Free Republic

ONE of the "bundlers" who has raised $50,000 to $100,000 for the Barack Obama presidential campaign is Terrence Bean, who once controlled the biggest producer of gay porn in America. Bean, the first gay on Sen. Obama's National Finance Committee, is the sole trustee of the Charles M. Holmes Foundation, which owned Falcon Studios, Jock Studios and Mustang Studios, the producers of about $10 million worth of all-male pornography a year. Chuck Holmes, who founded Falcon in 1972, died of AIDS in 2000. San Francisco's new gay and lesbian community center was named after Holmes two years later, thanks to...

St. Anthony Shrine has removed a gay Boston man from several lay leadership posts after he wrote a memoir that called attention to his dual roles as an author of gay erotica and a lector at the Catholic church.Scott Pomfret, a lawyer for the Securities and Exchange Commission who described himself in his memoir as "a happy porn-writing Sodomite," had served for eight years in various capacities at the shrine, even after he disclosed to the friars that he was an advocate of same-sex marriage and, with his partner, a published author of erotic works. His writings, most of which...

Much of the substance of this election comes down to this question: "do we want people with values like those held by the leadership of the American Library Association - in general - and Judith Flint and Amy Grasmick - in particular - to be in control of this country and guiding its children?

A San Francisco radio host billed by his station as the "Lion of the Left" was sentenced yesterday to seven years of prison on a charge of e-mailing images of child pornography. Bernie Ward, a former Catholic priest who is now married with four children, hosted a Sunday radio program called "God Talk" on San Francisco-area radio station KGO-AM 810 and another program on weeknights devoted to news and politics. According to several reports, Ward earned his "Lion of the Left" nickname for his outspoken and staunchly liberal viewpoints. Ward came under FBI investigation last year after a woman with...

A US publisher has cancelled the publication of a novel about the youngest wife of the Muslim prophet Mohammed amid a growing controversy over the book. The Jewel of Medina, a debut novel by journalist Sherry Jones about Mohammed's child bride A'isha had been due for release in the US last week. But publisher Random House released her from the contract amid the controversy and her agent said Jones was now looking for a publisher in another country to pick up the rights. "Random House made the decision to cancel its US publication of the novel The Jewel of Medina...

By Stephen Bloom Esq. Good News Daily As Americans, we deeply cherish our constitutional right to free speech. And as caring members of our communities, we deeply cherish the safety of our children. But what happens when those two values conflict? What do we do when the exercise of free speech threatens our kids? More specifically, should we allow images of underage victims of pornographic exploitation to be freely exchanged by adult Internet users? If we take counsel on this issue from the blunt biblical words of Jesus, who warned “If any of you put a stumbling block before any...

Another Democrat resigning office on porn related allegations. New Jersey Assemblyman Neil Cohen resigned admitting that he needed Psychiatric help. A common excuse for Democrats.

When I set up this blog, I wanted to make it easy for people to post comments, but alas, the spam-pornographers are making this increasingly difficult. Since yesterday, I have had hundreds of spam comments and trackbacks added to almost every post on this blog. I just set up a new spam-blocking program (I already had one running that was catching the standard sales stuff, but the porn purveyors were able to bypass it) and in the first twenty minutes it caught 245 spam comments, every single one of them pornographic. How many times since my constitutional law class as...

WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline)-U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts has named a panel to conduct the judicial misconduct investigation of 9th U.S. Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski. Kozinski himself had called for the investigation after the Los Angeles Times reported that there were sexually explicit images on Kozinski's personal computer, which his wife, attorney Marcy J.K. Tiffany, told Legal Newsline belonged to their family.

In a saga with all the elements of a Hollywood thriller, an appeals court judge who is one of America's leading legal intellectuals stands accused of maintaining a public stash of online fetish pornography just as he has begun overseeing a criminal trial involving the distribution of sexually explicit scatological videos. Judge Alex Kozinski of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and Chief Judge Mary Schroeder during oral arguments in San Francisco in 2003. Kozinski is accused of maintaining a public stash of online fetish pornography. Opening arguments were getting under way in the obscenity case in federal court...

