Moderators skimmed his post and gave him a +5 Insightful.
To learn to avoid the trolling tricks, learn their methods: search journal comments for the string "Slashdot Trolling FAQ". At the moment, you can check the latest few journal entries of britneys_9th_husband for a copy (that is, until he deletes it and puts a goatse link in its place).
Trolls love to be big liars, which gets pretty damn annoying when you're surfing slashdot to learn something. Unfortunately, it takes some persistence to sniff them out.
If you think I'm way off-base, take a look at the posting history for ControversialPosting. It's short, and it's a combination of karma-whoring and trolls.
...it's damn near the most insightful thing that's ever graced the pages of /.
"of" should be "off".
Now let's read some more until the timeout expires...
"The obvious mathematical breakthrough would be development of an easy way to factor large prime numbers." Bill Gates,
I don't think that John Kerry, or any Democrat for that matter, is the answer.
While this latest round of BS from Ashcroft has made it entirely clear that Bush is WORSE than Kerry, that doesn't mean that Kerry, merely as the lesser of two evils, deserves anyone's vote.
The political left is evil because it is dominated by communists. The political right is evil because it is dominated by religious zealots. Dennis Miller described this situation best when he said "Hey, we're just looking to vote for the guy who is going to screw us the least!" That is, unfortunately, becoming more and more difficult to do. I'd love to find a candidate that was driven by common sense instead of ideology. It is a tragedy of epic proportions that our political process as a whole isn't driven by common sense. Imagine a world where you didn't have to continuously choose between Hitler and Stalin every time you voted, where you could find a candidate you could actually have some faith in. Someone who, while imperfect, was basically honest and decent. The problem is that politics have become so vicious that honest and decent people never even get involved. Or if they do they are quickly disillusioned and driven out.
Unless Bush does something to reign in Ashcroft, and preferably asks for his resignation, then there is no way I'm going to vote for him. Even so I'm sure has hell not going to hand hand this country over to a bunch of aging 60's radicals who believe that the America is the enemy. Instead I'm going to vote for whatever candidate the libertarian party fields. I know that this candidate won't win of course, but that is not the point. An election is where we try to create a more ideal government. It is not a horse race where you try to vote for whoever you think is going to win. At the very least by voting for a libertarian candidate I'll know that I won't be responsible for the next administration's stupidity.
I really do think that someone should write a book comparing the left and the right in this country and explains how, as Simon and Garfunkel once sang "Laugh about it, shout about it, when you've got to choose, any way you look at it you lose."
Lee
Muslim community leaders warn of backlash from tomorrow morning's terrorist attack.
After thinking about it for a bit, I think that it was Lot who pimped his daughters, and I think Abraham did his wife's maid, not his own.
(One of these days, I am going to have to get a Bible (for reference purposes only).)
Also, I think that Adam was a homosexual mathematician (something about "be fruitful and multiply").
Generally I wouldn't keep responding to such an old topic, but you've made an excellent point, and we seem to be on opposite schedules.
"If there is no God, why is it wrong to hurt someone else?"
This is my reasoning...
I don't need a God to recognize that I am not that different from anyone else. Other people feel pain and joy, just like I do. Once I've established this equality of all people, I must treat people the way I want to be treated. If my pain and joy is equal to everyone else's, there is no justification for sacrificing some else's joy for mine.
To point you make, with I do have a tough time arguing with is that this is still derived from some arbitrary sense of fairness. You believe that God is necessary for the concept of fairness to have meaning. (And if fairness does have meaning to me, it is really because God put that meaning in me).
You know what - you're absolutely right. Perhaps there is no inherent right or wrong in the world, and all of our emotions exist only because God made them that way? I don't want to discuss the origin of emotions but I will concede that to measure right and wrong ultimately you will need some metric to measure it against.
So what is your metric? Your metric is obviously that which is dictated by God, but which God is that? Is it the one described by (in no particular order and probably misspelled) Islam, Christianity, Judism, Huindi, Paganism, etc? All the religions have different ideas about right and wrong, and even within one religion these ideas will change over time. You couldn't be so arrogant to think that the religon you prescribe is the one that is correct, and all the others are wrong?
And this is my problem with determining laws from religion - it's not universal. Not everyone believes in that same religion, nor should they. You may believe that you and your religion have the answers, but this other guy and his religion (or lack of religion) don't agree. Who is right, and who's code do we live by?
