From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=328">Rhetoric</a><BR>
Date: 14 January 2003<P>

jimmy - My panties aren't in a knot. I just don't see what can come of your comment. It seemed apathetic - not thoughtful. Porn (by itself) is not bad. However, our society's (meaning the USA) global view about nudity and sexuality is what takes a picture of a nude man or woman and turns it into something that should be coveted secretly in the wee hours of the night. It is the emotion and/or stigma that we attach to things that give them power.<BR>
<BR>
Look at the rape/molestation/murder rates in most European countries - then, compare thier attitudes and disposition about sexuality to ours. <BR>
<BR>
It should not be what IS the world coming to - it should be: What are WE doing to the world? And your comment gave me the impression that you don't see the other side of the coin.<BR>
<BR>
Ask TJ about the criminal. We are engineers of the sick mind. We take people who need help and make animals of them.<BR>
<BR>
Instead of talking about Pete...educate those around you about what we can do so NO child is harmed. That would be responsible.<BR>
<BR>
That is MY soapbox for the year.<BR>
<BR>
Jennifer 
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From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=205">Violet</a><BR>
Date: 14 January 2003<P>

Rhet~ Cheers.  
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From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=4">tj holland</a><BR>
Date: 14 January 2003<P>

Just for clarification, Rhet mentioned asking me about 'the criminal' because she knows I work in a jail. I do see what the world is coming to, on  daily basis. <BR>
Also, I think that the question "what is the world coming to?" incorporates the understanding that "we" are doing it. At least it does for me.<BR>
Anyway, that's about all I have to say.   :-)    Peace.<BR>
<BR>
-Teej
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From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=67">Smiling Kat</a><BR>
Date: 14 January 2003<P>

-----Soulwolf-----<BR>
hands and a new journey are very nicely written.  You mentioned that it feels good to write again.  Sometimes it's when we're in that good, self-contemplative place in life that we write the best and we learn the most from it. Keep up the great work!  I still write, but haven't posted anything for a long time.  Maybe someday....
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From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=268">Misti</a><BR>
Date: 14 January 2003<P>

I gave an anti-pornography speech once in college. I think my position was that pornography should be illegal, which is ridiculous. America is fucked up in a lot of ways and I think sitcoms are to blame. Sitcoms should feature funny sex, like Woody Allen in "Annie Hall" sex but with nudity. Witty sex, sex with dialogue and decent background music. And there should be no laugh tracks. Those are so tacky. I don't like the way pornography is presented in this country. The other day I went to this place with a real witty name (Adult Video) with Chris. All I wanted was some decent straight girl porn. I was horrified by all the sickening stuff on display. I was also amused. Human sexuality is so strange. I never fully realized this past year. There are people out there who actually enjoy having sex with stuffed animals. There are people who are turned on by balloons. That stuff is weird but okay. Not really okay, but no one is harmed. There should be zero tolerance for child and animal pornography, obviously. There will always be sick people in this world. And unfortunately, it begins in childhood. Thus, in conclusion, we should make it more difficult for idiots to breed. Idiots should not be encouraged to breed. In fact, it should be impossible for idiots to breed. But this will never be the case. That is my soapbox for the week but probably not the year.
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From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=328">Rhetoric</a><BR>
Date: 14 January 2003<P>

Misti- I just my point was this: in regards to child pornography - who is to say what is what. A group is shown the same photo - a 5 year old girl in the bath tub. Some may see porn, others may see beauty. People have almost lost custody over thier children because of those goofy pictures we all have stashed at our parents houses - the ones with us streaking thru the dining room during Thanksgiving! It is all in what eyes you are wearing. I agree with your statement as well ans TJ's. How we deal with these issues is what is important. My first thought was that just don't talk about it - help the situation. <BR>
<BR>
It isn't the image that is bad...it is what we do with it. How do we define pornography - nakedness, sex acts, sexual situations, etc? Who has the last say?<BR>
<BR>
Jennifer
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From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=328">Rhetoric</a><BR>
Date: 14 January 2003<P>

TJ - why else would anyone think that you know about criminals??  I guess I forgot not everybody knows that you are a prison guard with a heart! From the pics we saw of you...I bet a popular one as well - You cutie.<BR>
<BR>
Sorry for the lack of explanation.<BR>
<BR>
Jennifer
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From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=911">Inflatable Sushi</a><BR>
Date: 14 January 2003<P>

