Tuesday, October 17th, 2000
Luke F-rd Suffers For Your Sins
Rodger Jacobs writes in Cleansheets.com: The command center for Luke F-rd's suicide mission against the adult entertainment industry is a dank bungalow in Beverly Hills, a stone's throw away from the headquarters of Larry Flynt Publications. It is from this small and cramped bunker that Ford, the heretic son of a Christian evangelist, lobs his poisonous grenades filled with scurrilous gossip against the stars, producers, directors, and distributors of skin flicks, via his website at www.l-keford.com.
Someday Luke F-rd -- described by The Weekly Standard as "a kind of shaggy-haired, acid-washed Brad Pitt (who) serves as the industry's Matt Drudge" -- will be silenced, either by voluntary exclusion, banishment from the business he so despises, or worse. But until that fateful day the Australian-born hellion remains the most-visible sniper in a lone shooting spree against easy targets. For two years now, Luke F-rd has shaken the insulated establishment of the XXX trade by daring to expose their dark underside -- as if it wasn't already understood on a pandemic level that porn attracts "scum bags, dishonest types, showmen, scam artists, prisoners, and career criminals."
Ford's "report now, verify later" style of gossip-mongering has caused him to inherit a multitude of harsh critics, including porn journalist Gene Ross of Adult Video News, who, in a 1998 editorial, dubbed Ford "a pen-wielding Rosemary's Baby... a keyboard vigilante with a penchant for a hanging. Ford, in my opinion, chooses to essay the role of some bow-wielding William Tell figure whose quest for truth and justice is achieved by methods best understood by the Ku Klux Klan."
I got a call today from former Metro contract girl Kianna Bradley. Listen to our conversation here. It was the first time we'd spoken in six months.
Kianna: "I've been stressed. Dealing with s---. So, Kianna Bradley's missing, huh?"
Luke: "That's what someone wrote me."
Kianna: "I'm officially coming back today. I'm going to get my [HIV] test. And I'm going to talk to Greg [Alves, general manager of Metro], and see if I am going to do the Mexico trip or if I am going to do the Erotic Ball on the 21st. Then the organizer John is also doing something called KNAK on November 10, 11. He says I am performing for 168 bands in San Bernardino. He's requesting porn stars to appear.
"It's been craziness but it wasn't the porn world. I figured that there's a lot more craziness outside the porn world than inside the porn world."
Luke: "So you've settled your thing with Earl Slate?"
Kianna: "I did not want to go through with it [pressing charges of domestic assault]. We just don't talk anymore. He goes his way and I go my way. Unfortunately, we met up in the same crowd on my little journey here. He's doing the same thing he was doing. And I got upset because he was bringing me into that thing, that I really don't need to go there. He lost a friend of his in a motorcycle accident that died in his arms. And I said, 'Now you know how it feels.' He claims that I got him shut out of the industry. But he has to blame everything on someone."
Metro Troubles
XXX writes: Looks like Metro is in serious trouble. They didn't have a booth at the East Coast Video show and I hear they are not paying any of the video manufacturers. Sounds like severe mismanagement on the West Coast operations side.
Roy Karch Correction
Email: Luke, I'm not much of a computer guy, but after having several people call me about Empire Video and a guy using the name, Roy Karch, I had to fill you in on some facts.
1. I am Roy Karch (legal name), the producer/director for 30 years and AVN/XRCO Hall of Famer.
2. I am not the person who owns Empire Video, using the name "Roy Karch".
3. It should be made very clear that these are 2 different people.
Luke, when you reported this story, did you think he was me? Have you spoken to him? Why didn't you call me? In this business, a person's reputation is all one has. I want to reiterate that the Empire Video guy is not "THE" ROY KARCH!
By the way, how do I reach his attorney, Mike Friedman? Any help you can give me in this matter is greatly appreciated. Feel free to call me. Thanks, "THE" Roy Karch
Here are some excerpts from this VillageVoice.com article: Lusty AOLiens may have made this friendly ISP the world's busiest on-ramp to e-rotica, yet of the $17.9 billion gross the service is expected to rake in this year, not one cent will come from the direct sale of porn to its 34 million American subscribers. Rather than pointing the way to online sex, AOL prefers to leave customers fending for themselves in a maze of virtual boudoirs, and in the process leaves behind millions in potential profits.
