Life, Love, and Liberty

Tell me what you think, folks! It’s not done yet, but I am looking to finish it sometime this weekend or next week.

        Sex workers face violence from multiple directions. They not only end up dealing with abusive clients, but they also have to worry about the violence of the state being brought to bear against them. Every year, the violence against sex workers is spoken out against, and this year was no different. The annual International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers took place last December 17^th. This report was written to bring you the scoop on what went down last year.

        First off, I want to thank all the following organizations for being sponsors. The respective groups were:

1. SWOP (Sex Workers Outreach Project)

2. Desiree Alliance

3. SWANK (Sex Workers Action New York)

4. Scarlet Alliance

5. Stella

6. ESPU (Erotic Service Provider’s Union)

7. SWIRL (Sex Worker’s Internet Radio Lounge)

8. Spread

9. PONY (Prostitutes of New York)

10. Venus Envy

11. Charis

12. Star Light Ministries

13. Lady Monster

14. SWAN (Sex Worker’s Advocacy Network)

SWAN is a coalition of groups from Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia. It includes:

Aksion Plus, Albania, www.aksionplus.net
HESED, Bulgaria, www.hesed.bg
Bliss Without Risk, Czech Republic, http://www.rozkosbezrizika.cz/01_htm/100_ENGLISH.htm
MPEE, Hungary, www.prostitualtak.hu
Kovcheg, Kazakhstan, fsz@mail.ru
Tais Plus, Kyrgyzstan, gkurmanova@yandex.ru
Dia+Logos, Latvia, dialogs@diacentrs.lv
I Can Live, Lithuania, www.galiugyventi.lt
HOPS, Macedonia, www.hops.org.mk
Tada, Poland, www.tada.pl
ARAS-Romanian Association Against AIDS, Romania, www.arasnet.ro
Humanitarian Action, Russia, www.humanitarianaction.org
Siberian Initiative, Russia, http://www.sibin.ru
Jazas. Serbia, www.jazas.net
Odyseus, Slovakia, www.ozodyseus.sk
All Ukrainian Association on Harm Reduction, Ukraine, www.uhra.org.ua

(I was able to copy and paste the above list from the SWAN press release on December 17th)

        The events that took place that day occurred in multiple venues. They were not only limited to the United States of America – my current country of residence. And one of them even occurred online – the Sex Worker’s Outreach Project held an online conference.

The essays of Voltairine De Cleyre are wonderfully absorbing, and I have added her to the list of writers whose style I would love to emulate. She combines rigorous logic with some of the most beautiful sentimental and emotional writing that I have ever been privileged enough to read.

Go forth and read Sex Slavery.

My wit escapes me right now, so the category titles won’t be too exciting.

Warfare State

Making the World Safe for Hope by Brendan O’Neil

Will Obama be more pro-war than Bush? One author thinks so.

Blowback of Iran War Likely to Be ‘Terrible’ by Charles Davis

A Letter to Barrack Obama
Where’s the Change, Barrack? by Uzma Aslam Khan

How to Destroy a Country in Five Years
Iraq’s Blood Sodden Anniversaries by Patrick Cockburn

What Has Been Learned After Five Years? by Anthony Gregory

Crushing the Ants
Admiral Fallon and His Empire by Chris Floyd

How Israeli Troops Invade Homes in Gaza, Brutalize, Smash, and Steal by Ed O’Loughlin

Miscellaneous

How not to die, every single day
Drugs in the water, chemicals in your underwear, fresh sins against a burned-out God. Salud! by Mark Morford

The Breakup With My Lover by B.R. Merrick

Your Onion Fix

U.S. Not Planning to Attack Iran, Says U.S. Iran War Czar by The Onion

Erotic Dreams

Naked Chicks with Post-It Notes

The Erotic Appeal of the Man Who Does Dishes by William Dean

Becoming an Expert with Babeland by Gwen Masters

What You Didn’t Do by Annika Jones

I have two digests to post. I’ll be putting number 45 on here tomorrow.

Well, I’ve had a rough time lately, but I am resuming digests now.

Enjoy!

The Lost Kristol Tapes by Tom Engelhardt and Jonathan Schwartz

“Patriotic Grace” in Support of War is No Virtue by Sheldon Richman

A Question of When Not If
Why Baghdad Will Explode Again by Patrick Cockburn

The Myth of the “Surge” by Nir Rosen

People are saying the surge is a “success”, but this independent journalist says otherwise.

Randy Barnett’s Wrong-Headed Defense of the Iraq War by Jacob Hornberger

Strange Fruit: America’s Gulag and the “Good War” by Chris Floyd

Blowback from the GOP’s holy war by Juan Cole

Republicans Are the Health of the State by Anthony Gregory

Anthony Gregory updates the classic “War is the health of the state” line!

The Information Clearing House net digest needs more financial support, so you should consider subscribing. You can reach the subscription page by clicking on this link.

