Mr. Pinup

It’s become clear that pressuring Craigslist into replacing “erotic services” with a stricter “adult” section has just amounted to a dimming of the flashing lights and a renaming of its virtual red light district. Now, it looks like some officials are turning to prostitutes themselves in an attempt at scaring them away from the classified site.

A prostitute can “appreciate” the dangers of her job and still feel compelled to do it

As promised, Craigslist has unveiled its pricier, human-monitored “adult” section, but what was thought to be a strict crackdown appears to be more of a gentle wrist slap. A quick browse of the new R-rated playground makes it clear to any person capable of comprehending heavy-handed sexual innuendo that the services being offered are much the same, only the photos and language are tamer and there are more winking euphemisms than ever before. It’s an “I told you so” lobbed directly at Craigslist’s chief antagonizer, whom the site sued this week for his repeated legal threats, South Carolina attorney general Henry McMaster. As Craigslist has always said, it can’t be held responsible for what takes place between two adults who meet up through the site.

Now, Washington, D.C., police appear to be trying to diminish the online supply of sex workers through the following forehead-slapping public service announcement: Selling sex online is dangerous! Which is to say, they’re telling sex workers what they already know all too well. The Washington Post reports: “In recent interviews, nearly a dozen women who posted ads on Craigslist said that they know the risks involved. But police said many women engage in online prostitution because they fail to appreciate the dangers.” That’s a surprisingly naive assumption for police to make: A prostitute can “appreciate” the dangers of her job and still feel compelled to do it, for any number of reasons. For the past couple months, I’ve been interviewing sex workers for a story I’m working on for Salon and the majority were aware of the dangers, some were downright terrified, but they do it anyway.

via Police to prostitutes: Craigslist is dangerous! – Broadsheet – Salon.com.

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• Craigslist sues South Carolina attorney general (guardian.co.uk)

Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, May 21, 2009

The Bethesda resident and former University of Maryland student who calls herself Amy says she would never consider walking the street as a prostitute. But to her, performing erotic acts for men she meets on Craigslist seems relatively safe, anonymous and lucrative.

“Life is expensive,” said Amy, who like hundreds of other women in the Washington area moved ads from Craigslist’s defunct erotic services section to its new “adult services” listings in the past week. “In this economy, you have no idea what it takes. We’re all single mothers, struggling beyond belief.”

Although Amy says she stays within the law, police say Craigslist’s adult services section, which the company pledged to monitor closely, has quickly emerged as a major virtual meeting spot for the sex trade in the Washington region. More than 700 ads were listed locally on the site yesterday. Close-ups of women in lingerie have replaced purely pornographic images, but euphemistic descriptions of services and hourly rates — often expressed as “roses” or “donations” — remain.

via Online Sex Connections Linked to False Sense of Security – washingtonpost.com.

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Taking note of every rejection from the App Store would be a full-time job, so we generally just report on ones that seem particularly ridiculous, or that involve a high-profile app or developer. Another recent rejection which may otherwise have gone unnoticed has proven interesting for another reason. That’s because while rejecting it, Apple gave the dev in question reason to believe that the content that was deemed offensive in his app might be allowable once iPhone OS 3.0 went live for the general public.

Makayama’s Newspaper(s), an app that provides consolidated access to a variety of major international newspapers, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, and, formerly, The Sun, was the app in question. It was The Sun, a popular UK daily, that caused the app to be initially rejected to begin with. As regular readers of that paper are likely aware, topless models are regularly included in one of its sections. Topless models are still a big no-no for the App Store, despite recent relaxation that has seen the rapid proliferation of bikini-clad models in a number of apps.

Even though Apple blocked the inclusion of The Sun in this iteration of Newspaper(s), they were careful to leave the door ajar for later on. According to iLounge, Apple told Makayama in their rejection letter that resubmitting the offending content once iPhone 3.0 is released, with its improved parental control features, would be appropriate. The new parental control options should, in theory, allow parents to control what kind of apps and content children have access to on the device, much like the blocking filters available on most cable/satellite boxes.

via Mac Love – GigaOM – Salon.com.