So when will all that money finally seduce AOL into stripping off its chastity belt? When will the company just sell its customers the smut they so obviously crave? The answer, say porn industry players and media analysts, is soon after AOL clears regulatory hurdles and completes its purchase of Time Warner.
Jenna & Catholicism
Steve Neece writes: I do not see why your readers are bewildered when Jenna Jameson proclaims herself to be a devout Catholic. In Catholicism,once you confess your sins and do your penances you are forgiven until the next time. If any of you have spent time in Catholic countries you will notice that most of the prostitutes there wear large crucifixes. It is said that many give large parts of their earnings to the church as penance to expiate their sins. I can imagine priests bleeding their income to the point that they have to continue in prostitution to pay off their sins and never get out of debt.
If you watch the tv. series "The Soprano's" ,there is another good example. None of them feel they are sinners as long as they are devout Catholics and donate enough money. Carmela Soprano wants to go to Rome and grovel at the foot of the pope. This is not seen as in any way contradictory to the lives they lead. Traditional Christianity, Judaism and Islam all pretty much allow their adherents to treat non believers in the most cruel and immoral manner ; in fact ,they exhort them to. In Jack Chick's version of Christianity, you can commit any abominable act as long as you accept Christ before you die. But woe be to those who never heard of Christ or died too young to speak, or comprehend, the words. Into the fires of hell no matter how blameless their lives.What kind of diety would hate and persecute their own creations in such a manner? Any believer who refuses to confront that has lost all right to be considered a sentinent human.
It has been proven time and again that believers are the cruelest and most immoral people. I defy you to name one crime that has not been commited in the name of religion. And Christianity is probably the worst . In fact, it would not surprise me if both Jenna and Madonna were canonized a few centuries from now. They are certainly better and more moral human beings than many of those who have been.
The Web: Where Gossip Is Keen
From Wired.com, Noah Shactman reports:
NEW YORK -- The juiciest porn site on the Web doesn't feature silicon-endowed bimbos, paper-thin plots or money shots.
Instead, triple-X aficionados flock to Luke F-rd's domain for gossip about the porn industry.
Ford's favorite targets: nudie-flick moguls looking to run from their sleazy pasts and shady business deals.
Among Ford's bits, leading porn producer Vivid Video has "operated as a whorehouse for years. People have gotten contracts by having sex with (Vivid production chief) Marci Hirsch," Ford claims.
Ford also alleges that Ken Guarino, president of Metro Home Video -- a production house recently de-listed from the Nasdaq -- was a Gambino crime family associate.
...But Ford's writer-reader interactions go deeper than scoop assists. What plants l-keford.com firmly in the realm of the bizarre are the religious currents flowing through the site's lurid torrent. Born an evangelical Christian, Ford converted to Judaism -- "I'm an embarrassment to myself and to the Jewish people," he sighs -- and now attends synagogue daily.
On the site, Ford is as quick to expose his beliefs as porn starlets are to bare their assets on film. A recent item on a staff change at Vivid Video, for example, quickly morphed into a Talmudic-centered riff on the morality of the death penalty.
Eye-popping allegations like these haven't made Ford many friends in the smut business. But they've spawned scads of copycat sites such as StunningCurves and Gene Ross...
Gene Ross responds: "Shachtman, Shachtman, Shachtman you're ignorance is showing. I've been doing this in print long before anyone started on the Internet."
Kevin Moore of stunningcurves.com writes: "I sent this email to Noah Shachtman (noahmax@inch.com) who wrote that Wired article. Here is the email:
Dear Noah, My name is Kevin Moore and I am the Editor-In-Chief of Stunning Curves (http://www.stunningcurves.com), a site you mentioned in your recent article about Luke F-rd called 'Where Gossip is Keen'.
