Today's Delicious Links

Links for 2008-08-14 [del.icio.us] Posted: 15 Aug 2008 12:00 AM CDT Hey Blogger, Are You Ready for the Lawsuit? | Marketing Profs Daily Fix Blog When a journalist takes on a company, brand, individual or other entity -- they are protected by the big media companies that employ them. Bloggers, not so much MarketingProfs Knowledge Exchange : Ethics of blogging My company just started a blog, and I found some issues to write about that I think are important to the industry. However, when I visited my competitor's websites to find more ideas I noticed some of their blogs aren't really what I think a blog would be. They are more like FAQ's pasted onto a blog. This got me thinking are there really any ethics or guidelines to blogging? » legal part II - After Hours| random discourse from a retired escort A certain type of man goes to a brothel. I haven't figured out their psychology yet. But most of them are indeed truckers or men of a lower class. At least at Bella's. It is probably different from brothel to brothel. Death Before Tolerance or Equality Perhaps we should instead adopt a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy for bigots: no one will inquire about whether you are a bigot, but you also can't go around expressing bigotry.

Today's Delicious Links

Links for 2008-08-10 [del.icio.us] Posted: 11 Aug 2008 12:00 AM CDT Homophobia & Katy Perry: Its just a joke… « Hanging Around On The Wrong Side Of The World (still) The songs each play on tropes of homophobia that are common in daily life but considered to be 'harmless'. The first being the use of 'gay' as an insult akin to 'stupid' or 'sucky', the second being the idea that (pretty) straight girls kissing is hot as long as its aimed at turning on men. GlobalComment » Russia and Georgia: Darkness Falls Here are two things you ought to know about the conflict flaring up between Russia and Georgia Writing sex and parenting - dangerous but essential | Sex In The Public Square There are few places where our public and private lives become blended into such ugly displays as they do in custody and divorce proceedings. The current controversy surrounding Jefferson's appeal for support because of a custody challenge that is, at least partly, based on his blogging about his sex life demonstrates that better than almost anything could. Feature Focus: The New Face of Amateur Porn - XBIZ.com While some folks might find this increased level of public acceptance of adult material to be a good thing, it planted the seeds for what this observer sees as potentially being the worst thing to hit adult entertainment since the Meese Commission. Drew Westen: Catching the Wrong John: Why Are the Media Talking about John Edwards' Infidelity If They Aren't Going to Talk about John McCain's? So is lying about an affair a good predictor of other forms of deceit and corruption in office? By all reports George W. Bush has been faithful to his wife. If only he had been so faithful to the Constitution, the American people, and those silly little things we have in this country called laws.

Today's Delicious Links

Links for 2008-08-09 [del.icio.us] Posted: 10 Aug 2008 12:00 AM CDT Who Made Publishers the Morality Police? | BlogHer "Let the books speak for themselves. If you don't want your kid to read a book because of the author's post-publication actions then don't buy it, but you should get to decide what is suitable for your child, not the publisher." Responses To Porn - Sex~Kitten.net Looking at porn past the trite "I like it" or the dogmatic "It's oppressive" brings down holy hellfire for sex bloggers. And I could just leave it at that, but I won't.

Carnival Of The Liberals

It is my pleasure to be hosting this edition of the Carnival of the Liberals. This is my first time hosting this carnival; it's been both fun and an awesome responsibility to select from the nearly 50 great entries submitted.

Political Bullying, Denial, & Other Errors Of Note:

GrrlScientist does more than share Thoughts on Poverty in America; she's got hardcore facts too.

I'm A Pundit Too announces that Congress Opens Self To Law Suit Over Oil Prices ~ according to the post's poll, readers think it's a good legal action.

Woman Gives Birth Under Torture: Homeland Security Hell, a chilling report by Thinkbridge.

SocraticGadfly says, "Pelosi voted for FISA revisal after knowing THIS?" My question is: "What's going to be done about it?"

Family Values:

McCain's Adultery: Where is the Media?, that's what Atheist Revolution (and I) want to know.