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Special effects in "Pirates II: Stagnetti's Revenge"

University of Maryland students refuse to back down over porn screening despite threats from state officials to cut funding

University of Maryland students are still courting controversy with plans to screen a hardcore porn movie on campus, despite intimidation from state lawmakers.

According to The Washington Post, some outraged students intend to go ahead with the cancelled screening of Pirates II: Stagnetti’s Revenge, the most expensive porno ever made, in an effort to defend their First Amendment right to free speech.

The original screening was supposed to take place on Saturday night, preceded by a talk by a Planned Parenthood rep regarding safe sex, EW.com reported. But university officials were forced to cancel it after Senator Andrew P. Harris introduced a bill to withhold state funding from any public university that allowed screenings of XXX-rated films.

via Students still plan to screen porn film despite political pressure Feature Story.

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Adella of Digital Playgrounds discusses the First Amendent and "Pirates II: Stagnetti's Revenge"

Director of Marketing Adella Discusses First Amendment Violations Towards Canceled “Pirates II” Screening at University of Maryland!

News release: April 3, 2009 — VAN NUYS, Calif. — Adella, Digital Playground‘s Director of Marketing appeared on CNN to discuss the First Amendment violations of students at the University of Maryland, College Park. The recent cancelation of the University of Maryland’s screening of Digital Playground’s blockbuster “Pirates II: Stagnetti’s Revenge” has made worldwide headlines. CNN HLN “Prime News” featured Adella in a debate with Republican Senator Andrew Harris from Baltimore and Hartford counties in Maryland.  They discussed the merits of showing adult entertainment in an academic setting.  Conservative host Mike Galanos moderated the discussion which aired at 6:24pm EST on April 2.

The screening of “Pirates II: Stagnetti’s Revenge”, originally scheduled for April 4, was canceled by the university president due to the Maryland State Legislature’s threat to cancel funding for the university.  Adella says, “I had a great time on CNN and relished the opportunity to engage in a discussion with those responsible for censoring consenting adults.  It was empowering to educate the senator on the modern era of adult entertainment, including female owned and operated studios, female viewers, and the need to embrace sex.”

To view a photo of Adella on CNN, visit
http://stream.digitalplayground.com/press/downloads5/DSC00731_2.jpg

To read more about the canceled screening in the Baltimore Sun, visit
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/education/college/bal-movie0402,0,3273550.story

The story about the canceled screening of “Pirates II: Stagnetti’s Revenge” has made international headlines including: CNN, Fox, ABC, CBS, NBC, Washington Times, Washington Post, Baltimore Sun, Sacramento Bee, DrudgeReport.com, Laura Ingraham Show, Australia’s NineMSM.com.au, McClatchyDC.com, and numerous additional publications and blogs.

Adam Kissel, director of the Individual Rights Defense Program at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education told the Baltimore Sun that the legislature was “far out of line…I think because of the autonomy that a public university ought to have versus the legislature, the president should not have canceled the film.”

Samantha Lewis, Digital Playground’s CEO says, “The whole idea for the university screenings came from our desire to provide a forum for students to openly discuss the topic of modern sexuality, gender roles, and adult entertainment.  The screenings also allows for those unfamiliar but curious about adult entertainment to see a movie that is story and effect driven and appeals to numerous people.  In fact, removing all the sex left us with our MPAA R-rated version which is doing extremely well in stores like Blockbuster and Best Buy.”

“Pirates II: Stagnetti’s Revenge” stars Digital Playground’s beautiful contract girls Jesse Jane®, Katsuni, Stoya™, Riley Steele™ and Gabriella Fox™.  The film costars the talents of BellaDonna, Sasha Grey, Jenna Haze, Brianna Love, Shay Jordan™, Abbey Brooks, Shawna Lenee, Rhylee Richards, Brea Lynn, Shyla Stylez, and Veronica Rayne. Evan Stone, Tommy Gunn, and Steven St. Croix reprise their groundbreaking roles from the original “Pirates”.  The film also includes industry studs Manuel Ferrara, James Deen, Marco Banderas, Mick Blue, Ben English, and Charles Dera.

