The profits of PORN (video)

Editors, Wisdom Quarterly; Rory Carroll (theguardian.com) in Los Angeles 

(Robert the Republican) Does porno affect rapists', killers' and others' attitudes toward women? L.A. porn production (crime?) plummets by design in wake of mandatory condom law.

L.A.'s American Apparel, please spare the world your fantasies about schoolgirls

 

Burlesque satisfaction?

The number of permits issued for "adult" films plunges in the Valley and North Hollywood (both areas of greater L.A.) as the sex industry says producers have moved to Las Vegas and Eastern Europe.

The  number of permits issued for adult films fell 90% last year to just 40  permits compared with 2012, when the law was introduced, the Los Angeles Times reported on Wednesday.

Hard Summer rave 2014

“We’ve  seen a dramatic drop in permits,” Paul Audley, president of FilmLA,  told the paper. “It is a cause for concern that people who are manning  the cameras, lights and other things on those sets are not working  anymore.”

Voters in LA County backed the ban after the Aids Healthcare Foundation, an advocacy group, argued that unsafe sex on sets  spread HIV and other diseases.

• "God" may not know what you're doing, but the NSA does 
• Top-Secret document reveals NSA spie[s] on porn babits... 
• NSA spies on porn habits as part of plan to discredit...
• NSA/GCHQ spying on [American] online porn habits...
• Security is serious business at Black Hat Conference (NPR)
• No plan from Congress, Homeland Security does what it wants

The industry protested in vain that it conducted regular health screenings and that audiences and performers tended to prefer porn without condoms.

The state senate is due to vote this month on whether to widen the ban to all of California.
 

We're not a "post-racial" society

Most porn production takes place without permits -- a film can be shot in a  few days in a private house -- so it was unclear to what extent the 90%  fall in permits represented a wider flight.

Several porn producers said they had moved production to other parts of southern California, as well as Nevada, Florida, and Eastern Europe, where there is less  regulation. More 

• The state senate is due to vote this month on whether to widen the ban to all of California (Bret Hartman/AP)  
• Heavenly show: Moon and Meteors 
• Israel spied on John Kerry during failed peace talks – report Der Spiegel says Israelis eavesdropped on US secretary of state’s telephone conversations during mediation effort that broke down in April. 



Silicon Valley sexism

• Sexism in Silicon Valley: Tinder, the "Dave rule," and tech's glass ceiling Allegations of sexism from a former executive underline stark gender disparity in Silicon Valley and a culture seeking answers 
• Silicon Valley's culture of failure…and "the walking dead" it leaves behind 
• VIDEO: UCLA flood leads to large sinkhole
• Steven Seagal plays at concert for pro-Russia separatists in Ukraine
• The War President: Obama warns of long campaign as his strikes on Iraq continue against ISIS
• Florida boy fights off alligator with his bare hands

Yazidis: 20,000 Iraqis besieged by ISIS escape from mountain after US air strikes

Gaza talks: Hamas says Israel not serious about Cairo summit Negotiations mediated by Egypt in chaos as Israelis say they "will not negotiate under fire" and Palestinians threaten to leave

US and Germany threaten Russia with "additional consequences" over Ukraine

Moscow told it must not intervene without Kiev’s permission after Obama talks to Merkel on busy day for diplomacy 

Two Scottish councils plan to fly Palestinian flag – agree?

Glasgow and Fife councils are planning to raise the Palestinian flag to show solidarity with people affected by the conflict in Gaza. Do you agree with their plans? 

Iraq crisis: who are the Yazidis and why is Isis hunting them? The ethnic and religious minority descend from some of the region’s most ancient roots and face executions for a reputation as "devil worshippers" 

Uganda holds first pride rally after "abominable" anti-gay law overturned

Activists gather on shores of Lake Victoria to celebrate gay pride after law that gave homosexuals life sentence is thrown out 

Pope Francis: Isis violence against minorities in Iraq must be stopped 

Vatican says world must halt attacks against Christians and others, as Francis sends emissary to Iraq 

Police's fatal shooting of black teenager draws angry crowd in St. Louis suburb

Hundreds gather in Ferguson amid chants of "kill the police" following death of Michael Brown, 18, who was allegedly unarmed.
PHOTOS: Rebellion punk festival – in pictures 
Liam Williams five-star review – a shatteringly funny set: Edinburgh festival 2014
How I accidentally shot and killed my best friend

Christian terrorist: 7 dead near UCSB (video)

Ashley Wells, Pfc. Sandoval, Wisdom Quarterly; AP, May 24th, 2014, 9:27 am, SCPR.org

Henley Gate at the University of California, Santa Barbara (Ryosuke Yagi/flickr.com)

What is at the root of our Judeo-Christian sexism? Porn, shame, Sharia law? (alarbiya.net)

(ORIGINAL VIDEO, from FurioHerovito, REMOVED. Replaced with "crazy Prozac/Zoloft eyes." 