Submitted To A Candid World's The Evangelical Re-Invention of John McCain, and the Sad Paradox of Fundamentalist Family Values:

When a “pro-family” position requires one to sacrifice the best interests of the child at the altar of the Old Testament’s outdated Levitical morality, “family values” cease to be about the family, and become solely about the politics.

At The Republic of T it's even more personal ~ but well debated and equally well-documented: Believing in Our Families.

Religion & Beliefs:

Greg Laden tries to call for 24 hours of silence "as a show of respect for the all those who have suffered at the hands religious zealots around the world and throughout history."

What Is Wrong With Mercy Ministries? Jeffrey Stingerstein at Disillusioned Words will tell you:

Christianity is an oxymoron in that way. On the one hand, it exalts weakness: the meek shall inherit the earth while the Kingdom of Heaven will belong to the poor. On the other hand this is just bait for the predator to trap its prey.

At Bay of Fundie, Reality Denialism and the Limits of Belief:

I have identified two factors at play here. I call them the Technical Limit of Belief (TLB) and the Social Limit of Belief (SLB). When you cross both lines, you have a reality denier.

Rights & Responsibilities:

Human rights; you can curtail them, but you still won't be free of terrorism. The proof is in Terrorism in a police state, at Stochastic Scribbles.

Bound, Not Gagged reports on the Decriminalize Prostitution Initiative on the San Francisco Ballot.

In Hate Speech vs Hate Crime Jason of Washington Interns Gone Bad takes heat for not believing in the lone gunman/nut theory. Echidne Of The Snakes covers the same incident from the point of view of Responsibility.

Toe-to-toe, blow-by-blow coverage of the McCain Healthcare Policy Scam Spam at Home Of The Brave.

Humor & Satire:

One of my favorite areas... Laugh 'til you hurt; laugh because you hurt.

It all may be funny, but Tangled Up In Blue Guy tells us why It’s No Joke.

Virtually everyone's talked about Barry Blitt's Obama New Yorker cover ~ I may be the only exception in this case of folks ~ including liberals ~ not understanding satire. Even if you think you've heard it all, read it all, give A Humorist’s Lament (Covering The New Yorker Cover Brouhaha In Verse) ~ a very funny & creative ode by Mad Kane, who apparently waxes thus on many current events. And if that doesn't inspire a grin, there's Joel Stein's How to make fun of Barack Obama at Against Obama.

Vintage Blasphemy for the Creationists in the Crowd, a must see by GrrlScientist.

Allen at The Whited Sepulchre says, "Brent Rinehart's Comic Book - I need a copy".

(See also Ethan Persoff's George Wallace asks: Is Brent Rinehart an EP.TC Reader? -- or just a natural born stylistic plagiarist?)

I didn't know how else to categorize this one... So how about Honorable Mention:

That long and winding road, by Object Dart.


Talk The Talk & Walk The Walk:

Tonight on Cult of Gracie radio, I'll be talking about some of these very issues; so if they matter to you, listen live and/or call in at 1 (646) 200-3136.

Get ready for the next carnival at Submitted to a Candid World. Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of the liberals using the carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on the blog carnival home page.

UPDATE, 8/5/08: Oops, I forgot to mention that I'll be hosting another edition of the Carnival of the Liberals on September 24th at the XXBN blog ~ so don't forget to submit to me, err, the carnival, then.

Cult of Gracie Radio with Dr. Michael Goodyear

Tomorrow, June 11 (at 9 p.m. central), Cult of Gracie Radio has Dr. Michael Goodyear, MD, PhD, as the guest.

An Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at Canada's Dalhousie University, his main focus there is in responsible human research governance, particularly the ethical aspects of research. His active interest in issues of women's health have lead him to a longstanding involvement in women's health and studies (including family planning, social justice and ethics), and the problems associated with those on the margins of society.

No wonder then that he would become interested in the issues & myths surrounding sex work.

Well-versed in the research, as well as the ethics and methodology of research, Michael's put his skills and knowledge to use in identifying social determinants of marginalization and speaking out both for decriminalization and against the myths of sex work.

An avid supporter of sex workers' rights, Michael moves past academia, actively seeking out & speaking out.

