concerned citizen tells his tale.............................
I was riding to work yesterday when I observed a female driver cut right in front of a pickup truck causing him to have to drive on to the shoulder to avoid hitting her. This evidently angered the driver enough that he hung his arm out his window and flipped the woman off.
"Man, that guy is stupid" I thought to myself.
I ALWAYS smile nicely and wave in a sheepish manner whenever a female does anything to me in traffic and here's why:
I drive 48 miles each way every day to work, that's 96 miles each day. Of these, 16 miles each way is bumper-to-bumper. Most of the bumper-to-bumper is on an 8 lane highway so if you just look at the 7 lanes I am not in, that means I pass something like a new car every 40 feet per lane. That's 7 cars every 40 feet for 32 miles. That works out to be 982 cars every mile, or 31,424 cars. Even though the rest of the 32 miles is not bumper to bumper, I figure I pass at least another 4000 cars. That brings the number to something like 36,000 cars I pass every day.
Statistically, half of these are driven by females, that's 18,000.
In any given group of females 1 in 28 are having the worst day of their period. That's 642.
According to Cosmopolitan, 70% describe their love life as dissatisfying or unrewarding. That's 449.
According to the National Institute of Health, 22% of all females have seriously considered suicide or homicide. That's 98.
And 34% describe men as their biggest problem. That's 33.
According to the National Rifle Association 5% of all females carry weapons and this number is increasing.
That means that EVERY SINGLE DAY, I drive past at least one female that has a lousy love life, thinks men are her biggest problem, has seriously considered suicide or homicide, is having the worst day of her period, and is armed.
1. Sex is a beauty treatment. Scientific tests find that when women make love they produce amounts of the hormone estrogen, which makes hair shine and skin smooth.
2. Gentle, relaxed lovemaking reduces your chances of suffering dermatitis, skin rashes and blemishes. The sweat produced cleanses the pores and makes your skin glow.
3. Lovemaking can burn up those calories you piled on during that romantic dinner.
4. Sex is one of the safest sports you can take up. It stretches and tones up just about every muscle in the body. It's more enjoyable than swimming 20 laps, and you don't need special sneakers!
5. Sex is an instant cure for mild depression. It releases endorphins into the bloodstream, producing a sense of euphoria and leaving you with a feeling of well-being.
6. The more sex you have, the more you will be offered. The sexually active body gives off greater quantities of chemicals called pheromones. These subtle sex perfumes drive the opposite sex crazy!
7. Sex is the safest tranquilizer in the world. IT IS 10 TIMES MORE EFFECTIVE THAN VALIUM.
8. Kissing each day will keep the dentist away. Kissing encourages saliva to wash food from the teeth and lowers the level of the acid that causes decay, preventing plaque build-up.
9. Sex actually relieves headaches. A lovemaking session can release the tension that restricts blood vessels in the brain.
10. A lot of lovemaking can unblock a stuffy nose. Sex is a natural antihistamine. It can help combat asthma and hay fever.
[i]Iw's Notes:: I find this picture not only sensual but very erotic. The photographer was able to get the lighting just so. Its a great picture. Enjoy!![/i]
Iw's Notes:: What I love about these two pictures is the reflection of this beautiful young lady. She is Very Sensual. Her name is Leilani_Duenas I hope you enjoy her pictures.
The sort of bored you are when you can't even be stuffed firing up a browser and seeing what's new at smuttysmuttychicks.com.
But if I don't do it, who's going to care about the girls?!
The Boss comes in mid browse, and starts rabbiting on about how it's not acceptable workplace behaviour, etc., etc.
I ask him to kindly be quiet because I'm not giving the girls the attention they deserve.
Next thing you know, he's back with a guy from HR. And they want to have a quiet interview!!!
. . .
What the hell, I am bored.
"Is there some reason you were looking at that porn site?" the HR Guy asks, carefully
"Apart from checking out the girls?" I ask.
"Yes."
"I don't think so. Hang on!"
"What?"
"Nope, I've got nothing."
"And you're aware that the company has a policy regarding acceptable use of computers?"
"Really?"
"YES" the Boss snaps, annoyed. "It's been in place for at least 18 months!"
"Ah, I see, so it's not actually a policy I agreed to several years ago when I started."
"Your contract gives the company the right to vary acceptable behaviour policies."
"Not my contract," I say
"I think you'll find it does," the HR Guy responds.
"No, mine was sent as an electronic document, so I just cut out the clauses I didn't like, added a couple of my own, printed two copies and signed them. Then your guy signed them too – probably without checking. Or maybe he liked the idea of clause F.3 that I'm allowed to call Managers... 'knobface'."
"I.." the HR Guy says, then ducks out the door to check something.
… two hours later . . .
"It's true," the HR Guy says. "There is a clause saying he can call you knobface."
"Which was also signed by your HR guy – in ink," I add.
"Yes."
"Including the eight or so extra clauses I added... er.. Knobface?"
There's an extended pause while the HR Guy contemplates some form of retaliatory attack, thinks the better of it, and goes to weep to the company solicitors. A couple of hours later he comes back with some fairly weak Force Majeur clause which would hold as much water as a paper g-string.
Still, I am bored....
"Which leads us to the fact that you're still in contravention of company policy," the HR guy continues.