Jennifer you ignornant slut.  "Porn (by itself) is not bad"?  The very concept of it is sad sick and inhumane.  Ridiculous.  Pete Townsend is the latest of THOUSANDS of adult men AND women who deepen the sickness, with those same lame excuses and rationalizations.  He must be a sick man, and now he is a criminal.  I would've expected it of Daltry, actually.  But I digress.  Porn is a SYMPTON of mental illness combined with modern technology (and nothing more...not "art" not "a living" NOTHING BUT A SYMPTOM OF DEEP SICKNESS AND SADNESS).  Like a cancer, or blight on humanity.  What a load of crap you just splattered onto the Internet...I just HAD to balance your ignorance with a little rant of my own.<BR>
<BR>
Porn is a soul killer.  You can't get back what you lose to porn, and it ALWAYS steals your sweetest essence.  Lost forever in a world where nothing is special, nothing is sacred.<BR>
<BR>
Just imagine how the friends of David Westerfield must feel, knowing what a horrible fucked-up piece of shit he is...and wondering which of THEIR lame excuses and benign indifference enabled Westerfield to commit such horrible acts.  Nothing like drunks and sex addicts - soulless ghouls.<BR>
<BR>
Dumber'n a f*cking bag of doorknobs.  "Porn isn't bad"...jeez, baby<BR>
PORN IS EVIL INCARNATE<BR>
<BR>

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From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=911">Inflatable Sushi</a><BR>
Date: 14 January 2003<P>

...just ask the "splooge mop" guy over at your local whack-off shack<BR>
<BR>
what a sick freakin world we live in ...everybody is going mental
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From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=911">Inflatable Sushi</a><BR>
Date: 14 January 2002<P>

For Laura...<BR>
<a href="/blend/wv.cgi?id=2002.12.28.10.02.10800">In Dream</a> 
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From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=801">Bridget O</a><BR>
Date: 14 January 2003<P>

Lulu~ thanks for the comment i liked your most recent work (sorry i forget the name:S:S:S)<BR>
<BR>
Inflatable Sushi~ I see some of your point but there was no need to call Jennifer an "ignorant slut" just for voicing her opinion. we all listen to yours and she should be able to say what she wants without ridicule. mighty serious on the anti-porn issue now aren't we?<BR>
<BR>
Beautifulstranger~ I loved "Forever gone" and "heal" please keep up the great work!!<BR>
<BR>
~Bridget
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From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=328">Rhetoric</a><BR>
Date: 14 January 2003<P>

Sushi - YOUR comment is exactly the type of fanatical freak I was referring to. What is porn, Your Highness?  Answer that. Who are you to say what is "sad sick and inhumane. Ridiculous"? People looking at the human body is not bad. Ever been to a museum? Is Michaelangelo a freak?<BR>
<BR>
As for the ignorant slut comment - thanks! All I read is Dan Ackroyn talking to Jane Curtain in SNL.  <BR>
<BR>
Jennifer
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From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=34">Just Some Girl</a><BR>
Date: 14 January 2003<P>

Gala- I really enjoyed <a href="/blend/wv.cgi?id=2003.01.14.06.45.15520">May I Never Be So Jaded</a>, especially the "firefly glow."<BR>
<BR>
Rhet, I concur. But I think there is a vast difference between porn (what we all commonly refer to as "porn" in this society) and Michelangelo. Nakidity isn't pornographic. Pornography is more than mere naked flesh. <BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>

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From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=13">B.K.</a><BR>
Date: 14 January 2003<P>

I can't believe I am going to say this but Sushi is right. There is nothing good about PORNO nor will there ever be. Even Linda Lovelace was an advocate against it before her death and if anyone saw it first hand she must have. I have lived this life almost porn free...ha meaning I have seen so very little of it. It ruins every concept of innocense in this life and that is all we have left to protect. Lately this world is off it's rocker not protecting the innocense of children in all ways, even in their own homes and churches. It's disgusting. It brings us closer to animals than thinking human beings. Call me a prude I don't care. It will never take porn to turn me on. I think it's degrading to women and children no matter what planet or country it's on. <BR>
<BR>
bk 
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From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=13">B.K.</a><BR>
Date: 14 January 2003<P>

Pornography is the attempt to insult sex, to do dirt on it.<BR>
This is unpardonable.<BR>
<BR>
D.H. Lawrence
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From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=744">jimmyallgrownup</a><BR>
Date: 14 January 2003<P>

Can I get an "Amen"?
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From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=1058">Chances are</a><BR>
Date: 14 January 2003<P>

