Free Republic

Pornographers are bracing for the first major obscenity clampdown in three decades under President Trump’s new pick for attorney general, William Barr, a strident social conservative whose views threaten the lucrative industry. Anti-porn campaigners were thrilled with Trump's selection of Barr, previously attorney general under President George H.W. Bush, noting his enthusiastic obscenity prosecutions in the early ‘90s. Pornographers are taking the threat seriously, but argue a crackdown would be hypocritical under the thrice-married Trump. His links to the industry include softcore Playboy cameos, an alleged affair with Playmate of the Year Karen McDougal, an alleged tryst with hardcore star...

As a bartender and trainer at a national restaurant chain, Rebecca Brown earned a couple thousand dollars in a really good week. Now, as a dancer at Chicago's Pink Monkey gentleman's club, she makes almost that much in one good night. The tough job market is prompting a growing number of women across the country to dance in strip clubs, appear in adult movies or pose for magazines like Hustler. Employers across the adult entertainment industry say they're seeing an influx of applications from women who, like Brown, are attracted by the promise of flexible schedules and fast cash. Many...

Porn reduces the mind and flattens the soul. I don't like it. That's not hypocrisy talking; that's just experience. I sometimes think of myself, ironically, as a progressive: I started off as a liberal but I progressed to conservatism. Part of that transformation is due to my time in the industry. How does a conservative trace his roots to such distasteful beginnings? I didn't like porn's liberalism. In porn, everything taboo is trivialized and everything trivial is magnified. Being in the adult entertainment industry was sort of like being in a cult, and like all followers of a cult, I...

There were picket signs, picket lines and protesters imploring motorists to honk for their cause. But all similarities between Friday afternoon's rally in front of City Hall and other political gatherings in San Francisco ended there. About 50 exotic dancers and other adult club employees gathered to protest outside as the Entertainment Commission heard public testimony on a proposed ban on private rooms and booths at the clubs. The Commission on the Status of Women proposed the legislation on the ban based on interviews with dancers who said sexual assaults have occurred inside the private rooms. The rally more closely...

RANCHO BERNARDO – Developer Ron Bamberger doesn't deny stepping into a Hooters once or twice. Even though he didn't really like the food, that's not the reason he thinks it's a bad idea for the company to open a restaurant in the area. “We're in a high-end, award-winning master-planned community, and Hooters is not consistent with the culture,” he said. Bamberger is president of Boardwalk Development, which among other ventures manages the shopping center on Bernardo Center Drive that houses Vons and other stores. He said that for the good of the community where he does business, he's spearheading what...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Kid Rock was arrested Wednesday by Nashville police who are investigating a report that he punched a disc jockey at an adult entertainment club. Kid Rock was brought before Night Court Commissioner Howard Taradash early Wednesday morning. He is charged with simple assault, a misdemeanor. Taradash set bond at $3,000 and the rapper remained in custody until bail could be posted. Authorities said Kid Rock was charged after a 3 a.m. altercation at Christie's Cabaret near downtown Nashville. "Inside the establishment there was a squabble concerning, I guess, the selection of music," Nashville police Sgt. James Smith...

Another day, another squabble as Perry-Strayhorn fight continues. By Ken Herman and Michelle M. Martinez AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Thursday, April 22, 2004 Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, dabbling in subject matter a tad sexier than the usual daily number crunching, said Wednesday that the state should shut down all topless bars by prohibiting them from selling alcoholic drinks. The proposal is the latest in what have become daily Strayhorn attacks on Gov. Rick Perry's proposed school finance package. The Perry plan, aimed at drumming up more money for public schools while reducing property taxes, includes a proposed $5 admission surcharge at...

The Daily Imus 6:27 am ET: Evan Thomas, Newsweek 7:27 am ET: Vincent Curatola, aka “Johnny Sack”, “The Sopranos” 8:07 ET: Mike Francesa WFAN 8:27 am ET: Bo Dietl Private Investigator Or, Michele Malkin is re-aired at 6 on C-SPAN's Booknotes. On FnF at 9 will be Pat Boone. At 9 on C-SPAN there will be a call-in and debate on Homosexuals in the Military with: Maginnis, Robert, Lieutenant Colonel (Fmr.), U.S. Army, Inspector General Osburn, C. Dixon, Executive Director, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network

Florida Resident Charged With Aggravated Assault Posted: 4:35 p.m. EDT August 3, 2002 NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- Police say a man who was dissatisfied with a lap dance at an adult club tried to run down the club manager with his pickup truck. He then threatened him with a shotgun. Early Friday, employees at the Bottom's Up Club refused to give 53-year-old James Kennedy Burdine his money back. Police say Burdine confronted manager Phillip Robinson of Ormond Beach, who ordered him to leave. Burdine got into his pickup and drove toward Robinson, stopping just feet from the building. Burdine...