"Ok, it's a fair cop," I say.
"So you're admitting that you committed an act which could have you dismissed?"
"My contract terminated, yes."
"Knowingly?"
"Sure."
"You don't seem to be taking this situation very seriously. You realise that if the company were to publicly terminate your contract for browsing porn, it's possible you'd never work in the industry again?"
"I think you're forgetting I work in the Computing Industry..."
"I don't think even they would tolerate this activity - if we were to let you go."
It would seem that the HR Guy has his heart set on me breaking down and blubbering like a big girl's blouse - which just isn't going to happen. Well, not now I've had my brainwave anyway.
"I don't actually think you CAN fire me for browsing porn.."
"Why not?"
"Well, I think I'm addicted to porn."
"I beg your pardon?"
"Addicted. To porn."
"You're joking!"
"Oh no. You see I'm fairly sure that the browsing of porn causes the release of testosterone, endorphins or something like that, which in turn causes a pleasure response in the body – or so my doctor will tell me if I ask. I'm addicted to that pleasure response, in much the same way as a drug addict is addicted to the pleasure they obtain from their drugs."
"So you're saying you have no control over your actions?"
"None."
"And you…. Believe that this is somehow the company's problem?"
"Oh no."
"Good."
"No, I think it's the company's fault. It's completely different."
"I think you'll find that to demonstrate fault, the company would have to be aware of a problem."
"They are. I filled out a workplace hazard form about it six months ago."
The HR Guy looks at the Boss, who shrugs silently, having only been in the company a few weeks.
"The company MADE me look at porn – what people were browsing, what was in their fileshares, etc."
"Eh?"
"I didn't want to - but it was my job! The things I've seen! The nightmares I have!"
"That's ridiculous - no-one can prove it's harmful!"
"Ah yes - the asbestos company defence," I say. "Still, you have your job to do..."
"So you're going to go quietly?"
"Of course! Although I will be pursuing the company for the costs of my treatment."
"What treatment?"
"The porn equivalent of methadone. Apparently it involves daily doses of bikini calendar photos."
"You can't be serious!"
"No, you're probably right. I guess I'll just have to make a full and frank disclosure as part of my class action suit against the company - just before the big share float."
"I think you'll find a class action suit is where a group of ..."
"Would you look at the bezels on her!" the PFY snaps from behind his monitor having until now been silent.
"Ah. Well, how about we forget the whole thing then?" the HR Guy says, realising that this could get rather nasty...
"That'll be fine," I say. "And could you close the door on your way out... knobface?"
I think I'll wait till next week to get help for my p2p piracy problem.... ®
On the first day God created the cow. God said, "You must go to the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under the sun, have calves and give milk to support the farmer. I will give you a life span of sixty years."
The cow said, "That's kind of a tough life you want me to live for sixty years. Let me have twenty and I'll give back the other forty." And God agreed.
On the second day God created the dog. God said, "Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. I will give you a life span of twenty years."
The dog said, "That's too long to be barking.. Give me ten years and I'll give you back the other ten." So God agreed.
On the third day God created the monkey. God said, "Entertain people, do monkey tricks, make them laugh. I'll give you a twenty-year life span."
The monkey said, "How boring, monkey tricks for twenty years? I don't think so. Dog gave you back ten, so that's what I'll do too, okay?" And God agreed again.
On the fourth day God created man. God said, "Eat, sleep, play, have sex, enjoy. Do nothing, just enjoy, enjoy. I'll give you twenty years."
Man said, "What? Only twenty years! No way, man. Tell you what, I'll take my twenty, and the forty the cow gave back, and the ten the dog gave back and the ten the monkey gave back, that makes eighty, okay?"
"Okay," said God, "You've got a deal."
So that is why the first twenty years we eat, sleep, play, have sex, enjoy, and do nothing; for the next forty years we slave in the sun to support our family; for the next ten years we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren; and for the last ten years we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone.
CINDERELLA wants to go to the ball, but her wicked stepmother won't let her. As Cinderella sits crying in the garden, her fairy godmother appears, and promises to provide Cinderella with everything she needs to go to the ball, but only on two conditions. "First, you must wear a diaphragm." Cinderella agrees. "What's the second condition?" "You must be home by 2:00 a.m. Any later, and your diaphragm will turn into a pumpkin." Cinderella agrees to be home by 2:00 a.m. The appointed hour comes and goes, and Cinderella doesn't show up. Finally, at 5:00 a.m. Cinderella shows up, looking love struck and very satisfied. "Where have you been?" demands the Fairy Godmother. "Your diaphragm was supposed to turn into a pumpkin three hours ago!!!" " I met a prince, Fairy godmother. He took care of everything." The Fairy Godmother stated, "I know of no prince with that kind of power! Tell me his name!" Cinderella replied, I can't remember, exactly, Peter, Peter, something or other..."
PINOCCHIO had a human girlfriend who would sometimes complain about splinters when they were having sex. Pinocchio, therefore, went to visit Gepetto to see if he could help. Gepetto suggested he try a little sandpaper wherever indicated and Pinocchio skipped away enlightened. A couple weeks later, Gepetto saw Pinocchio bouncing happily through town and asked him, "How's the girlfriend?" Pinocchio replied, "Who needs a girlfriend?"
LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD was walking through the woods when suddenly the Big Bad Wolf jumped out from behind a tree and, holding a sword to her throat, said, "Red, I'm going to screw your brains out!" To that, Little Red Riding Hood calmly reached into her picnic basket and pulled out a 44 magnum and pointed it at him and said, "No, you're not. You're going to eat me, just like it says in the book."
MICKEY MOUSE and MINNIE MOUSE were in divorce court and the judge said to Mickey, "You say here that your wife is crazy." Mickey replied, "I didn't say she was crazy, I said she's fucking Goofy."
SNOW WHITE saw Pinocchio walking through the woods so she ran up behind him, knocked him flat on his back, and then sat on his face crying, "Lie to me! Lie to me!"
IW's Notes::: This was posted on Stevie Secret's Yahoo group by oldlarrigan. Enjoy.
After an extra busy ten days, I finally have time to post my reflections on what I observed attending X-Con's celebration of women-in-porn. Mr. Ashcroft should indeed have been there....if (I have my doubts) he actually has guts enough to change his mind when the evidence shows he has been wrong.
The basis for Ashcroft & Company's vendetta against adult entertainment is a conglomeration of myths and stereotypes. Had the Attorney General been at X-Con, he could have joined me in watching three remarkable and, I should say, admirable women--Nina Hartley, Layla Jade and Stevi Secret--blow his misconceptions (see below) all to hell.
Myth #1: The adult entertainment industry is all about men controlling and exploiting women.
Myth #2: The women who perform in adult films are incapable of doing anything else, and are just doing it out of desperation because they can't make a living any other way.
Myth #3: Actresses in adult films are invariably drugged-out and/or washed up by their mid-twenties, after which their lives can only go downhill.
Myth #4: Actresses in adult films are either sexual compulsives who can't say "no" or they are emotionally crippled from being molested as children. In either case, their sexual activity is a manifestation of weakness.
Myth #6: Adult material corrupts innocent children.
Myth #7: The Judeo-Christian scriptures declare all eroticism to be sinful.
The non-mythologized facts:
1) There were no men in charge at X-Con. It was conceived and organized by Layla and MC'd by Nina, and it was very clear that they- -and nobody else--were running the show. Actually, the fact that X- Con was put on by the women themselves was advertised as a selling point.
2) Nina, Layla and Stevi are not just actresses, they are involved in diversified enterprises as successful entrepreneurs. They have demonstrated that they are as capable backstage as they are onstage, and that they have brains and business skills to match anybody. They clearly have made their own choices, including the choice to get involved in adult entertainment, to forge careers in that industry and to support their peers. Those choices require not only initiative and determination, but also the courage to face disapproval and condemnation from the likes of Ashcroft and his henchmen. Are these women weak? Come on! Victimized? Only by the self-anointed smut police who would trample on their rights.
3) Nina has been working on camera for twenty years, and Stevi for a dozen years. Far from "has-beens," they are still crowd-pleasing performers and they look absolutely *wonderful.* For her part, Layla has every reason to look forward to a comparably long career on camera and off.
4) There are horror stories, to be sure, about exploited, addicted, burned-out, hopeless, diseased and destitute ex-performers. But these involve people in all areas of the entertainment industry. That girl who wound up dead at age eighteen with a needle in her arm wasn't an ex-porn-star, she was the former shining light of a wholesome family sitcom. (But we don't hear Mr. Ashcroft threatening to shut down the TV networks, do we?)
5) While one could legitimately wonder whether any young person these days is "innocent," considering the blatant but less-than- explicit sexualization of mainstream media these days, still it is commonly recognized that porn is not for children--not as consumers, and definitely not as participants. This view is shared by the vast majority of people in the adult entertainment industry, who vehemently oppose any form of child pornography.
6) Finally, regarding scripture vis a vis eroticism: everybody open your bibles to The Song of Solomon.
IW's Notes::: I agree with the folx that filed this law suit. The fact that pologamy was outlawed only because the Mormons wanted Utah to become a state. Of course they will denie it saying that it was a revelation from God. I agree with the statement that overturning the law against sodomy in Texas should pave the way for overturning the laws regarding polygamy. I personally dont have a problem with polygamy as long all that are involved are of age and consent to it. I lived in polyamory relationship for a couple of years. It was great. Until secrets and lies tore it apart. Read the article and tell me what you think.