Amen
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From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=1050">Kase</a><BR>
Date: 14 January 2003<P>

Rhett,<BR>
<BR>
You fancy yourself a writer, but you seem to be a huge whistle blower on porn.  You know, I'm not sure where you're from, but her, in America, we have freedom of expression.  It's a right, a privillege, and a damn fine honor.  You and I can both freely express points of view here FREELY.<BR>
   My point is, as a writer, is how can you actively sponsor censorship?  That's what you're saying.  Believe it or not, there are laes reguarding porn, and like every law, there's some sick asshole that will break it.  Yes. child porn is wrong, but a consenting adult over 21 can do pretty much any damn thing they want with a video camera and their body.  Naked people are ok, but sex isn't?  You should be in politics!!!<BR>
    A tounge in cheek example is Larry Flynnt.  He fought for freedom of expression, freedom of press, and freedom of speech. (And yes, I, a 23 year old female have read Hustler from cover to cover on more than one occasion!)  You know what?  Some nutcase PRUDE shot him, but in the end, he won!<BR>
   Lenny Bruce, a founding comic, (and known junkie, ahem)<BR>
was aressted on several ocassions, but he didn't stop going on stage, even when nobody wanted to touch his act.  He lost time, money, and maybe even his mind.  In the end, his charges were dropped because CENSORSHIP is wrong!!!  One of the main conplaints against him was the use of the word "fuck" in his act during the early 60s.  Hmmmm, I think I've seen that word used by our Purist friend here recently.......<BR>
   You know what, you can respond in any way you want to, because in this country, you allowed to.
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From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=2">scqueen</a><BR>
Date: 14 January 2003<P>

BK ~ Amen, sister. I have lived my life virtually porn-free also. I remember someone put in a tape in high school after a toga party. It was so fake and so dumb. I get nothing from it.<BR>
But sadly, there are those who do.
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From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=1050">Kase</a><BR>
Date: 14 January 2003<P>

That was meant to Sushi, not Rhett...... Sorry, I don't think you're a slut :)
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From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=744">jimmyallgrownup</a><BR>
Date: 14 January 2003<P>

Freedom without limits is not freedom.<BR>
<BR>
Rhetty: Can't we be friends again? ;)<BR>
<BR>
Everyone: You're all right. Now make nice.
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From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=1050">Kase</a><BR>
Date: 14 January 2003<P>

Jimmy-  if you'll pay attention, that's why there are laws....  But you are right, we need to get back to writing poetry, or something a lot more positive anyway.  I can't resist a good debate sometimes, folks... sorry
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From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=23">Kirk</a><BR>
Date: 14 January 2003<P>

A. I'm not crazy about links to only vaguely on-topic news articles.<BR>
B. I do like porn. Not on the Blender neccesarily, but in its proper place and proportion.
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From: <a href="/blend/av.cgi?id=328">Rhetoric</a><BR>
Date: 14 January 2003<P>

Lookie here...lots of hoopla! <BR>
<BR>
JSG - Darling...I wasn't trying to compare Michaelangelo to porn, but I was wondering what Sushi thought was porn.  What does anyone consider porn? If a photo of a naked woman on a bed is porn...can that same label not be attached to a statue of a naked man? It is SLIPPERY slope..that is my only point. And obviously, we have opinions all over the spectrum represented here. <BR>
<BR>
I am no porn addict. I don't use porn for sex (if I did, I wouldn't be ashamed)...but I can't say that it degrades me, personally as a woman. If some woman can make money from her body, how is that any different than modeling or acting or winning on a game show - it is still using something you yourself possess to gain something. Who does it hurt - if you don't CHOOSE to look at it? I wonder how many people are forced to look at "porn".<BR>
<BR>
Children that are taken advantage of is horrible. I am in NO way saying that hurting kids is OK. So, where is the line in the sand? I honestly don't know if Sushi and I are talking about the same thing. Who really can offer a complete definition of pornography? <BR>
<BR>
jimmy, my sweet jimmy: yes we can kiss and make up. I just think you should quit watching those Queer as Folk marathons and remember that there are both sides to every coin. We had a fun discussion. Now, get out there and start trying to change what you think is bad in this world and quit pointing fingers. I love you bunny.<BR>
<BR>
sushi: man do you need love. Cali must be hell on the ole self esteem - they are all young and beautiful. Come home and I will great you at the corner with hugs and kisses. I'm no slut...I just play one in your head.<BR>
<BR>
Bye Bye, Jennifer
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