All hands are on deck for the epic, blockbuster “Pirates II: Stagnetti’s Revenge”, directed by award-winner Joone, and produced by Joone and his business partner Samantha Lewis.  The film premiered at the heralded Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles and released on DVD on September 27 and Blu-ray on November 7.  A MPAA R-rated version hit major retail stores like Blockbuster, Best Buy, and Albertsons, and e-tail sites like Amazon.com in February.

To download the box art for “Pirates II: Stagnetti’s Revenge”, visit
http://www.digitalplayground.com/movieboximages/Pirates2FC.jpg

About Digital Playground:
Digital Playground is the world leader in adult filmmaking and interactive formats boasting the largest HD library available.  Since the Company’s inception in 1993, Digital Playground has earned almost 300 awards, currently garners more than 80% of high definition sales within the adult market, and is a leading provider of Blu-ray™ titles, with over 25% of the market.  Female owned and operated, Digital Playground emphasizes quality first, employing fastidiously high production values in erotic film for women, men and couples.  Digital Playground’s commitment to excellence, innovative technology, brilliant full-length productions and exclusive Contract Stars are the secrets to its success and makes Digital Playground the most highly demanded supplier of content for hotel, IPTV, cable, pay-per-view and mobile networks worldwide.  For more information visit www.digitalplayground.com

, www.myspace.com/digitalplayground

, or www.twitter.com/dpxxx

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When the relatively new HPV vaccine Gardasil came on the market for girls a few years ago, conservatives got their panties all in a bind over the possibility that it would give sweet, innocent P.Y.T.s permission to do it. Now that the vaccine is being considered for boys, no one seems too worried about their purity being tarnished. According to the Washington Post, the big questions this time around are about safety and cost-effectiveness. (And who says feminism is obsolete?) In the article, Gregory D. Zimet, a professor of pediatrics and psychology at Indiana University, brings up an interesting point about about this question of whether it’s really worth it for the boys: “This is a vaccine that principally benefits women’s health. I wonder if it was the reverse, and there was a vaccine for women that helped prevent prostate cancer in men, this would be as much of an issue.” It’s like Gloria Steinem once wrote, if guys menstruated, tampons and pads would be federally funded and free.

via SUNfiltered : Fresh culture daily. » Blog Archive » Will the HPV vaccine for boys make them sluts? Ha!.

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The makers of Gardasil are trying to get the HPV vaccine approved for boys, which is why now people are questioning the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine, rather than if it makes girls slutty.

Pharmaceutical company Merck has had a human papillomavirus vaccine for males in the works for some time and is currently seeking FDA approval for the vaccine. In women, HPV causes genital warts and can lead to cervical cancer, which about 10,000 women are diagnosed with each year. For men, the vaccine also prevents HPV, which can cause penile and anal cancer, and cancer of the mouth and throat. About 7,500 men are diagnosed with these cancers per year and vaccinating boys also helps prevent the spread of the virus to men’s sexual partners.

Though there have been concerns raised about the safety of the vaccine for girls, the debate has centered mostly on whether being vaccinated against the STD would make girls more likely to have sex. Now that there is a male vaccine people are focusing on whether it’s safe and cost effective to have boys vaccinated, especially when they can’t get cervical cancer, reports The Washington Post. The prospect of boys sleeping around hasn’t entered into the debate. “We are still more worried about the promiscuity of girls than the promiscuity of boys,” said Susan M. Reverby, a professor of women’s studies and medical history at Wellesley College. “There’s still that double standard.”

via Sore Subjects: Now That HPV Vaccine Is Available For Boys, Debate Turns to Health Benefits, Not Sex.

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So the C.I.A. consists of 20,000 “professional liars” accountable to no one, because they are secretive spies. This means, apparently, lots of rape.

Remember this guy? Andrew Warren climbed his way from lowly Middle East case officer to Algiers station chief! This impressive ascent was accomplished through judicial application of whores and strippers on would-be recruits. Then Warren was videotaped having sex with seemingly drugged local women, which is apparently against CIA rules!

As the Washington Post reports, this is one of three “sex-related scandals” the CIA is dealing with this year (this year! it’s only March!).

via Duplicity: Real C.I.A. Sex Scandals Not As Fun as Julia Roberts/Clive Owen Vehicles.

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