Actress Cate Blanchett and 40 others have come forward to support photographer, Bill Henson, after Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, hinted that possible criminal charges await Henson, whose latest exhibit was shut down due to images of naked underage girls. More than 20 pictures were confiscated, including one featuring a naked 13 year old girl and one of a naked, unconscious girl being carried by two other naked subjects. In a letter signed by Blanchett (mother of three), the Prime Minister is urged to "rethink his public comments" and to not go forward with any formal charges. The Daily Telegraph...

Criminal defense attorney Douglas R. Slain (pictured) has a great post about an outrageous misuse of child pornography laws. The target, of course, is male--in this case Alex Phillips, a 17-year old high school student from La Crosse, Wisconsin. Slain writes: "Phillips may not be the brightest crayon in the box, but his story is one that once again calls into question the legislative sanity of some of the overreach of our laws regarding what constitutes 'child pornography.' "It turns out that Phillips at some point in the last year was friendly with a 16-year old girl called HLK (14...

I love you guys! The Only Way Out This message is to ALL of my friends and fans. I wasn't sure how exactly to start this...but I trusted that God would help me write this and maybe through me I could speak His word and make His will be done..... For a long time I have been very lost. So lost in myself and in the world that I didn't even REALIZE that I was lost. I have always thought of myself as a pretty good person. I love helping people, I love befriending people, I love animal rescue and...

The Supreme Court of the United States – in a 7-2 decision – upheld the constitutionality of the Protect Act of 2003 – a federal law that gives prosecutors new tools to target those who market and pander in online child pornography. This is a significant victory that moves to protect the most vulnerable in our society – our children. And, it is a victory for Congress, which has spent many years trying to come up with a law that would punish those responsible for the ever-increasing problem of child pornography on the Internet and clear constitutional hurdles – efforts...

... He ... heard a pounding at his door. ... Police officers ... massed outside. Visors covered their faces. They rushed in, pushed him onto his sofa and announced that they had a warrant. ... Child pornography, said a policeman. Oh, God, the man thought. ... It will take them a while to process the computer, the defense attorney said, and what happens next will depend upon what they find.... The man said they would find child pornography. ... It seemed to him that people who molested children often got less time than men who possessed child pornography. ... So...

The state’s top drug prosecutor was fired on Friday, hours after reports were published that he was under investigation for possessing child pornography. Assistant Attorney General James Cameron of Hallowell, who worked as the drug prosecution coordinator for the Attorney General’s Office, had been on paid administrative leave for several months, according to one law enforcement source.

MARCH 5--The San Francisco radio host facing child pornography charges lied to federal officials about his whereabouts after investigators recently received an alert that he had violated his "electronic monitoring schedule." Bernard Ward's bail violations are mentioned in a February 28 "status memorandum" sent by a pretrial services officer to Judge Maria Elena James (the memo provided James with an account of Ward's first months under electronic monitoring). The document, a copy of which you'll find below, does not describe where Ward, 56, went on December 21, when officials discovered his bail violation. During a subsequent court hearing, Ward admitted...

ROME, FEB. 24, 2008 (Zenit.org).- In Lent we should think of fasting not only in relation to food and drink, but also from images, recommended Benedict XVI. The Pope’s advice came during a question-and-answer session with Rome’s clergy, held Feb. 7. The question dealt with how best to evangelize people as to what is true beauty in the context of contemporary culture. Part of the Pontiff’s reply dealt with the use of images and also the problems created by mistaken ideals of beauty. During Lent:, “we need a space that is free from the permanent bombardment of images,” Benedict...

- Snip - Last week, Gross brought his message about porn's hazards to the University of Minnesota. With him was Donny Pauling, who spent nine years as a porn producer. Pauling has walked away from the industry and the fortune he made. - Snip - The xxxchurch.com's website has resources for "those struggling with porn." One offering is free, down-loadable "accountability software" that sends a list of the dubious sites you visit to your "accountability partner" -- a friend or spouse who helps you swear off porn. - Snip - His encounters with the college women he recruited usually followed...