He speaks directly to the matter of why decriminalizing sex work, especially that at the street level, is a feminist issue:

Public health measures must be built on evidence based best practice. Only by moving sex work outside of the criminal justice system, focussing on public health and social care, can we achieve this and help to break the cycle of violence. Criminalisation of sex work that limits access to care contravenes UN guidelines on human rights.

Remedies for social issues surrounding prostitution lie not in legislative measures but in social determinants such as wage disparity and access to welfare that limit women’s choices. Labour politicians frequently state that the moral fibre of a society must be judged by the way it treats its most vulnerable members, yet their policy discriminates against the most disadvantaged.

Michael Goodyear speaks on the inaccuracies of sexually transmitted infections in sex work (found via Dr Petra Boynton):

Unfortunately the discourse in public health, and in particular that concerning services to individuals involved in commercial sex, are more likely to be informed by opinion than by evidence. In addition repeated exposure to messages reinforces and polarizes previously held prejudices.

And he speaks sanely regarding an issue that drives me insane ~ the perpetuation of myths:

It is unfortunate that the Gazette insists on repeating tired myths about sex work, without checking its facts. This is a very unbalanced article. The German World Cup story has now made its way into the archives of urban myths. Even anti-trafficking organisations such as Prevent Human Trafficking are expressing concern about the constant reporting of untruths. "It seems that this estimate originated with unsubstantiated statements made by a few antitrafficking groups which, though they have no basis in reality, have somehow gained legitimacy through repetition".

This includes challenging Melissa Farley & her "findings" on several occasions:

Melissa Farley is one of those people who are convinced there is a connection between sex work and trafficking, but mainstream researchers do not.

For more information, see his Marginalization of Women and Sex Work page.

With all of this, I'm surprised that I had not discovered Michael earlier. (We "met" at my post at Sex In The Public Square). But then, as Michael himself has noted, the myths are passed along far more enthusiastically than the truths.

Click here to listen to the show live, and call in with comments and questions at 1 (646) 200-3136.

UPDATE:

There were some issues with BlogTalkRadio's server/site, and so the show will be downloaded, edited and uploaded to adjust for that. (Hopefully it is all recorded.) Meanwhile, please be patient with the "dead air" gaps ~ the show did go on (even longer than scheduled).

And look for the return of Dr. Goodyear on a future show. (Please fee free to listen to future Cult of Gracie shows , and past shows , as well! lol) Many thanks to him for sharing his information and his patience during a glitchy show.

Also, Elizabeth at Sex In The Public Square has posted her thoughts (&wonderful questions) on the show.

Straighten-Up & Fly White

From an interview with Velvet D'Amour (via Slip of a Girl):

The biggest obstacle to the promotion of healthy beauty within the fashion industry is the dependence fashion has on advertising. Since magazines are dependent on the advertisers to exist, this beholds them to adhering to what has become the yawningly boring average--thin, white, tall and young.

I would just end with an "Amen", but as serendipity would have it, I also just read a post at Infomercantile regarding "Beauty in a Bottle", which had the following scans of "No-Kink," a hair straightening product, and "Modelle-Creme," a skin whitener.

Two XXBN Shows Today

On Sunday, June 8th at noon (central), Renegade Evolution will be on XXBN discussing The Conviction of Max Hardcore for Obscenity Charges, Language, and Sex Workers & Normal People.

Click here to listen to the show live. You can call in at 1 (646) 200-3136.

Then, at 7 p.m. (central), Holly Pottle interviews Jill Brenneman regarding her vision for Sex Workers Against Rape, a campaign she is in the process of starting. Topics to be discussed include sex workers rights approaches to stopping abuse and how the criminalization of prostitution encourages abuse. Jill will also discuss how she transitioned from being part of the sex work prohibitionist segment of the feminist movement to a leader in the sex workers' rights movement.

Click here to listen live, and call in with comments and questions at 1 (646) 200-3136

Monkeying Around On The Radio

Cult of Gracie Radio moves to XXBN with tonight's show, featuring Dr. Susan Block, sex educator, cable TV host and author, discusses what we can learn from bonobos, the chimps who have a matriarchal culture and are recognized to have sex play a prominent role in their society. Bonobos also display compassion, empathy, kindness, patience, sensitivity, and altruism. We humans could should learn a lot from these apes so closely related to us.