Utah judge hears arguments in bid to legalize polygamy
Case relies heavily on Supreme Court’s decision last year in Texas case; state argues Lawrence v. Texas is limited to private sex, not marriage
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — If Texas cannot criminalize sodomy, Utah should not be able to criminalize polygamy, argued the attorney for three adults who want to live together as husband and wives. The three filed a lawsuit after they were denied a marriage license by the Salt Lake County Clerk’s Office in December. They ask that the county clerk be required to issue the marriage license, and they seek a declaration that the state’s criminal and civil bans of polygamy are unconstitutional. “What my clients want is to be able to enter into that relationship without the stigma of being branded as criminals,” civil-rights attorney Brian Barnard argued Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart, who took the case under advisement. Assistant Attorney General Jerrold Jensen argued that the group lacks legal standing to challenge the statutory prohibition against polygamy because they have not been charged with violating it. He conceded they have standing to challenge civil bans on plural marriage. Jensen cited an 1878 U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding the polygamy conviction of George Reynolds, personal secretary to Mormon pioneer leader Brigham Young. “Those concepts and that holding in that case have not been overturned,” Jensen said. However, Barnard said the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down a ban on private same-sex activities provides a basis for striking down the polygamy ban. Jensen said the court’s decision in Lawrence vs. Texas is limited solely to a person’s private sexual activity and does not extend to marriage. Barnard also argued that the bans against polygamy in the state constitution and the Enabling Act of 1894 specifically target one group of people and therefore fail to achieve the neutrality required by law. Stewart agreed the purpose of the legislation “was to end the practice of polygamy by the Mormon Church.” But Jensen said the law is applied today to people of all, and no, religions and is neutral. Barnard said all recent polygamy prosecutions have targeted those with strongly held religious beliefs. “The fact of the matter is that polygamy in Utah is practiced by religious people for religious reasons, and the statute is aimed at them,” he said. Barnard said that for his clients, “The practice of plural marriage is required, in this lifetime, to the attainment of eternal salvation.” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints abandoned polygamy when the territory was seeking statehood and it now excommunicates members who advocate it. A number of individuals and groups, feeling the church leaders’ action was wrong, have continued the practice. It is estimated there may be as many as 30,000 polygamists in the state. Prosecutors’ enthusiasm for enforcing the criminal law against polygamy has waxed and waned several times over the last century. In recent years it has been stepped up in association with complaints of forced marriage, marriage of underage girls, incest and welfare fraud.
Iw's Notes:: I've told y'all before that I would like to be a photographer so I can take pictures of women like this one...she is very beautiful and this is an erotic shot.
Finally a comprehensive list of how to impress the opposite sex!
HOW TO IMPRESS A WOMAN
Compliment her. Love her. Hold her. Protect her. Hug her. Spend money on her. Respect her. Support her. Listen to her. Care for her. Stroke her. Humour her. Tease her. Honor her. Stand by her. Kiss her. Wine and dine her. Cuddle her. Comfort her. Buy things for her. Caress her.
AP) August 5, 2004 Anyone up for nude croquet? Nudity law protested
ASHLAND, Ore. - Protesters against Ashland's nudity law decided to fight the ordinance by playing croquet in the buff on the lawn of the municipal building. The naked protesters played their game during the Ashland City Council meeting.
Ashland resident Ryan Navickas says the protest was about the city enforcing a moral preference. Navickas appeared fully clothed before city council members.
He urged them to, "not to criminalize the human body."
None of the council members moved to change the ordinance and no one was arrested.
The public display distracted local motorists, slowing traffic during the game.
One minor accident occurred when a motorist in a pickup hit the brakes after seeing the naked croquet players and was rear-ended by a sport utility vehicle.
NEW YORK - Fay Wray, who won everlasting fame as the damsel held atop the Empire State Building by the giant ape in the 1933 film classic "King Kong," has died, a close friend said Monday. She was 96.
Wray died Sunday at her Manhattan apartment, said Rick McKay, a friend and director of the last film she appeared in. There was no official cause of death.
"She just kind of drifted off quietly as if she was going to sleep," said McKay, director of the documentary "Broadway: The Golden Age."
"She just kind of gave out."
During a career that started in 1923, Wray appeared with such stars as Ronald Colman, Gary Cooper and Spencer Tracy, but she was destined to be linked with the rampaging Kong in movie fans' minds.
"I used to resent `King Kong,'" she remarked in a 1963 interview. "But now I don't fight it anymore. I realize that it is a classic, and I am pleased to be associated with it. Why, only recently an entire issue of a French magazine was devoted to discussing the picture from its artistic, moral and even religious aspects."
She wrote in her 1988 autobiography, "On the Other Hand": "Each time I arrive in New York and see the skyline and the exquisite beauty of the Empire State Building, my heart beats a little faster. I like that feeling. I really like it!"
"King Kong" obscured the other notable films Wray made during the '30s. They included adventures "The Four Feathers" (with Richard Arlen and William Powell) and "Viva Villa" (Wallace Beery), Westerns "The Texan" (Cooper) and "The Conquering Horde" (Arlen), romances "One Sunday Afternoon" (Cooper) and "The Unholy Garden" (Colman) as well as horror films "Dr. X" and "The Mystery of the Wax Museum."
After appearing in Erich von Stroheim's 1928 silent "The Wedding March," playing a poor Viennese girl abandoned by her lover, a playboy prince, Wray became a much-employed leading lady. In 1933, the year of "King Kong," she appeared in 11 films, co-starring with Beery, George Raft, Cooper, Jack Holt and others.
In 1980, she told of her dissatisfaction with roles of that period: "In those days, the female characters never knew who their parents were. Leading ladies were not supposed to be funny but were supposed to stand there and look beautiful. That was frustrating as an actress."
In her autobiography, the actress recalled that she had been paid $10,000 for "King Kong" (budget: $680,000), but her 10 weeks' work was stretched over a 10-month period. "Residuals were not even considered, because there were no established unions to protect us," she added.