I felt it necessary to mention that I feel my site and Luke's are 100% different. Luke, in my mind, is against the adult industry and often posts incorrect information that he must later retract. Our site is a service for fans of adult entertainment. I often think of us as the 'People Magazine' of porn. We deal strictly with news about the adult industry that could effect fans or might be something they want to know. We do this with daily news, interviews, movie reviews, cover movie sets and conventions.
I don't feel that in anyway is our site a copy of his. Matter of fact, when Luke sometimes links to us we get very little traffic because his audience isn't interested in our material. Just as our audience doesn't often read Luke's.
I'd also like to point out that Gene Ross has been doing this long before Luke F-rd ever was. Gene works for AVN, the trade publication for the adult industry. Luke may have gotten his site online sooner, but Gene's work has been in AVN far longer. If anything we (myself and Luke) are influenced by Gene and AVN. I have never been influenced by Mr. Ford.
Whose Going To Replace Gene Ross?
Metro director Quasarman writes on his site Quasarmanrants.com: Though I am now several percentage points ahead of the "Animal,Vegetable, Other" candidate in the scientific poll on Avnlive.com as to who should be Gene Ross's replacement, I am still running a distant second to Luke F-rd. I would suggest to the powers that be that they pick up a copy of Ford's book "A History of X" before they make a final decision. Ford is to editorial content what cave wall etchings are to fine art. A nice enough guy but I suspect he might believe a thesaurus to be a long extinct plant eating reptile. Luke's "selling point" for lack of a better description has always been to arouse and enrage the adult industry from the vantage point of an adversarial outsider. Should Ford be employed directly by AVN his ability to post unsubstantiated rumor and innuendo will be greatly hampered and thus what we will be left with is an affable Australian with a bigger bank account but whose journalistic jaws have had their teeth extracted. How would I be any different? My best qualification may very well be that I did NOT write "A History of X".
Slain Wayne - Threat Or Menace
David Aaron Clark writes on RAME: Kinda funny, kinda sad, in the midst of all this response to Black's latest adolescent grandstandings, and Zupko's repetitive ravings, that the real talent at Extreme gets ignored: I'm talking about Slain Wayne, fellas. This guy (someone I know well, admittedly) never stops shooting and editing, forever honing his craft. He doesn't get the kind of budgets for castles and Vikings, and whatever, but he knows how to make do with the materials at hand. He's kinda like an Ed Wood who knows what he's doing.
Besides the stuff under his own name, which is not much (TERRORS FROM THE CLIT, SEXUAL OVERDRIVE, LET US PREY), he puts his unique sleazy retro-sexcinema stamp all over whoever he's hired gunning for, resulting in at least a level of technical quality for CERTAIN directors whom I doubt even know how to white balance a video camera -- or even order the pizza for the crew.
I loved LET US PREY, a stoner's feast of references to horror and exploitation movies that had some pretty f---en hot moments, despite the cast of pretty much B to C girls he was working with. And after doing a cameo for the upcoming TERRORS FROM THE CLIT 2, I'm pretty sure that it's going to kick the first one's butt times ten. Along with Luciano, I think he's the real workhorse of the Extreme team, as opposed to being commited to nothing more than a psuedo-Mafia "outlaw" pornographer cartoonish stance. The proof is always in the product itself ...
From LaTimes.com: Randy "Macho Man" Savage says he owns the rights to the moniker "Gorgeous George." According to his suit, Savage licensed the name temporarily to Stephanie Bellars, who used it to create her own wrestling persona a couple of years ago.
Turns out the female Gorgeous George made a sexually graphic video before finding her true calling in pro wrestling. That video fell into the hands of Seattle smut entrepreneur Seth Warshavsky, who is best known for unleashing the explicit Pamela Anderson-Tommy Lee honeymoon video through his Clublove.com Web site.
Bellars' license for the Gorgeous George name expired earlier this year, says the Macho Man's suit. Still, Warshavsky is using the female Gorgeous George character to promote Bellars' skin flick. Savage wants Warshavsky and his company, Internet Entertainment Group, to stop the alleged trademark infringement.