William & Mary Uncensored by: Don Irvine, February 04, 2008 February 1, 2008— William and Mary school president Gene Nichol okayed students’ requests to hold the “Sex Workers’ Art Show” to be held on campus this week. The show which features prostitutes, strippers and other sex workers performing their work is part of a nationwide tour that will take them to Harvard and the University of Michigan. The show was scheduled to take place at Virginia Commonwealth University as well but according to Reuban Rodriguez no student requested campus space for the event and the performers violated their contract with...

Florida men sentenced for production and receipt of child pornography following ICE and Martin County Sheriff's Office investigation MIAMI - Randy Charles Harris, 37, and Salvador Pascual Aguirre, 23, both of Indiantown, Fla., were sentenced yesterday in the Southern District of Florida to serve prison sentences for their involvement in a child pornography case in which video clips of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct between January 2005 and June 2007 were produced. The announcement was made yesterday by Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta for the Southern District of Florida...

Consumers of Internet pornography who secretly signed up for memberships on adult-oriented Web sites in the past few months may be in for a shock -- some of their personal information, including e-mail addresses, may have been compromised by a security breach. Though the breach, which potentially could affect tens of thousands of customers, reportedly did not involve the theft of credit card information, it could nonetheless have a significant impact on the lucrative Internet pornography industry, according to those who monitor the market. These observers note that online porn relies, as much as anything else, on the promise that...

German prosecutors are investigating 12,000 suspected members of a child sex abuse network on the internet - the biggest in the country's history. A senior public prosecutor said the suspects were accused of downloading or possessing illegal images of children. The investigation, which has been going on for several months, also points to suspects in about 70 other countries. An internet provider in Berlin is said to have helped by alerting the inquiry to a huge amount of internet traffic. "The material was analysed. Then we called for search warrants," said Peter Vogt, head of the central office tackling child...

Former Newark Mayor Sharpe James billed the city for pornographic movies and body lotions while staying at a Miami hotel, prosecutors allege, according to documents recently filed in federal court. The disclosures shed new light on how the government may be planning to prove its case against James, who was indicted on corruption charges last July after 20 years as mayor of the state's largest city. The government also alleges that James: - Chose which developers could buy property in Newark, rewarded those who gave him tickets to sporting events and "swapped" city land with a developer who steered property...

Dozens of anti-pornography groups asked the U.S. Congress to force the Pentagon to keep sexually related material from being sold in military stores. Pornographic material was banned from being sold in military establishments nearly 10 years ago, but Christian group American Family Association claimed that adult fare, including Penthouse and Playboy material, is still being sold in the stores, USA Today reported Monday. The Pentagon deemed those materials aren't explicit enough to pull from its stores. "They're saying 'we're not selling stuff that's sexually explicit' -- and we say it's pornography," Donald Wildmon, head of the American Family Association, told...

In the 1980s, conservatives and feminists joined to fight a common nemesis: the spread of pornography. Unlike past campaigns to stamp out smut, this one was based not only on morality but also public safety. They argued that hard-core erotica was intolerable because it promoted sexual violence against women. "Pornography is the theory; rape is the practice," wrote feminist author Robin Morgan. In 1986, a federal commission concurred. Some kinds of pornography, it concluded, are bound to lead to "increased sexual violence." Indianapolis passed a law allowing women to sue producers for sexual assaults caused by material depicting women in...

Just 10 months into his first term in elected office, James Webb found himself on the podium for one of the most coveted speaking slots in Democratic politics. The freshman senator from Virginia delivered the keynote address to the New Hampshire Democratic Party at its annual Jefferson-Jackson Dinner a week ago, a role that in recent years has been played by current and former White House candidates John Edwards and John Kerry. Two years ago the speech was delivered by Sen. Evan Bayh, who is viewed as a potential vice presidential pick next year.... Direct and withering when talking about...

WINDER - Agents of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested 32-year-old Jason David Gaub of Caseys Drive, Winder, Georgia Tuesday. Gaub was charged with twenty counts of Sexual Exploitation of a Child relating to his possession of child pornography. Gaub had been employed for approximately four years as a Barrow County deputy sheriff until his arrest. The investigation was initiated as a result of information gained by the GBI's High Technology Investigations Unit in conjunction with the Georgia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. This information was provided to the Barrow County Sheriff's Office who immediately requested that the GBI...

