Archive for the ‘Washington’ Category

Monday Links

Monday, February 7th, 2011
  • After an anonymous tip, a female teacher in Ohio is accused of having sex with five of her male students. She “faces up to 81 years in jail if she is convicted of 16 counts of sexual battery and three offenses involving an underage person.” The sexual “battery” charge presumes that the sex was unwanted.  I’m guessing that’s probably not the case (although reality does not play a major roll when it comes to the legalities of sex with  minors).
  • Florida is going to consider banning “simulated” obscenity, whether clothed or unclothed, in material accessible to minors.  Perhaps next year they will outlaw having dirty thoughts within 1000 feet of a minor.  No more suggestive cheer leading moves or dancing in Florida.
  • to minors by adding a clause that says that “a suspected sexual predator purposely and knowingly sent obscene electronic messages to a minor”.   This is apparently a attempt to reconcile free speech rights with their desire to restrict free speech rights.
  • Biblical porn: “My lover thrust his hand through the hole, and my insides groaned because of him.”  Surprise!  The Bible is conflicted about sex!

Posted in Books, Censorship, Florida, Massachusetts, Obscenity, Ohio, Pornography, Prostitution, Relgious Zealotry, Texas, Trafficking, Virginia, Washington | 5 Comments »

Mayor Hunter of Gig Harbor censors art exhibit

Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010

In the sex paranoid tradition of Temecula, Cailifornia, the city of Gig Harbor, Washington has condemned a photograph in the Peninsula Art League’s (PAL) annual juried show for being inappropriate.   According to Kitsap Sun:

The photograph, entitled “Kaisa Two,” is by Seattle artist Malcolm Edwards.

According to Anne Knapp, PAL president, art league members “are very concerned that the city, which does not have a written art policy in place, has made a decision to ban the piece from the show.”

The real money quote is here:

Councilman Derek Young stated that PAL is a guest in City Hall. “If we can’t trust you to use good judgment on what is in your shows, then maybe we should just end our relationship. There has to be some common sense. PAL needs to have some self-enforcement. I don’t want to be in a position of censoring art,” he said.

Where Mr Young’s comment fails is that the Peninsula Art League, sponsor of the exhibit, did use good judgment.  They simply didn’t take into account the sexual immaturity and backwardness  of a city council that is willing to condemn artistic nudity even in a totally benign and non-sexual context.  Furthermore, his suggestion that PAL needs to censor itself because he doesn’t “want to be in a position of censoring art” is the definition of self-serving political idiocy.  Forcing PAL to censor itself in advance doesn’t diminish his culpability for it even a smidgen and implying it does basically makes him look like an idiot in front of the whole world.  Nice work, Derek.

Meanwhile, the offending photograph has been moved to For Art Sake Gallery in the Finholm District.

Gallery owner Rebecca Westerin said she is pleased to display the piece.

“I’ve staged several figurative shows here at the gallery,” Westerin said. “I’m honored and delighted to host a beautiful artwork of this caliber.

Good for Ms. Westerin.  Could it talk, I’m sure the photograph is quite delighted to be in a higher caliber venue not subject to an ignorance straight out of the Middle Ages.

For more of this artist’s work visit Malcolm Edwards Photography.

Posted in Censorship, Nudity, Paranoia, Politics, Washington | 2 Comments »

Sex offender registries are getting about as useful as the no-fly list.

Thursday, July 22nd, 2010

Like the no-fly list, you apparently don’t need to be a threat to anyone to get your name on it.

Ever since Dan Wheeler had his identity stolen by a sex offender fifteen years ago, his name has been included on the sex offender registry in Washington state.  He has been trying to get it taken off ever since.  The state’s response?  Essentially they told him “Tough shit”.

According to king5.com:

“I’ve been to police and prosecutors and they all tell me there’s nothing that can be done,” said Wheeler.

He may be right. A spokesman for the Washington State Patrol, which handles the State Sex Offenders Database, says when someone is arrested and uses an alias, that alias is kept on file forever.  The concern is that if authorities delete the alias, the criminal could go back to using it again.

The link for this item was gratuitously plucked from theagtiator.com.

Posted in Sex Offender Registries, Washington | Comments Off

State of Washington Supreme Court upholds library internet filtering for adults

Friday, May 7th, 2010

In a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court  of the state of Washington has upheld a law that permits public libraries to block, even for adults, Constitutionally protected internet content that it deems offensive .

According to libraryjournal.com:

It is the first court to make such a ruling. The court essentially agreed that the decision to filter is a collection development decision rather than the removal of content acquired by the library, and that it’s okay for the library to unblock sites on a case-by-case basis, perhaps taking more than a day to do so.