Tori Welles - One of the Great Ones
Humevesne writes on RAME: I think that Tori Welles is one of the great ones. One of the few porn stars of the late 80-early 90s to compare with the Annette Havens and Marilyn Chambers of an earlier generation. And she is very beautiful. But beauty alone does not make a great porn star (if it did, Shauna Grant would be the greatest porn star of them all). She combines great beauty with a large appetite for sex and a kinky streak. Like Ginger Lynn, she clearly relishes having sex on film.
In The Realm of the Senses
David Clark writes on RAME: IN THE REALM OF THE SENSES is, to me, the perfect illustration that there can be a hardcore cinema, that you can include explicit sex in an actual work of art and not have your goals work at cross-purposes. And the way Oshima got away with it was to go out of the country to produce it. It is a French/Japanese co-production, and was certainly a scandal anyway for all involved, though still a triumph, worldwide.
Funny to think of college audiences walking out on it. Though incredibly intense and erotic, it's the most unexploitative "sex film" imaginable. Was it embarassed virgins, or -- more likely, considering my remembrance of college days -- the oh-so easily tweaked proto-feminist element? At my university, they used to sneak into campus screenings of INSATIABLE and dump ammonia and rotten eggs on the floor so everybody would have to leave. I saw this trick employed again years later during one of the first screenings of BASIC INSTINCT in Manhattan. Certain mindsets always turn to the same tactics, it seems.
Napster-Like Porn Film File Sharing
Jim Gunn writes on RAME: I think the controlling factor is whether you are able to get only snippets of the movie online and in poor quality via this rogue file-sharing system which is the case nowadays, or you are able to get the *entire* movie online, say, a scene at a time, and in decent quality via a high bandwidth connection as the case might be in the near future. In the former case, which is the case today, consumers would still need to purchase the movie in some form to get the full experience. In the latter case, well, it remains to be seen, but the threat is that consumers will not need or desire to purchase anymore when they can get porn for free. As a consumer you might say "Great- free porn forever!". But people like me won't continue to invest in new production unless there is a clear and uncertain way to profit from the investment. It will be interesting to see how this all develops in the near future.
There has already been an erosion from distribution in the brick-and-mortar shops since mailorder sales online of VHS cassettes and DVDs as well as web site revenues for membership sites like mine are growing. These are ositive trends. My DVDrelease of my first two titles for examle was well worth doing even with te considerable start-up costs to manufacture a couple of thousand disks. The idea that the entire damn movie in pristine digital video would be available to anyone worldwide for free at the click of a button though is another story altogether.
Right now we are only dealing in incomplete snippets like .jpeg vidcaps and 15 second MPEG clips from a limited selection of titles on Usenet and the like. That is not such a great threat to the industry and as many argue, it *may* drive business indirectly from free "promotion". Will the same hold true when nearly every scene from nearly every movie is available online in good full screen quality and people can watch it for free at their monitor or combo pc/tv with the click of a mouse?
Chad writes: Luke, Just to let Jimm Gunn know that we are already downloading clips of considerable length 30 minutes plus, I dont know what makes him think we can only get 15 second clips, maybe he hasnt heard of the Scour Exchange a Napster like file sharing program with video as well as audio.
Beastie Vids
Voyager7 writes on RAME: You ever notice in all those beastie pics, you always see the same dog, horse, or eel. Just like our gang-of-12-stud-muffins, only a select few from the animal kingdom, can keep it up under the rigors of creating a porno.
An excerpt: For the many of you who received your CES mailing recently, you can rest assured that the "Adult Entertainment Expo" shown located at the Riviera hotel has nothing whatsoever to do with the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo which will be at the Venetian Hotel & Casino as advertised. AVN publisher Paul Fishbein assured me that is the case and added, "What will be at the Riviera is anyone's guess." The mailing mistakenly [?] says that the event will be held in the Riviera's Royale Ballroom. After visiting the CES website, I found only one "adult" exhibitor listed for the Riviera Hotel, something called "Adult Entertainment News."
Porn Video Prices
Sharisa writes on RAME: Why is it that porn movies are more expensive than major motion movies? I'm sure Mission Impossible 2 Cost much more to make than any porn movie, But when Mission Impossible 2 (Tom Cruise, what a cutie!) comes out on video, You'll probablly be able to buy it for $14.99 or so, But when Rocco, or whoever in the porn world has a new movie out it's always $25 to $35 dollars, Why is it this way? I'd think for as little as most directors or Producers put into their porn movies they could sell them very cheaply, especially since they don't have any megastars demanding $20 million per movie in their cast.