In "King Kong," she plays an unemployed actress who agrees to take a job with a movie company that is going on location to a mysterious island. Kong is the huge ape that inhabits a part of the island.
When the film company discovers him, Kong is attracted to Wray and abducts her. But he is eventually captured and brought to New York and put on display. Kong escapes and finds Wray, with terrifying results, but eventually meets his death on the Empire State Building.
She was proud that "King Kong" had saved RKO studio from bankruptcy. Of Kong she wrote: "He is a very real and individual entity. He has a personality, a character that has been compelling to many different people for many different reasons and viewpoints."
She was the guest of honor in 1991 at a ceremony marking the 60th birthday of the Empire State Building, saying that if she were mayor of New York, "I would want to run the city from this building ... and get up every morning to see the sun rise."
Although Kong appeared huge, the full figure was really only 18 inches tall. Miss Wray knew him by the arm, which was 8 feet long.
"I would stand on the floor," she recalled, "and they would bring this arm down and cinch it around my waist, then pull me up in the air. Every time I moved, one of the fingers would loosen, so it would look like I was trying to get away. Actually, I was trying not to slip through his hand."
By the late '30s, the actress was appearing in low-budget films, and she quit working in 1942 to be a wife and mother. Her first husband was John Monk Saunders, who wrote such air films as "Wings" and "The Dawn Patrol." She was 19 and he was 30 when they married. She discovered he was an alcoholic and a drug addict, and the marriage became a nightmare.
After a divorce, she married Robert Riskin, the brilliant writer of "It Happened One Night," "Lost Horizon" and other Frank Capra films. In 1950, he suffered a stroke from which he never recovered. He died five years later.
Returning to work in 1953, Wray appeared mostly in motherly roles in youth-oriented films like "Small Town Girl," "Tammy and the Bachelor" and "Summer Love." In 1979 she played opposite Henry Fonda () in a TV drama, "Gideon's Trumpet."
I had one of these a little while back, but he got out and was killed by one of my son's hamster. For my birthday, my mom bought me another one, its pretty cool. Its called a Corn Snake.
He is still a baby, full grown he should be about 4 to 6 feet. Right now he is about 10 inches.
Pog mo thoin - 'Kiss my ass.'You're one tough bastard, and if anyone doesn't like it, they can kiss your ass. You enjoy fighting and causing grievous bodily harm. Hey! What are you lookin' at, punk?
IW's Notes:: I applaud this Judge for what he has done. He has taken a stand in an issue that is trying to tear this country apart. I blame the Republicans for this happening. I don't understand why same sex couples should not have the same rights as my wife and I? We are legally married have been for 17 years. Why can't same sex couples be granted that right? And please don't give me the same ole song and dance about the bible says its wrong and that god says its wrong! The bible was written by men that are fallible. Maybe Moses got hit on by a guy and didn't like it so thats why there is a Mosaic law against homosexuality. You have to remember that Egypt was a hell raising town in his day. Yes there is other instants of sodomy (Aka Homosexuality) was outlawed. But again I say, the bible was written by men. Don't get me wrong, I believe the bibe is correct in sofar as a book written by fallible men can be. They can be some great parents. It doesnt take a man and a woman to be parents, it just takes them to create the baby. So please think about giving the same rights to these couples that we have. I'm sure I will get hit with some arguments against what I have said, but hey thats what makes the USA great. Freedom of speech!!
Upstanding same-sex couples swayed Wash. judge
Associated Press Aug. 5, 2004 02:25 PM
SEATTLE - Among the constitutional principles and legal precedents, the most potent element of the court ruling that legalized gay marriage in Washington was more personal: Judge William Downing's observation that the couples suing for the right to marry were stable, upstanding people whose commitment to each other and their families could only strengthen the institution of marriage.
"Their lives reflect hard work, professional achievement, religious faith and a willingness to stand up for their beliefs. They are law-abiding, taxpaying model citizens. They include exemplary parents, adoptive parents, foster parents and grandparents. They well know what it means to make a commitment and to honor it," the King County Superior Court judge wrote.
"There is not one among them that any of us should not be proud to call a friend or neighbor or to sit with at small desks on back-to-school night. There is no worthwhile institution that would dishonor, much less destroy."
Downing's decision on Wednesday, that banning same-sex marriage violates the state constitution, did not give gay couples the green light to get marriage licenses. It's been put on hold pending an appeals court review.
Lawyers on both sides hope to go straight to the Supreme Court, which often lets cases of obvious statewide importance bypass the state Court of Appeals.
As they wait, plaintiffs say they're trying to relish their first victory and hang on to their hopes that the high court will uphold the argument that the Washington's constitution trumps the law defining marriage as the union between a man and a woman.
"I'm cautiously confident. I don't think it's a foregone conclusion, but I am optimistic," said Vega Subramaniam, 39, who has been with her partner, Mala Nagarajan, for six years.
Nagarajan, 36, said she expects the wait to be nerve wracking, but keeps thinking back the judge's words and can't help but feel encouraged.
"I think those words hit home for me because for much of my life, trying to deal with the lesbian label has been difficult," Nagarajan said. "To hear him say we're role models for married couples was incredibly affirming."