They are apparently likening the blocking of internet content to the act of selecting books to include in the library’s collection, which is quite a stretch.  Selecting books is a subjective decision necessitated by a limited budget that ultimately expands the library.  Blocking internet content is an act that intentionally and subjectively reduces the selection of material available.

While the libraries seem to favor the censorship, the ACLU disagrees that it will pass Constitutional muster:

“This case is about whether Sarah Bradburn can use the Internet to complete her school assignments and whether Pearl Cherrington, a professional photographer, can use the Internet to access galleries that want to view her work–activities that are protected by the Constitution,” said Catherine Crump, staff attorney with the ACLU Speech, Privacy and Technology Project. We are disappointed tha majority failed to recognize that library filters that block adults from accessing constitutionally protected material are unlawful. The good news is that the decision only addresses the state law claims, and our clients can still vindicate their rights under the U.S. Constitution. This case is not over, and we are confident that  the damage will one day be reversed.”

I don’t think there’s much doubt that digital technology is displacing the need to even have a physical library where paper copies of books can be loaned out.  Libraries certainly aren’t going to make themselves more competitive in that world by delivering internet access that is substandard by virtue of its blocking all content deemed unacceptable for children.

It will be interesting to see where this ends up, but I suspect it will eventually be over-turned if the plaintiffs appeal.


Posted in Censorship, Washington | 2 Comments »

NPR covers the closing of Seattle’s Lusty Lady

Thursday, April 22nd, 2010

You know you’ve achieved a special place in the history of the planet when you’re a strip club and National Public Radio reports your closing as a national news event.  You can read or listen to the story at npr.org and I blogged about its closing previously.

It’s ironic and a bit sad that the closing of a place like the Lusty Lady earns such affection only after it ceases to exist.  As with brothels, the peep show evokes a reverence only when spoken of in the past tense.

Posted in Nudity, Washington | Comments Off

‘Open Not Clothed’

Wednesday, April 14th, 2010

dailyevergreen.com has a respectful obituary for Seattle’s Lusty Lady.  After 27 years the strip club succumbed to ever escalating competition from the internet.

The marquee was not brought down by the creation of the nearby Seattle Art Museum. When the Four Seasons Hotel built over the Lusty Lady, the marquee read “Open Not Clothed” and would not be bought out…

Only in the “Emerald City” could an art museum coexist peacefully within a block of a vintage strip club. City officials should not neglect the historical relevance of monuments like the Lusty Lady in lieu of hard economic times. Now more than ever, Seattle and Washington state residents need to be reminded of their ability to scrape by through it all.

The Seattle Lusty Lady is survived by its San Francisco sibling which split from its original owners in 2003 when the strippers themselves bought it and now operate it as a co-op.  Also notable about the San Fransisco Lucky Lady is the fact that it has been and continues to be the only unionized sex business in the U.S.   According to the anti-sex crusaders, I suppose that means they’re exploiting themselves.

Posted in California, Nudity, Washington | Comments Off

What’s in a name? Fuck Censorship.

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010

From publicola.com:

A King County District judge signed off on a petition last Friday from a person whose legal name was “Fuck Censorship” for a name change.

Their new name? “Fuck the Drug War.”

Posted in Censorship, Washington | Comments Off

Bikini Baristas under attack!

Saturday, February 6th, 2010

Seattle and surrounding cities are cracking down on coffee shops that use scantily clad women as a means to attact business.   But, while it started with bikinis, it is now a G-string and pasties.  On top of that, cops have been going in undercover and “collecting evidence” in the form of photos of the baristas performing what are considered sex acts for money.  While not technically prostitution, it is still illegal.

Bill Wheeler, who runs four Grab-N-Go espresso stands in the Everett area, said the new ordinances and negative publicity generated by the charges against his employees has cut his business by about 80 percent, and he has let go one-third of his staff.

Of course, unemployment is not a problem in the biggest economic crisis since the Great Depression.  Who cares if they’re unemployed when they’re doing the Devil’s work, right?

“You have a bunch of church groups that got together and decided they just don’t like women in bikinis,” he said. “And in response a lot of these cities have decided to trample on First Amendment rights. It’s sad, because people are allowing it to happen.”

Church groups are big supporters of the First Amendment as long as no one says or does anything that offends them…

Posted in Censorship, Nudity, Sex Crimes, Uncategorized, Washington | Comments Off

And even more Sexting idiocy…

Friday, January 29th, 2010

This time in Lacy, WA.  A boy and two girls could be charged under child porn laws for distributing pictures of the boy’s ex girlfriend to other school mates.  Interestingly, the girl who originally sent the picture to her then boyfriend will apparently not be charged.

If charged and convicted of the class C felony, the teens would face a sentence of up to 30 days in detention. They would also have to register as sex offenders.

Heaven forbid that these kids should be turned loose on society without notifying the community of the threat they pose.

Posted in Child Pornography, Sexting, Washington | Comments Off