Pat Riley responds: Your premise is incorrect. If you go to amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00003CXDF/imdb-adbox/103-2305757-0225457
you'll find that Mission Impossible #2 is $110.99 on VHS tape. You'll even see that there's an explanation of why it's so expensive and the statement that in 6 months it often drops to under $30. OTOH Rocco Meets An American Angel In Paris, released Sep 27, 2000, is already $23.00 from Jaded. Porno catalog titles are frequently 14.99 and below.
Chookles writes: Hi Luke, You printed Pat Riley's explanation for the price difference in porn and mainstream videos, however, I completely disagree. Sharisa's premise IS correct. For the consumer, porn video prices are in general much higher. The manufacturer suggested retail price on mainstream titles is usually around $25, while porn is $35+. I find several other of the responses at rame much more satisfying, such as Arkam Allen's. The biggest reason IMO is that mainstream movies make money at the box office first, and they sell a whole lot more than any porn.
Who Should Stay, Who Should Go
Taliesin writes: RAME has always been comprised of individuals who speak their minds. So, anyone care to elaborate on who should leave the porn biz and why?
LT replies on RAME:
the I.V. drug users performers who need substances to perform
producers and directors who ply performers with same
producers and directors who allows drug use/sales on their sets
anyone who hires drugged/drunk performers folks who shoot performers while they are under the influence
folks who coerce and/or manipulate women into cosmetic surgery
folks who get "kickbacks" from said cosmetic surgery
folks who spring "surprises" on actresses on the set anyone who fakes an HIV test (this should be one and OUT)
women who don't want to be there at all
any non-heterosexual males performing hetero roles
the verbally abusive
the physically abusive...
any woman beater should be OUT
anyone who pushes someone to do something they aren't interested in
Do I even need to mention anyone who has forced anyone? anyone who says in any form - "Do BLANK or get out." Anyone who penalizes performers for not going along with demands anyone who does p.r. spin instead of addressing the above.
Hell, for that matter, all who look the other way about any of the above should leave. If you want names that apply, I can provide some. That's all I can think of off the top of my head...I'm sure I've missed many... That's not even addressing the legitimate complaints from the consumer end (I thought there would already be responses along those lines).
Taliesin writes: Or who should stay and why? To put that question another way, what do you get from watching certain stars perform that you don't get from watching others? Pretend you're casting the Olympic Porn Dream Team....
LT replies: Who should stay? Anyone who really enjoys sex and is clean and sober. Anyone who isn't part of any of the "should leave" reasons.
Reflections on the Life of a Friend
Lynne writes: Dearest Luke: I am thinking to do my physiology project on CFS, because I want to know the truth of it. I know better than to believe ANYTHING I read on lf.com, though I always trust implicitly what we share off site with one another.
Ever since I told you that I would not have time for you, you have felt rotten, and I do not believe that it is altogether coincidence, and of course I know my having been diverted by Our Friend Robert was sorta scary. For over a year I have written you at least once a day, usually more often, and then I tell you that I am stopping?
Robert is a really sweet man, and, as do we all, creates his own issues. You two could be twins in so many ways. You are both so frightened of the outside world, and of losing control, and having fun. I really like chatting with him. He's funny. But I'm afraid I will never be Asia Carrera, even if that were what he really wanted (which of course it isn't, but it makes a good excuse for not getting close to REAL women.)
I've observed the joking as to whether you should replace Gene Ross at AVN, and I am glad that it is joking, because if it were serious... I find the idea horrific. As you know so well, I am not fond of AVN. What I most prize about you, and what I respect so deeply about you, namely the courage of your own convictions regardless of how they seem to others, would be worthless there.