Christian terrorist [Elliot Rodger?] talks about his planned rampage against humanity and women in particular for not paying enough attention to him as his God intended. Is God's gift to women working for the CIA's Boko Haram American chapter to keep females out of college, or is he just blowing off steam after watching cartoons and playing first-person-shooter video games and eating aspartame, processed foods, sugar, and corn syrup?
 

Christian terrorist kills, injures from car (UCSB)

Investigators are studying YouTube video after family warned police about alarming videos being made by possibly brainwashed Christian terrorist assassin. Was it made to prove all guns need to be remove from citizens? Was he on pharmaceutical antidepressants, too?

 

C'mon, man, we're just cartoons.

A drive-by shooter went on a nighttime rampage near the campus of the University of California at Santa Barbara [home of the biggest parties in Isla Vista, which has become a police state that will only take this tragedy as use it to amp up surveillance, policing, mass arrests, and police brutality in the name of "security"] that left seven people dead, including the attacker, and seven others wounded, authorities said Saturday.

(I'm Shmacked) WARNING: Hedonism, alcohol abuse! DelTopia, the UCSB Southern California party scene in Isla Vista. Pretty and privileged, introducing our future leaders. Woo!

 

Don't shoot! (yogasoup.com)

The gunman got into two gun battles with deputies Friday night in the beachside community of Isla Vista before crashing his black BMW into a parked car, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said.

 

Deputies found him dead with a gunshot wound to the head, but it wasn't immediately clear whether he was killed by gunfire or if he committed suicide, he said.

 

A semi-automatic handgun was recovered from the scene near the University of California, Santa Barbara. Investigators know the gunman's name [Elliot Rodger? as suggested by the title of the video above], but Brown said he couldn't release it pending notification of relatives.

 

"We're analyzing both written and videotaped evidence that suggests that this atrocity was a premeditated mass murder," Brown said.

 

Investigators study video following deadly drive-by shootings

A disturbing YouTube video posted that shows a young man describing plans to shoot women appears to be connected to the attack, police said. Officials would not say whether the person in the video was a suspect in the shooting. [It's probably another guy talking about shooting women.]

 

In the video, posted Friday, the man sits in a black car and looks at the camera, laughing often, and says he is going to take his revenge against humanity.

He describes loneliness and frustration because "girls have never been attracted to me," and says, at age 22, he is still a virgin. The video, which is almost seven minutes long, appears scripted. The identity of the person in the video could not be independently confirmed.

 

The shootings started around 9:30 pm in Isla Vista, a roughly half-square mile community next to UC Santa Barbara's campus and picturesque beachside cliffs. More + Updates

When is social media too much? (cartoon)

Seth Auberon, Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly; Tom Tomorrow (thismodernworld.com)

If teens have been peddled to and become addicted and obsessed with social media, what are they really after? It used to be "being part of the group." Now it's all about money and FAME.

Stimulating the brain's reward centers with addictive devices (thismodernworld.com)

In a day and age obsessed with social media and spying technology, it's hard to picture life without them.

Is that good or bad or neither? According to Andrew Keen, author of the book Digital Vertigo: How Today's Online Social Revolution Is Dividing, Diminishing, and Disorienting Us, the Internet, and particularly social media, is changing society in a way that is worrisome. (Christians agree).
 

Keen has long been known for the position he has taken on the addictive Internet, claiming that it is having an adverse effect on society and people personally. After voicing this position in his book The Cult of Amateur, he has been given nicknames like the "Net's supreme cyber-grump" and the "Antichrist of the Silicon Valley."

Speaking to WebProNews he explains that, while he supports the Internet and social media, he is concerned that the public nature of the social age is resulting in "losing something essential about what it means to be human." 