I do have a suggestion. We can use our (perhaps God given) sense of fairness to determine what's right and wrong. Let's try to leave religious doctrine out of it...
This is why God's word is invaluable for distinguishing when our conclusions disagree.
If the religious doctrine has merits in own rights, then perhaps it is useful in a discussion. However, I am unlikely to give extra weight to something just because "your" God says so.
Thank you for a good debate. You've really made me think about ethics and the origins of right and wrong.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
> The only time I've heard a woman talk about being OK with porn they use words like, 'I don't mind it' or 'I would rather he not'
j ectid=14027083&method=full&siteid=50143, among other news stories).
Then you must not get out much.
I've had female friends come up to me and say "let's go look at porn", and my girlfriend is much more interested in hardcore porn than I am.
In fact, recent research indicates that 1/3 of internet porn users are female (http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/page.cfm?ob
So, frankly, you don't know what you're talking about. Porn isn't a "man thing" - tens of millions of men _and women_ like it, use it, and pay for it.
Mel Carnahan for Attorney General?
I am supposing that the consequence of this realisation you seemed to muse on the possibility of there being a God, but expressed the belief that which view of Him is accurate cannot be known, so it is better that we do not worry and apply our own rationale.
To answer this question - yes, I believe the reason that you, atheists, and members of other religions can determine somewhat accurately right from wrong is because there is a God. And I find a deeper understanding of this innate knowledge from the Christian God, who through His prophet Moses said:
"Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die"..."Behold the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil.". This was the legendary forbidden fruit.
Now your question is a worthwhile one. The argument of morality I used has a formal name - the axiological argument. Once you accept this argument and realise there must be a God, then the question of what He is like, and what He requires (if anything) is an important one. Probably too much detail to go into here. For now I will just offer a suggestion: it has been said by others wiser than me that Christianity is the best place to start. It is simultaneously the most likely to be true, and the easiest to disprove if not true. Unlike most other religions, Christianity opens itself up to be tested and attack by it's skeptics - because we believe our religion is rational. We believe our God is rational, and for that reason He made us rational beings. The world makes sense, and our religion should not have internal contradictions, or even historical ones. This is a summary of my view anyway. Not all Christians share it, as some have lost the belief that Christianity is rational, but believe it anyway.
The other question is, why should you try to find out which religion is true? Consider it this way - if we were created, then we must have been created for a purpose. If we know the difference between good and evil, we know that we ought to do good, and ought not to do evil. We can also conclude that the Creator is good and not evil. It is also a fact that despite our knowledge, we disagree on some points of what is good and what is evil. Therefore, humans, being evil, have corrupted their view of what is good and evil. There is still a shadow of our ability to understand, but not perfectly. Therefore, our Creator being good would be the ultimate standard for knowing:
a. Our purpose in life and meaning
b. What is required of our lives, what is good and what is evil
After all, if there is an intelligent Creator who is wiser than any other man in history, wouldn't you want to know Him? Or at least, wouldn't you want to know if He wants you to know Him? Or any of the other thousands of questions that spring to life over the meaning of our lives.
Thanks for a great discussion. I don't know if you are going to bother to continue responding, but I'll make one farewell comment...
I am supposing that the consequence of this realisation you seemed to muse on the possibility of there being a God, but expressed the belief that which view of Him is accurate cannot be known, so it is better that we do not worry and apply our own rationale.
That pretty much sums it up, at least when it comes to making laws that we all must live by. When it comes to how we actually lives our lives, I wouldn't say, "it is better that we do not worry", it's more that I would say, "One's beliefs are deeply personal."
By the way, I am not an atheist. (Perhaps that's why I was so poor at arguing the point of view of one). However, for reasons that may be apparent, I do not strongly believe in any particular religion. I agree that trying to understand God is worthwhile struggle, but ultimately it is a struggle that every individual must do for himself. I thank you for your thoughts, as they've proven valuable in helping me continue to form my beliefs.
I hope you had a happy and thoughtful Easter.
It's a grevious violation of the 1st Amendment. Now even the Internet's not safe from the government's depredations. Pretty soon sites like this will be shut down because they disagree with some government agenda. Or we'll even get in trouble someday for swearing on our own webpages, emails and IMs.
Anyone who believes in net censorship should be sent to China where they'll find more of their ilk.