About Suzy: A familiar face on HBO's late-night programming through her #1 Nielsen-rated specials, Radio Sex TV with Dr. Susan Block as well as her episodes on Real Sex, she's not only an educated sexologist, but a hot chick with a grand sense of humor to boot.

Listen to the show live here ~ and don't forget to call in!

UPDATE: Sorry, show was canceled ~ will let you know when it's been rescheduled!

The Abolition And "Saving" Of Sex Workers

The well-intentioned, misinformed, and even the righteous haters all proclaim to save us ~ sex workers and society itself ~ from the sin and abuses of sex work.

On one hand, there are the myths which blame the sex worker for taking ~ nay, making society run this path to ruin. Like the cliched woman who seduces a man away from his family & home, sex workers force uninterested citizens to fornicate. It would be silly if they weren't so loud & insistent in their claims to condemn the lives and livelihoods of those involved. The mere notion that "a sex worker is out there, somewhere" does not induce partaking of her services, nor even having sex in general.

It's the continual misrepresentation of the facts of sex work and the sex industry which perpetuate gross myths.

Just one of which is the matter of rape.

And as Jill and I discussed during my last XBN interview, the claims that sex workers cause & teach men to rape is ridiculous. It's frightening that such out-right lies (and they are out-right lies, not supported by any facts, studies or findings because rape has nothing to do with sex) are still touted as truth.

On the other hand, there's the myth that all sex workers are to be saved from their situations. Some sex workers are victims of trafficking; but that's not all of them. As discussed, some sex workers have drug issues; this can be found in any industry or occupation. And some sex workers have abuse in their pasts. As Jill and I also discussed in my last interview, abuse knows no limits ~ no economic limits, no professional limits. Like drugs, abuse cuts along all layers of society.

The stereotype that "all sex workers are," or have been abused, physically or otherwise, only further stigmatizes and victimizes survivors of abuse. It forces them to remain quiet on the issue; or, for those who admit such things (and by virtue of standing up, become the tallest nail to receive the hardest pounding), it adds to their past pain of reliving via telling the tale (again & again) as well as (and this is what kills me) acts as if the abuse victim had ability to make the choice to become a sex worker.

Now, you may think this sort of well-intentioned absolution is kind, but it's not. This thinking wipes away any notion that the survivor has any ability to think for herself, to evaluate and make choices. It's as if the abuse has now retarded, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually, the victim, reducing her to nothing more than an unthinking, unresponsive statistic. How insulting. It would be insulting enough for anyone, but for a person who has survived and overcome? It's horrific.

This proves the need for more sex worker media. And the need for mainstream media to actually interview actual sex workers, in many areas of the industry, in order to begin to glimpse the magnificent differences and the honest realities in our profession. Free speech is supposed to protect all speech, even if it's on taboo topics; and one presumes that those viewing media want the real story.

Since the US is a nation of gluttons, who, feel both entitled to excess as well as duty bound to create laws which will protect them from themselves, the debates on "society" and "culture" should continue.

Even if I believe that we must first become a better parent to our children, monitoring, modeling, and then mentoring them on their way to becoming both educated consumers and tolerant of others, even to the inclusion of the rights of others to participate in things feared to result in damned souls. (Isn't that what god is for, to decide in the end?)

So, leave the judgements of things which do not harm another to your individual deity, please. Laws are to protect us in this world; the afterworld, should you believe there is one, may be what you live your life for, but souls are not what we legislate for or against.

The Right To Control Our Own Image

A Slip of a Girl discusses Body Image 2.0 as more than our parts; a response to an article in the May issue of Fitness magazine:

And it's difficult to decide which is more liberating: Controlling the media, the message, or our very own bodies.

Now more than ever we have the ability to exercise something which should be our right -- the right to control our bodies in voice and deed, to decide what should be said about ourselves, to say what it is that we are really thinking and feeling, and to show what we wish.

Blogging and self-publishing allows us to take those previously intimate conversations, such as kitchen table coffee clutches and those rants shared over a bottle (or two) of wine, and share them with so many more people.