Child Porn Seized from 'Art' Show Comes From anti-Christian Elton John's Private Collection By John-Henry Westen LONDON, UK, September 26, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Popular homosexual musician Elton John, who regularly promotes homosexuality and has said he would ban Christianity, may be in hot water as police have seized one of his pieces of "art" on suspicion of breaching child pornography laws.  According to media reports police seized the photographic image from an art gallery in Tyneside. Apart from promoting homosexuality, John has expressed his contempt for Christianity. In an August 2006 interview Elton John said, "I think religion has always...

Open marriages, erotica, 50+ year old swingers. Oprah lets it hang loose.

Seized 'art porn' owned by Sir Elton John By Sophie Borland and Nigel Reynolds  Last Updated: 4:49pm BST 25/09/2007 A photograph by a controversial American artist which is part of Sir Elton John's private collection has been seized by police from a gallery on suspicion it may have breached child pornography laws. The image, which featured two young girls one of whom was sitting down with her legs wide apart, was taken by the renowned photographer Nan Goldin. The shot, from the artist's Thanksgiving series, was to be exhibited at the Baltic Modern Art gallery, Tyneside, this week along with...

Recently I wrote in a general piece on the disintegration of American society that one problem was the position and actions of the ACLU, which, I said, defends child molesters and child pornography. Some people seemed surprised by this reference and statement, not believing that the ACLU would countenance child molestation and pornography, and think that I am mistaken. I was a resident of Massachusetts in 1997 when a 10 year old child, James Curley, was sexually abused and then horribly murdered by two men.

Is there a correlation between porn addiction and crime?

ACLU Lawyer Convicted of Child Porn Possession Sentenced to 7 years in prison By Hilary White ALEXANDRIA, Virginia, September 11, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Charles Rust-Tierney, an attorney who served as the president of the Virginia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) from 1993 to 2005, was arrested February 23, 2007 and charged with possession of child pornography. He pleaded guilty to one count of receipt of child pornography, was convicted and on September 8, was sentenced to seven years in prison. Tierney had downloaded and paid for what the judge called "abhorrent" child pornography including torture and sexual...

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The wide swath of criminal porn addicts is disturbing

FBI agents on Monday arrested an elementary school teacher on charges he possessed at least three images of child pornography. Robert Cholowinski had told agents last week that he had been trading in child pornography over the Internet for several years, the FBI said. Agents found what appeared to be such images on his computer at his Neptune home. Cholowinski, 46, was suspended with pay from his job in Hazlet, where he taught third grade at the Middle Road School, said William O. George, interim superintendent of the school district. Authorities told school officials there is "no evidence to suggest...

Melinda Tankard Reist | Friday, 17 August 2007 Focus on media: A toxic culture for girls The shameless exploitation of little girls by commercial interests is poisoning a generation. Living in a sex-saturated society we are used to seeing the image of women cheapened. But baby dolls who know how to "flaunt" their sexuality? Provocative underwear for little girls, and "pole dancing" kits for them to entertain their families and friends with suggestive moves - and be paid in play dollars for it? If we care about children the time has come to put a stop to this ugly...

New Study Shows Broadcast TV Family Hour Fare Filthier Than Ever Fox is the worst broadcast network overall LOS ANGELES, September 6, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A new Parents Television Council study of Family Hour programming conclusively shows that children watching television during the first hour of prime time are assaulted by violence, profanity or sexual content once every 3.5 minutes of non-commercial airtime. During the 2006-2007 study period, almost 90% of the 208 television shows reviewed contained objectionable content. The PTC found that Fox is the worst broadcast network overall, noting its 20.78 instances of violent, profane and sexual content...

HARTFORD, CT, August 29, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Fortune 100 company Aetna, one of the nation's largest health care insurance providers, has a surprising and little known policy. "Aetna will pay for a woman to receive an abortion for any reason at any time during her pregnancy.  Whether she is 6 weeks pregnant or 6 months pregnant, whether it is her first or her tenth abortion, the company imposes no restrictions whatsoever," according to Epiphany Funds a company which was invested with Aetna and is now aiming to have Aetna change its policy. See the Aetna policy on abortion here:http://www.aetna.com/fsa/understanding/health/healthcareexpe......

