#21
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Why am I not surprised??
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"Never mind him, he's just trying to get laid" --Helena Bonham Carter |
#22
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Brooklyn jury given graphic S&M
NEW YORK — The graphic color photo, flashed on a large video-screen stationed next to the jury, tested the decorum of a federal courtroom. It showed a nude woman named Rona tethered to a tree trunk in the wilderness. From the witness stand, Rona answered questions about the bondage scene in graphic detail, casually complaining that she was bitten up by mosquitoes. The testimony came during a trial in Brooklyn that has given jurors lessons on the lifestyle of a man dubbed an "S&M Svengali" by the tabloids, the inner-workings of a sadomasochism website and the federal government's crackdown on obscenity. The jury began deliberating Thursday. In recent years, federal authorities have stepped up prosecutions of purveyors of hardcore adult pornography to "protect citizens from unwanted exposure to obscene material," Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has said. One pending case in Pittsburgh — involving videos of simulated rape and murder — was initially thrown out before being reinstated on appeal by the Department of Justice. Under the Bush administration, at least 52 people or businesses have been convicted of violating federal obscenity statutes, and more than a dozen indictments are pending, federal officials said. By comparison, there were four such prosecutions during the eight years of the Clinton administration, they said. In the Brooklyn case, Rona and the prosecution's star witness, named Jodi, gave conflicting accounts of an alleged campaign of sadism by Glenn Marcus, 53, operator of a website devoted to BDSM — shorthand for bondage, domination and sadomasochism. A judge allowed both women to testify using only their first names. Marcus included Jodi and other women in thousands of photos posted on his website — a practice that prompted the government to bring obscenity charges along with sex trafficking and a forced labor count. The most serious charge — forced labor — by statute carries a potential life sentence, although such a punishment is unlikely under federal sentencing guidelines. Jodi told the jury that after meeting Marcus over the Internet in 1998, she agreed to become one of his "slaves." Over two years, he systematically degraded her by shaving her head, branding the initial "G" on her buttocks and carving "Slave" on her stomach during liaisons in homes in Maryland, Washington, D.C., New York City and on Long Island. When the 39-year-old Jodi failed to properly perform tasks for the defendant's website in 2001, he punished her by putting a ball in her mouth, closing it shut with surgical needles and hanging her on a wall, she said. Other times, he tied her down and mutilated her genitals with a smoldering cigarette as she screamed out in pain, she said. "I felt like I was literally in hell," she said. "I felt like I was on fire and I couldn't put it out." Rona, 51, a longtime friend called as a defense witness, said that while living with Marcus and Jodi, the accuser was a willing participant in their sex games. She called the defendant harmless. "I love being around Glenn," she said, even as prosecutors displayed photos of her breasts punctured with dozens of pins. "He's a lot of fun." Jodi testified she built up enough courage to leave Marcus in late 2001, but also conceded she continued to have contact with him, even going camping. She decided to go to the FBI when he refused to take her photos off the Internet. By law, it didn't matter that the accuser wasn't always under lock and key, prosecutor Pam Chen said during closing arguments Thursday. "She was terrified. She was made captive by the fear." Chen told the Brooklyn jury it must agree that Marcus' website was "patently offensive" to convict on the obscenity count, and argued the material was "so misogynist and so violent, it's offensive." The defense has countered by arguing that Marcus and Jodi had a "contract" to engage in a master-slave relationship that, while potentially offensive to the general public, was consensual and even pleasurable to the participants. "Cases like this test the very capacity of this society we live in for tolerance," defense lawyer Maurice Sercarz said in his closing argument. Defense experts testified that the BDSM scene follows rules that purposely blur the line between pleasure and pain, but demand mutual consent. One said it draws from a "vast array of people," including judges; another said that Marcus' website had "serious scientific value" as a tool to study sexual behavior. But Chen portrayed the defendant as a sadist who violated both the standards of a civilized society and of the S&M community. "Glenn Marcus made his own rules," she said. "He thought he was God."
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#23
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Maybe if the Justice Dept spent as much time looking for WMD as they do looking for porn, just maybe ShrubCo would have fucking found some by now And how I wish the dogmatic devotion to the Second Amendment carried over to the rest of them (especially the First Amendment)
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#24
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NAPLES, Italy (Reuters) - A 74-year-old Italian grandmother who bought a sack of potatoes at the her local market found a live grenade among the spuds. "I found a bomb in the potatoes," Olga Mauriello said in a telephone interview with Reuters.