Jennifer Pizer, lead attorney for the plaintiffs, said two 2001 state Supreme Court rulings give her confidence:
-Vasquez v. Hawthorne, which held that a Seattle man's 30-year same-sex relationship with his partner was enough like a marriage to grant him a share of his deceased partner's estate.
-And Heinsma v. City of Vancouver, which gave the city of Vancouver the right to keep providing health benefits to domestic partners of city employees, including same-sex partners.
Darren Carnell, who represented King County, declined to discuss any legal strategy he and attorneys for the state might use in the next step.
"It's a long, thorough decision and we appreciate that," he said. "We'll be taking it to the appellate court, and I'm not sure what issues we'll focus on there."
"In both of them, the court's approach was thoughtful but also matter-of-fact: that the rules should apply fairly irrespective of sexual orientation," said Pizer, a lawyer with the gay-rights group Lambda Legal.
Six couples sued in March after King County refused to grant them marriage licenses. Two other couples joined the case later, challenging Washington's 1998 Defense of Marriage Act.
Critics of same-sex marriage denounced Downing's ruling, saying it ignored what's best for kids - a mother and a father - and placed higher value on the wishes of a small minority of adults.
David Skover, a constitutional law professor at Seattle University School of Law, said he was moved by "the extraordinarily insightful and wide-sweeping social, cultural and political observations made by Judge Downing in a good one-fourth of his opinion."
"The societal changes the judge mentioned ... definitely legitimate the court's role in evolving the parameters of individual liberties," said Skover, a gay man who has been with his partner for 13 years.
A mother-son duo from Scottsdale who made millions off of men's desires for enlarged sex organs cannot sue employees who testified against them and must stop fraudulently marketing their body-enhancement pills.
Judge Paul Katz of Maricopa County Superior Court issued an injunction against Michael and Geraldine Consoli, principal owners of C.P. Direct, for violating an order last spring to stop asserting that their pill "Longitude" would enlarge penises.
He also dismissed a libel lawsuit last week that they filed against former employees.
"It really does send a strong message to defendants that trying to threaten your witnesses by filing libel suits against them is not appropriate and not right," said Andrea Esquer, spokeswoman for the Arizona Attorney General's Office.
The office sued the company for consumer-fraud violations.
The Consolis face penalties of $10,000 per future violation of the judge's order and may have to pay the state's legal expenses. Attorneys for the Consolis could not be reached for comment on Thursday.
Last month, Michael Consoli was sentenced to six months in jail for criminal charges in connection with company operations. Consoli and others with the company were ordered to forfeit about $50 million in cash and assets last year, Esquer said.
IW's Notes::: I agree with the critics in this article, teaching absitence is not the only thing students need to be taught about in sex-ed classes. They need to know about condoms, thier functions and how to use them. Its a fact of life that teenagers are going to have sex, not all of them, but a good majority will. Being a teen is about exploring life. Sex is part of life. They need to have all the information to protect their life and if the critics are right, the books in question just don't give them all the info.
Battle over Texas sex-ed textbooks
Second-largest buyer could influence rest of U.S.
DALLAS (Reuters) -- The lesson for Texas teens is that the only safe sex is no sex, and that may be a lesson that heads nationwide.
Texas educators are debating what will be taught in new sexual education textbooks for its high school students. The 15-member Texas Board of Education is considering and will likely approve four books, all of which extol the virtues of abstinence. Three make no mention of contraceptives at all while one makes passing reference to condoms.
Critics are crying foul, saying that a lesson of abstinence alone is dangerous because it could lead to more teen pregnancies and more teens becoming infected with sexually transmitted diseases.
The battle in Texas has national implications because the state is the second-biggest market for textbooks in the United States. Books approved by the state's school board are typically marketed nationally.
According to Centers for Disease Control figures, Texas has been among the top five states in the country for teenage pregnancies for several years.
When he was governor of Texas, George W. Bush pushed for an abstinence-based sexual education curriculum. He raised his concerns to a national level when he said in this year's State of the Union address: "We will double federal funding for abstinence programs, so schools can teach this fact of life: Abstinence for young people is the only certain way to avoid sexually transmitted diseases."
National surveys indicate that a wide majority of parents support a strong abstinence message to teens in sexual education.
The Texas Freedom Network, a group that regularly battles social and religious conservatives in the state, along with Planned Parenthood and others are asking the board not to approve the four textbooks under consideration.
Book tells teens rest prevents STDs
They say the books are lacking. For example, one textbook under review advises that a good way a teen-ager can prevent a sexually transmitted disease is to get plenty of rest so he or she can have a clear head about sex and choose abstinence.
"The key thing here is that the textbooks do not contain a trace of information about family planning and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases other than through abstinence," said Dan Quinn, a spokesman for the Texas Freedom Network.
Critics want the board to ask the publishers to revise the books to include more information on contraceptives, but the board is expected to approve the books without changes since officials say discussion of contraceptives in their teachers' supplements is enough to meet state curriculum requirements .
"There are other contraceptive methods in addition to abstinence and you are just not going to find it in these textbooks," Quinn said. He charged the textbook publishers have engaged in self-censorship to appease social conservatives in the state at the expense of the health of Texas teen-agers.
The board will meet in September to discuss the books and will vote on whether to approve them in November. If approved, the texts are likely to appear in classrooms in August 2005 -- where they could be the standard text for about 10 years.