ASLIP, IL, August 28, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Illinois School District 126, covering Alsip, Hazelgreen and Oak Lawn, has defended its choice to assign summer reading to 12- and 13-year-olds that is replete with harsh profanity and references to teen sex (even teen sex with adults).  Prairie Junior High School's required reading list for rising 8th graders gave children six books to choose from over the summer.  Parents have complained that three of the six books contain adult content which is highly age-inappropriate.  Those complaints, however, have fallen on deaf ears.  At a recent school board meeting, school board members...

A new slate of internet sites and start-ups intends to capitalize on the up tick in porn consumption.

FORT LAUDERDALE, August 23, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - At a news conference at City Hall this week, Jim Naugle, the mayor of Fort Lauderdale, Florida has called on homosexual men to end their public sexual encounters in order to curb the local HIV/AIDS rate. "We want to put a stop to that activity," he said. Since his first public comments in July, Naugle has been attacked on all sides for being nearly the only US public figure to oppose on moral grounds the encroachment of homosexual activity in his town. Now Naugle is in the news again for his determination to...

With classwork like this, who needs to play? Undergraduates taking Cyberporn and Society at the State University of New York at Buffalo survey Internet porn sites.... It's called the porn curriculum, and it's quietly taking root in the ivory tower. A small but growing number of scholars are probing the aesthetic, societal and philosophical properties of smut in academic departments ranging from literature to film, law to technology, anthropology to women's studies. Those specialists argue that graphic sexual imagery has become ubiquitous in society, so it's almost irresponsible not to teach young people how to deal with it.... Students agree...

Cross-posted here Here's your moral decline update for Tuesday evening. I'll avoid the real nasty news and tidbits and focus on some of the more interesting articles to hit the wires today. One Fort Myers, Florida religious congregation has taken a new approach to helping out the porn addicts in their community. They've posted a billboard (seen to the right) touting "Pancakes and Porn." This is an odd combo to be sure... but one which is geared to lure the more tasteless into repentance. WINK news reports that the idea is to start discussing an issue which they rightly recognize...

Ron Jeremy, Jenna Jameson - get ready to stand and be counted. The Department of Justice wants to come up with an official list of every porn star in America - and slap stiff penalties on producers who don't cooperate. The new rules, proposed under the Adam Walsh Child Safety and Protection Act, would require blue-movie makers to keep photos, stage names, professional names, maiden names, aliases, nicknames and ages on file for the inspection of the department's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section. "The identity of every performer is critical to determining and ensuring that no performer is a minor,"...

Ed Meese, former attorney general under Ronald Reagan and Judith Reisman, noted author and scholar kick off "FamilyFragments.com" a website dedicated to fighting pornogrpahy.

Travelodge Hotel Chain Switches Off its Porn TV It wants to "appeal to the ever-growing number of families" By Elizabeth O'BrienUNITED KINGDOM, August 8, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Travelodge, one of the largest UK hotel chains, has decided to cut out its pornography option and replace the "adult" channels with family friendly material in order to encourage the growing number of parents and children who stay at its budget hotels. With branches in Spain, Ireland and the United Kingdom, Travelodge is the fastest growing and most recognized UK budget hotel chain, boasting a total of 20,000 bedrooms. The company recently announced...

Much clucking behind television anchor desks follows the airing of popular internet footage of girl fights. After repeated displays of adolescent girls slapping each other, pulling hair, and ripping off clothes, news anchors wonder out loud about the reasons for their popularity among YouTube and other internet viewers. It’s no big secret: This is a genre of pornography. The occasional tough-girl fight on school grounds that one came across with flinching embarrassment is now captured by a video camera for the titillation of millions of sick viewers. The violence factor and the authenticity of the fight are the draws that...

"Bare it or Bar it?" Should the Government Regulate Adult Pornography? A Debate Porn critic states, "Pornography is a major contributor and facilitator in the development of the sexual addiction and depravity" By Elizabeth O'Brien SELINSGROVE, PA, August 1, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In a passionate debate earlier this year, two specialists discussed whether the government should be able to regulate adult pornography or whether the issue should be left entirely as a personal matter, determined only by subjective choice. The Susquehanna University's Arlin M. Adams Center for Law and Society, a society that discusses the role of law in private...