"I went to the market to buy some potatoes and that's where the bomb was. But this bomb was covered in dirt, and I put it in water and got all dirt off. And then I realized 'It's a bomb'!" Police said the pine cone-shaped grenade, which had no pin and was still active, was the same type used by U.S. soldiers in Europe in World War Two. Authorities believe the mix-up happened at a farm in France, where the grenade was plucked from the ground along with potatoes. To the woman's relief, police and explosives experts in the small town of San Giorgio a Cremano, near Naples, recovered the grenade and safely detonated it on Wednesday. But Mauriello was still shaking off her close brush with death. It didn't look like a potato and it was heavier than one. But what if she had cooked it?
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#25
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And that's the problem right there.
I mean, what do we expect the French to know about military-type things?
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"Never mind him, he's just trying to get laid" --Helena Bonham Carter |
#26
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Top 10 Weird Laws
Click Here
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Dr. Gregory House: Oxygen is so important during those prepubescent years, don't you think? Dr. Cameron: [discussing a patient's diagnosis] What about sex? Dr. Gregory House: Well, it might get complicated. We work together. I am older, certainly, but maybe you like that. Dr. Cameron: I meant maybe he has neurosyphilis. Dr. Gregory House: Heh, nice cover. |
#27
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With you guys until the very end. Thank you for all the years of good times and great friends! |
#28
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It's been a Fun Ride, THANKS!! Old Friends!! ROYAL GUARD The top Poster!
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#29
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For Oz
CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia's porn industry began a court challenge to the country's film ratings on Thursday in a test case which family groups said could lead to explicit sex movies being sold openly in shops and petrol stations. Pornographic movies can only be sold legally in two Australian territories, including the capital Canberra, and generated an estimated A$500 million ($393 million) last year, mainly through mail orders. While it is legal to own or watch sexually-explicit movies at home anywhere in Australia, sales are banned in the country's six states. Australia's censors rate films from G, which are open to anyone, to R for violent or disturbing films suitable only for adults, and X for sexually-explicit films with heavily restricted distribution. Now pornography company AdultShop.com Limited has asked the Federal Court to overturn the X category used by censors, arguing community tastes had changed since standards were drafted in 1984. "The Office of Film and Literature Classification is required to take into account current community standards in relation to explicit erotic films," AdultShop Chief Executive Officer Malcolm Day told Reuters. AdultShop operates 28 retail stores throughout Australia and New Zealand and is valued at around A$9 million. The company sold A$42 million worth of adult products last year. Day denied the court action was aimed at boosting business, although he described the company's current worth as "dismal," blaming state restrictions. A survey for the company last September by ACNielsen found 70 percent of Australian adults were not offended by explicit erotic films and 76 percent thought they should be available on a restricted basis. SOFT PORN, HARD SELL "At the end of the day we're in business, but we're not the only company selling adult films. As a result of the restrictions 95 per cent of films are sold uncontrolled on the black market," Day said. The company decided on court action after censors gave an X rating to the comedy "Viva Erotica" about a failed Hong Kong director who decides to make a softcore film starring his girlfriend Miss Mango to pay his bills. "The OFLC's decision to classify 'Viva Erotica' X18+ was based upon the film containing depictions of actual sexual activity between consenting adults and did not address whether or not the content within the film was likely to cause offence," Day said. As the case opened, the classification board said it would begin public forums over the next six months to gauge whether people agreed with current ratings. Anti-porn activists said any move to weaken standards could see porn become more easily available in video stores and shops. "There is a demand for pornography. We would be of the view that that's regrettable, but that's a different debate. People can access X-rated material in Australia very easily at the moment," the Australian Family Association's Angela Conway told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio. But Day won support from respected prime-time film reviewer Margaret Pomerantz, who said non-violent pornography should not be solely singled out for draconian restrictions. "It can make people happy. It can improve people's sex lives," she told a community forum in Sydney.
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#30
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Quote:
__________________
"Never mind him, he's just trying to get laid" --Helena Bonham Carter |
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