Local school districts are not required to use one of the new books but they receive state funding to buy them if they do.
The publishers of the books are Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Glencoe/McGraw Hill and Thomson Delmar Learning.
Some of the books currently in use in the state have more information about contraceptives than the books up for consideration, but once the new books are approved, they will for the most part replace all the current texts.
Board at center of religious and political battles
The education board has been at the center of many political and religious battles over the years including a recent proposal by evangelical Christian groups to have the state's textbooks include items debunking evolution.
Despite opposition, the sex education textbooks under consideration are likely to get approval. State Education Agency officials said mention of condoms and contraceptives in the teacher's editions or in supplements to the books enable them to meet Texas curriculum standards.
Texas standards require sexual education books to "analyze the effectiveness of barrier protection and other contraceptive methods, including the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, keeping in mind the effectiveness of remaining abstinent until marriage."
Richard Blake, a spokesman for Holt, Rinehart and Winston said his company offers a supplement for students that goes into comprehensive detail about forms of contraceptives.
The supplement for students is free with the purchase of the textbooks. It is excluded from the main text in order to offer flexibility and meet the needs of school boards across the United States that have differing views on how to treat a subject many see as highly sensitive.
"Teachers and educators across the country, and not just in Texas, have told us they wanted it this way," Blake said.
Copyright 2004 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Porn mega-star Jenna Jameson's book How To Make Love Like A Pornstar: A Cautionary Tale will be released through Regan Books on August 17.
Co-written by esteemed journalist and author Neil Strauss (New York Times, Rolling Stone, The Dirt, with Mötley Crüe, The Long Hard Road Out of Hell, with Marilyn Manson), the no-holds-barred memoir of how the busty blonde became the biggest name in the history of adult entertainment is an alternately tragic and triumphant coming-of-age story, a freaky and hilarious sex romp, and a remarkable treatise on female empowerment all rolled into one.
The book describes Jenna's own long road out of hell, from the seedy underbelly of Las Vegas as a teenager, to the world of biker gangs and strip clubs, to her reign as porn's top leading lady. From a world surrounded by abuse, rape, and murder t her current life of fame and fortune, Jenna has done it all.
Jameson was born Jenna Massoli in 1974. She lost her mother to cancer at a very young age and grew up in the care of her combat vet, vigilante policeman, and sometime criminal father, running wild in the streets of Las Vegas with her inseparable older brother. A biker tattoo artist boyfriend introduced her to Vegas’ strip club scene. When she went for her first try-out, she was turned away because of her braces. She went home, pried the metal off her teeth with pliers, and returned the next day. Within months she was the highest paid girl at the Crazy Horse Too at 17 years old.
Jameson then moved on to X-rated photo spreads in L.A. and eventually to adult films. She became a contract start for Wicked Pictures, helping make it one of the top adult studios, then later formed her own production company and teamed up with Vivid Entertainment Group, where she soon became a superstar.
Jameson garnered much mainstream media attention via repeated turns on Howard Stern’s radio show and as the host of E! Entertainment Television’s coverage of the Cannes Film Festival. Soon she found herself mingling with and being propositioned by Hollywood stars, dating the likes of Tommy Lee and Marilyn Manson, and winning just about every award the adult film industry had to offer. Her rise to fame was scattered with bouts of crystal meth addiction, painkiller-fueled cross-country stripping tours, and one destructive relationship after another.
The book also includes funny segments and cartoons such as How to Become a Male Pornstar, The Ten Commandments (of love and sex), and How to Date a Pornstar. A first hand glimpse into Jenna’s childhood is also seen through childhood diary entries chronicling, in remarkable honesty, her coming of age, late-developing body, and first encounters with the opposite sex.
And porn fans rejoice! The bookhas tons of the sleazy sex and titillating stories you'd expect from a book by Jameson, as well as plenty of racy pictures.
According to her press release, "How To Make Love Like A Pornstar: A Cautionary Tale is a frank and unflinching self-examination by a very smart woman who knows that many people don’t approve of her life. And, as with practically every challenge she has ever faced, Jenna Jameson comes out on top in the end."
Comal County Court-at-Law Judge Charles Stephens ruled Wednesday that Laura Carney could have primary custody of her daughter, ordering at the same time she not participate in the porn industry she earlier testified she had previously departed. Husband Patrick Carney will take part of the joint managed conservatorship of their three-year-old, but failed to gain custody as he had hoped.
In compelling courtroom testimony on Wednesday, Patrick Carney denied allegations wife Laura Carney’s adult film entertainment career was his idea. Laura Carney had accused her husband in divorce court early Wednesday of persuading her to do fetish and bondage films because of the family’s financial difficulties. More serious allegations made by the performer better known as “Barbi Korvette,” “Demi Darkgirl” and “Slave Girl” include that her husband sexually abused their daughter.
During testimony Patrick Carney stated that his wife first wanted to create a cabaret show featuring gymnastics, and that a decision to go into adult film work followed that initial impulse. Carney admitted that he went with his wife on six work-related publicity outings and four photo shoots. He also helped build her web site and sold her merchandise. He also admitted to hiring prostitutes. Laura Carney’s legal representative had earlier charged that Patrick Carney was his wife’s manager.