(The National, Feb. 2014) How are teens being affected by social media? Research suggests the impact is emotional - bullying, obsession with money and fame (defined as likes), and sexting.

"One of the problems, I think, with social media is that it isn't very social. It's really just an aggregation of individuals," he says. As he explains, many of our actions on social networks aren't pro-social. The movements that have developed are not coherent, viable movements. For example, Occupy or the movements in the Middle East, are atomized and radically individualized not "social" movements. Most social networks, instead, represent "just an aggregation" of people.

To avoid a potential harmful impact, Keen says the Internet needs to become more civilized and habitable. He also suggests that government regulation regarding privacy protections against spying could help prevent the concerns from getting worse.

• The problem is not loving Facebook; it's hating it but still using it: Top 10 Reasons to Quit Facebook (Diggnation Daily)

Coachella Music Festival 2014 starts (watch)

Amber Larson, Dev, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; Youtube.com/user/Coachella (Ch. 1, 2, 3)

Watch the California desert festival streamed live on youtube both weekends.

Art, music, lovemaking, yoga, desert communing, shouting, contemplating, staying hydrated

These are the LINKS to Day 1, Channel 1. Channel 2. Channel 3. More

 

Girls of Coachella rave and barf on lawn

We can think, think, think, but sometimes we just have to dance. What is dancing? Rhythmic movement to cues coming in through other senses. Such movement makes us human, bonding large groups. Go tribal, go rural, go aural, but go. It need not make sense to the CPU. As long as the senses can sense it, our bodies can make sense of it. It's part of what the body is for, and there are many beings without bodies for lack of use. So use it. Schedule

Colbchella: Dancing to "Get Lucky" with Colbert (Daft Punk)

 

• VIDEO: Japan's "Penis Festival" goes totally nuts
• The radical vaginal art of Favianna Rodriguez (Berkeley)
• Weekly Progressive Events (OC)
• Hey, US Military-Industrial Complex, I'm not a bug splat
• 9-foot case with Sasquatch body goes on tour in US
• DNA shows that Sasquatches (Yakkhas) mated with human females, not accepted by mainstream media (MSNBC via LiveScience.com)
• Sasquatch is human relative, scientific study shows
• How our brains see something that can't be seen
• Top 10 Beasts and Dragons: How Reality Makes Myth
• Bigfoot, Nessie, Kraken: Cryptozoology Quiz 
• Top 10 Unexplained Phenomena

Zach G. beats Justin Bieber on TV! (video)

Wisdom Quarterly; Zach Galifianakis "Between Two Ferns," Superstar OG Justin BieberWARNING: Things get violent as the TV interviewer begins to beat Justin Bieber on the air!

 

Bieber (right) with model (perezhilton.com)

This is the real Bieber without his agent Scooter. He appears like a deer in the headlights on comedian Zach Galifianakis' Internet interview show "Between Two Ferns," Sept. 26, 2013. Bieber now lives in a dowdy suburb of Los Angeles and is angry about his wannabe rapper friends destroying his home while he is on a world tour winning over the hearts and minds of little girls and creepy guys everywhere.

Zach goes over Justin's head with many of the veiled jokes at Justin's expense but then makes it perfectly obvious how he really feels as he proceeds to assault and batter the dancing Canadian idol (and national embarrassment) by repeatedly beating him (Min. 3:50) as most people alive on the planet today have at some time or other wanted to do.

Rihanna stays in the tabloids

He may not be the most followed person in the Twitterverse -- a distinction that rightly goes to media royalty like Lady Gaga, or the Dalai Lama, or anyone with non-bot followers -- but he sure doesn't have much to say when bombarded with the kind of questions we would ALL like to have asked the Beebs over the years as he skyrocketed to fame vomiting on stage, having sex with Rihanna (who would be his molester under state law) but not Ke$ha, abandoning a hapless monkey in Germany, endangering the lives of his neighbors, or hurting former Disney child star Selena Gomez's standing in the media. While he's peeing in buckets, smoking drugs, getting bad tattoos, insulting Holocaust victim Anne Frank... keep in mind, we are all still being spied on by the NSA, and the CIA is still promoting imperial war all over the world.

But is anyone more desperate than Miley Cyrus?

NSA defeats privacy, encryption, and Internet security (D.N.)