I love pornography. I love watching people have sex. I love naked bodies. But I have never need rape, mutilation, humiliation, child molestation or deliberate exposure to disease to get sexually excited, and right now, that seems to be where the industry is going. Funny that Curious, for example, could react so strongly to me mistaking a 16-year-old for an 18-year-old, but that it should be portrayed on video doesn't provoke any reaction from him. Perhaps that is because the object of my potential affection was male, whereas he, along with the majority of men, perceive women as appropriate targets for abuse.
I don't know. I just know that for years pornographers understood that there were societal lines that, once crossed, would bring down the wrath of government (if not God), and we avoided pushing the envelope in those directions so as to continue to make a profit in the long run, and to ensure a healthy distribution system. Now it seems more important to poison everyone else's water and because we can drink from our private wells, if that metaphor makes sense... Your principles might not be mine, but I know what they are, and I hate to see you in the midst of this. You and I have enough in common for me to understand your struggle with others, with employment, with the opposite sex...
And, for what it's worth, the thing that most constantly crosses my mind reading the "Luke to AVN" stuff...is that the only place I see you is back in Australia, working at your brother's nursery, with healthy, growing things. I don't even know if that is a realistic picture, or if it appeals to you...it is just my knee-jerk reaction to the thought of you at AVN, I suppose, combined with knowing that your sister is supposed to visit in a few days...
Netpond Controversy
Shap writes on Netpond: Heather, you ask where has Shap been the past 3 years. Well you see the answer is REAL REAL SIMPLE! I left the boards 3 years ago the same reason I'm leaving them tonight. They became a waste a time, and they are STILL a waste of time. I come on here and post with one intention TO HELP PEOPLE!
When I post about something it is to help fellow webmasters like myself. 2 months ago I posted about cen doing something fishy. Everybody jumped down my throat HOW COULD YOU ACCUSE CEN OF THAT? While the whole time the BIG BOYS were very quiet and had a grin on their faces. They knew I wasn't telling any lies and they knew what I was saying was dangerously close to the truth.
Now this weekend i made posts about information that I PERSONALLY believe PROVES that CEN was operating in a less than fair manner. Alot of webmasters are very thankful. That posts was an eye opener for many people and for others it was just a little reminder.
Now people like yourself come on here tonight and post all kinds of bs with the intent of harming my reputation. You are simply trying to make me look bad. That is what annoys me about the damn boards. People are so damn cut throat. Majority of people are out to kill and destroy each other instead of working together to make money. It is obvious that coming to places like netpond where you have people who spend their whole day bitching, whining, fighting and trying to put each other down are a simple waste of my time. So looks like the next time you'll hear from me Heather will be in another 3 years. I just hope my posts have helped save a few people from getting screwed in the future.
Luke Gets Mail
His Majesty John Q writes: Hey Luke: How are you? I was surfing thru the net when I came across your website. As I read the articles you had on there, I also started to get a little confused. Why do so many people dislike your ways? It also seems your family disapproves of what you do. If you are a good writer, continue to write. There is nothing wrong with you writing about an industry. All industries have their critics, so why do people make you look like a bad guy. I really don't know. I will personally love to know more about you. My name is John. I am a Former Crown Prince from a province in Africa.
I was a heir of our royal province some years ago. The fact some people never approve of me as their next king. Well, they tried as hard as they could to kill me. I was fed up with all that royalty s---, and I stepped down as the heir, packed my stuff and moved. I was not going to die over a material thing like that. I believed I had a life to live in this world, and I wasn't going to sit and die because something like that. So far, I am trying hard to start a career for myself. I just graduated from a Business College, and I am in search of starting a career for myself. I am a very talented and capable individual. It will be just a matter of time that I will get a break from somewhere.
DG writes Luke: Did you invent the African porn star with the foot and a half schlong? How about seeing if you can get someone to send you a jpeg. I'll believe it when I see it.
Jeff writes: Re, Jack Chick "The Hunter," C 1987. Did you notice how the pusher "Curt" (also who doesn't inhale) looks remarkably like Bill Clinton in a few frames?
Turmoil In The Holy Land
From this week's US News: "Israel is a very weak country and this is the right time to take it to them," said a senior Palestinian Authority security official. He told U.S. News that the PA, in the six years since it took over in the West Bank and Gaza, has smuggled in about 200,000 rifles and other arms-which he called the PA's "biggest achievement" during the peace process.