Patrick Carney’s basic argument in filing for custody, which set off fireworks in court on Tuesday, is that his 35-year-old wife and former Hustler's Busty Beauties and Taboo photo model is unfit due to her film career and various mental illnesses. Patrick Carney’s lawyer, Lawrence Garcia, told San Antonio press Mrs. Carney’s career, even if in the past, put at issue the mother’s stability and the possibility that the child could be exposed to her mother’s working conditions. Patrick Carney described one shoot involving hooded participants and firearms as particularly upsetting.
The electrifying testimony powered the custody and divorce issues past what outsiders initially believed would be a late Tuesday or early Wednesday ruling. Laura Carney, who left her husband in 2001, said she plans to marry a boyfriend in Indiana and provide a home for her child there.
Along with her work in Taboo and Busty Beauties, Carney starred in several fetish videos for Gwen Media. A Gwen Media worker who chose not to be identified told AVN.com Carney/Korvette did little if any video work and probably did most of her adult work as an Internet model.
"I worked with her," the worker said, "but I don't get into their personal lives at all. She showed up, she worked. If it were one of the people we used frequently, I might know something.
"We used her twice in four years," he continued. "Once in a still set and once for Crimson Mansion. I met her through another Web producer, and we used her for a shoot. Sometimes when we're looking for extras, if a model contacts us at the right time, she gets the part. And that's probably what happened."
IW's Notes::: This picture are for Scuba Diva, since she is always giving me grief about the pictures I post. Of course its in a loving way....love ya babe
Iw's notes: I don't see how being a porn star makes her less of a good mother. As long as the child is not exposed to her mothers job I don't see a problem. I am glad though she won. The only reason this story made it in cnn.com is because she has starred in porn movies.
Former porn star wins custody
Can't make any more movies
NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas (AP) -- A former porn star was awarded custody of her 3-year-old daughter, but the judge added one condition: that she not make any more adult movies.
Judge Charles Stephens acknowledged that he faced a difficult decision in arriving at Wednesday's ruling.
The mother, Laura Carney, has made several pornographic movies, and is known on film as Barbi Korvette, Slavegirl and Dmii Darkangel.
The father, Patrick Carney, admitted that he attended clubs where his wife performed, sold her merchandise, viewed pornography on the Internet and hired prostitutes.
The judge said he had to award custody to "someone who is an admitted porn entertainer (or) someone who was involved in porn, viewed it and can't remember the last time he's hired a prostitute."
Laura Carney, 35, accused her husband of pressuring her into the porn industry then using her past against her. She left him in 2001.
Patrick Carney, a financial services worker, said he had little involvement in his wife's work and now teaches Sunday school at his church.
Copyright 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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IW's note::These places have been on the net for awhile now. Most of the time, they are full of guys, but very few women. So who knows on the ones mentioned in the story.
Dating Web Sites Matchmake for the Married
Wednesday, August 04, 2004
LOS ANGELES — Tho se “headed for the cheatin’ side of town,” in the words of the Eagles, are having a lot of help these days — most of it on the Internet.
The business of extramarital affairs is a booming one, with a lot of online companies more than willing to play a part for a price. A slew of Web sites have cropped up offering dates, matches and even lies to the already-married who have strayed — or want to.
Among them: Philanderers.com, MarriedSecrets.com, PerfectAlibi.com (with good stories for the unfaithful to use to cover their tracks) and AshleyMadison.com, site of The Ashley Madison Agency.
That last site lures the unfaithful in with the slogan “When Monogamy Becomes Monotony” and is the biggest cheating site in town, with claims of 160,000 members. It puts philanderers in contact with potential paramours just like any other dating site for singles does — with pictures, profiles and instant messaging.
It even offers affair advice about safe sex and how to avoid giving out home or work phone numbers when meeting someone. Those who run the site say they aren’t encouraging infidelity, but they understand it and are providing a service to those who have already decided to cheat on a spouse.
Many therapists worry about the consequences of infidelity becoming an Internet industry.
Family counselor Brett Williams said cheating Web sites are making it easy for people to stray and helping to ruin families.
“They’re basically destroying the fabric of our society,” Williams said. “Our society is built on family units. Once that decays, we’re not going to have much of a society.”
Someone asked me here recently, that if I loved my wife, why would I even think about cheating on her. I have thought about that and I believe I have the answer. Now some might find this purely sexist but I feel its the truth. I have a high sex drive, I mean I want sex all the time. Unfortunately between having 6 kids, a wife who's sex drive is almost nothing it makes for the right receipe to consider cheating.
I have cheated in the past, and she knows about all of the times that I have. Would I cheat on her now? I would like to say no with finality. Unfortunately I can't. I really don't know if I would or wouldn't. I have a feeling that if the oppurtunity was there, I would probably take it. Especially if I knew I could get a way with it. Its a good think a certain young lady lives in Tenn 2000 miles away. Otherwise it would proably happen, especially if she made the first move. LOL
So there you have it. Why I would cheat or have cheated. Not proud of it, but its a fact of life.
8) I had this nice little sermon, all written out, I hit the emoticon on the left and boom the little speech disappeared. Lets just say that I am going to have fun with life and deal with the consequences with the big guy when I die.
The Current Terror Alert!
I get so bored at times…