You can’t make this stuff up sometimes, honestly. And I quote:

U.S. Spies Want to Find Terrorists in World of Warcraft

By Ryan Singel

Be careful who you frag. Having eliminated all terrorism in the real world, the U.S. intelligence community is working to develop software that will detect violent extremists infiltrating World of Warcraft and other massive multiplayer games, according to a data-mining report from the Director of National Intelligence.

The Reynard project will begin by profiling online gaming behavior, then potentially move on to its ultimate goal of “automatically detecting suspicious behavior and actions in the virtual world.”

* The cultural and behavioral norms of virtual worlds and gaming are generally unstudied. Therefore, Reynard will seek to identify the emerging social, behavioral and cultural norms in virtual worlds and gaming environments. The project would then apply the lessons learned to determine the feasibility of automatically detecting suspicious behavior and actions in the virtual world.

* If it shows early promise, this small seedling effort may increase its scope to a full project.

Reynard will conduct unclassified research in a public virtual world environment. The research will use publicly available data and will begin with observational studies to establish baseline normative behaviors.

The publicly available report — which was mandated by Congress following earlier concerns over data-mining programs — also mentions several other data-mining initiatives. These include:

* Video Analysis and Content Extraction - software to automatically identify faces, events and objects in video

* Tangram - A system that wants to create surveillance and threat warning system that evaluates known threats and finds unknown threats to issue warnings ahead of an attack

* Knowledge Discovery and Dissemination - This tool is reminiscent of the supposedly-defunct Total Information Awareness program. It seeks to access disparate databases to find patterns of known bad behavior. The program plans to work with domestic law enforcement and Homeland Security.

The report gives no indication why the find-a-terrorist cell in Sims project is called Reynard, though that is a traditional trickster figure in literature.

Photo: CyberExtruder”

Call me crazy, but this seems like something straight out of 1984 — more or less. It feels like a long time since I read that book, but I may have to read it again.

I have fond memories of the first read; very fond memories.

Oh dear, this is rather amusing — though, not because sex is something to be immature and giggly about –, and it’s also quite true.

It’s not going to lick itself.

Indeed. It is not, so you should suitably equip yourself by reading Gwen Master’s review of two oral sex kits — one for the ladies and one for the gentlemen.

Check out this excerpt:

We put the batteries in, opened up the lube and got down to business. The man of the house was eager to show off the new things he learned from the Ultimate Guide, and oh, my…he’s a fast learner! With a few naughty techniques and the Orchid G touching that perfect spot in just the right way, the mind-blowing orgasm arrived before we could even think about getting to the Lickable Oil. But that’s alright, because the generous bottles of the lube and oil will last for a long while, and there are many more sections of the books to try out. By the way, did I mention the vibes are waterproof? Lots of oral fun can be had in the shower, the bathtub, the whirlpool, or outside in the rain — the options are endless.

Yummy yummy. If only I made my living by providing mind blowing oral pleasure to wonderful people who enjoy a good discussion afterwards too . Now, that would be a good time! Except there would be vice cops on my tail.

Grrrr…

And they call this an amazingly free country

Bah. I’ll believe it when they defund the enforcement of laws against prostitution. Will Barrack Obama do that? Don’t count on it. You can try to convince me otherwise, but I just don’t see a member of the ruling class-establishment, as likely to take a strong stand for decriminalization on this vital issue.

Anyhow, you should go read the entire review by clicking this link. And go thank The Midwest Teen Sex Show for this fine quote. I absolutely love their show!

I’ve had trouble finding news stories about what specifically went on during certain events on the last International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. I have been depressed, so my work has been going slower, but I can’t find very specific information about events. I did find some great material on the SWOP-East blog though.

I am always developing puppy love crushes — and in some cases, lustful intentions — on this or that intellectually brilliant person I know. I read the work of Arthur Silber, and I just drool — figuratively speaking, of course. I love hearing the thoughts of dear Aster, and I adore how well read Kevin Carson is.

In other words: I love the life of the mind so much. I love to think, read, write, and think some more. This Arthur Silber quote roughly sums up what I strive for:

More and more, I am led to the conclusion that the brightest and fiercest flames last the shortest time, in every field of human endeavor. Perhaps the failing is ours — in the comfort we seek from the mediocre and that which does not require us to raise ourselves up, and in our resistance to those achievements that transcend the boundaries of what we view as even possible. Or perhaps the brevity is inherent in the achievement itself: when we break the bounds of what most humans are capable of doing, the person who does so cannot tolerate the impossible strain for very long. Yet they cannot strive for less: that, too, would destroy them.

And I do wish to encourage everyone else to achieve their own dreams. This kind of exalted individualism need not be the province of the few.

For me, it involves realizing that my mind is powerful, and that I can take justified pride in the knowledge I have acquired in my years of study. And I intend to bring my dear readers content of the highest quality imaginable.

I read The Onion!

U.S. Not Planning To Attack Iran, Says U.S. Iran War Czar

USS STENNIS, PERSIAN GULF—U.S. Iran War Czar Gen. Glenn Jacobs, the general director of the U.S. Center of the Invasion of

On a more serious note, I am entirely disillusioned by the current political situation in America. I can see why someone would want to be apathetic in it. I honestly can.