Chaim Amalek comments: Obviously, what is needed there is for some nice jewish lawyers to aggitate for stronger gun control laws.
Michael writes: Dear Luke, I have the solution to the middle east crisis. Re-Organize the crusades. Yep, nuthin' brings a region together like a s---load of heavily armed catholics droolin' at the border with a Papal command to convert the heathens.
Aske writes: To support Jonathan, it's not necesarily a religious crisis, first of all it is political. Most Americans support the Israelis because of the way media present the crisis, even so, we have yet to see Palestinians executing 12 yrs old jewish boys because they "looked like they were about to throw rocks", there you go. The Israelis are loosing allmost all international support, claiming that a piece of land is given to you by God, refering to a book most people see as fairytales does not give you the right to kill people from other ethnical groups or cultures, but then again, as long as the US gouvernment is supporting you, rules of humanity does not have to be followed. Porners going political, will lube and enemas become tax-free?? Get an education!
Is f---ing The Solution To War?
Fred writes: The Arab Moslems are notoriously and vehemently anti-porn. In some countries, people are flogged (or worse) for possessing such materials. The strategy [Lori Michaels strategy to give the Middle East lots of porn] would run into problems. (I theorize that the Moslem psyche, 50% pride, 50% revenge, would be a bit healthier if they had some other outlet.) Perhaps a more realistic solution would be to spike their drinking water with valium.
BTW, my first reaction was to consider Ms. Michael's suggestion silly. Then, I had a conversation with a buddy of mine who pointed out that many of these young jerks throwing rocks a) have probably never been with a woman; b) probably have no real social contact with women other than their families.
Males outside of the company of females often have different behavior patterns than normal males. They have a different set of hopes, expectations, calming influences, etc. I wonder whether this aspect of arab culture impacts Palestinian behavior.
Any readers of l-keford.com looking for a good PhD dissertation subject? We can post an ad seeking volunteers for a sociology experiment in downtown Ramallah: Wanted: 14 to 20 year old males needed to sit and watch pornography. What the heck.
We can break it down to get more detailed data: Vivid, Max Hardcore, and Rocco Siffredi. (I wonder what exposure to 5 hours of Max Hardcore would do to someone who has never seen porno, and has never been with a woman before? I also wonder what that guy would be like on his wedding night. Now there's a subject for a PhD dissertation. Actually, that's also probably a subject for a good horror story.)
Chaim Amalek writes Luke: One of your well-intentioned correspondents writes: "I think the citizens of these far eastern nations should start f---ing their neighbors . . ."
Actually, sex and war go together like a fist in a glove, but not the way one might hope. For example, when the Red Army established control over Berlin at the close of WWII, the first thing they did was to begin the systematic rape of German woman. Women were raped by day, by night, in their homes, in the street, wherever Soviet soldiers wanted to f---, they f---ed. More recently we have the example of the so-called "rape camps" of the Serbs in the Balkan wars of the 90's, in which rape was virtually a state policy and used to try to break the morale of the Albanian and Bosnian peoples opposed to Serb hegemony.
The Arab-Israeli wars will continue until one of the following four things happens:
1. Israel is destroyed;
2. Israel is transformed into a majority Arab, majority ruled non-jewish state;
3. the arabs just grow very weary of fighting; or
4. People learn to respect and get along with each other.
The probability of (4) is, alas, very low in relation to the other possibilities, and (3) will take centuries I suspect. The predicate of (2), namely more Arabs than jews, is a certainty given enough time and the amazing fertility of Palestinian women. (By the way Luke, how many muslim women doctors do you suppose there are over there doing abortions?) The really interesting long-range speculation here is this - what would gallut jewery look like if Israel disappeared? I think that other than the ultra-orthodox side of it, it would generally disappear.
Lee Noga Take Heed
Today's Chick tract is dedicated directly to the Official Catholic Lesbian of l-keford.com, Lee Noga. Brother Jack T. Chick continues his exploration into the fallacies that the Catholic church professes to be truths. The Pope is not the middleman for the Lord! Jack T. Chick is! Click here: Is There Another Christ?