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Wednesday, September 2, 1998

Jasmine St. Clair says John T. Bowen owes her $5000. She congratulates Raven McCall on landing her ex-boyfriend Earl Slate aka Captain Asshole. Jasmine appears in a couple videos for Earl's series. Jasmine still seeks a boyfriend, "someone strong, ambitious, intelligent...maybe European...not in the business [of porno]."

Jasmine remembers John Bowen boasting, "I'm going to bring Gene Ross on board in October [1998] and f--- Paul Fishbein up the ass. I didn't believe John for a minute."

Mark Cromer writes on Wired about Wifey, an amateur couple who's made big with their sex videos and web site:

Mark Kulkis, a former editor at Adult Video News who now works at Extreme Video,  says the couple could increase their customer list even more through a commercial deal.

"The advantages would be wider distribution," he says. "They'd be getting into retail outlets that they don't have now."

On the downside, Kulkis says commercial distribution would demand lower-priced tapes. "We move our titles at $13 a tape,  and that's even a little high. A retailer may sell it for double that price. So they'd have to come down, but they would more than make up for that with an  increase in volume."

Hubby and Wifey, however, say they have no intention of going pro.

"We've had some interesting offers, but I'm leery," Hubby says. "I like having  control over our productions. I don't trust the people in the San Fernando Valley, quite frankly." The San Fernando Valley, in Southern California, is the capital of the pornography industry.

A commercial deal may also exert pressure on the couple to expand their sexual activities beyond the handheld camera, one-on-one videos that they produce. They proclaim to be in love and monogamous, with no intention of swinging or performing with other partners for money.

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Whatever happened to Nikki Brantz? Rog Pipe writes: "She dances in a club in Anaheim, Ca. She won't talk about porn, in fact, she gets a bit hostile when you bring it up. Still, she looks better than ever."

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An observer: "Tom Steel, a SF Bay Area attorney who has represented hundreds of adult clubs and massage parlors, including the Mitchell Bros. O'Farrell Theatre in SF, recently died of AIDS. He was eulogized by Sen. Barbara Boxer, who subsequently nominated Tom Steel's former partner, Nanci Clarence, for the post of U.S. Attorney. Nanci Clarence, a lesbian, recently represented the O'Farrell Theatre in a lawsuit brought by several dancers against the club seeking recognition of their status as employees and the benefits to go with them. She will also be handling the criminal defense in the retrial of one of the Billionaire Boys Club, along with OJ Simpson Defense Team member Gerald Uelmen, at public expense."

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A Nina Hartley fan writes to me: "Because I am a big fan, I wanted to join her fan club so I wrote to her and got a flyer on membership. On February 7, 1998, I mailed in my club application along with a postal money order (the flyer stated that personal checks would not be accepted) to cover the costs of membership as well as a custom Polaroid. It is now September 2 and I still have never heard from her. I have written to her twice but have received no reply. I filed an inquiry with the post office to see if the money order had been cashed and sure enough, it has been. I have mailed a photocopy of the cashed money order to her but again, no reply. So, I have been taken by Nina Hartley to the tune of nearly $50. I had heard of some adult fan clubs that were nothing more than fronts for con artists but I thought Hartley would be different. She always seemed to respect her fans- I never would have thought she would rip me off like that. I guess I could take the matter up with the post office to see if they can help but I really do not want to involve them in an issue that concerns a porn actress. I will probably never hear from her and while that irritates me, I have learned my lesson well. You may want to put a little warning in your site that tells people to be careful when it comes to joining these fan clubs. While almost all of them promise "personal attention", few deliver."

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LONDON (AP) -- Police in the United States and 11 other countries raided the homes of more than 100 suspected pedophiles today in what authorities called one of the largest efforts ever to break an Internet child pornography ring.

The British National Crime Squad coordinated the pre-dawn raids as part of a five-month investigation into the Wonderland Club, which authorities said exchanged pornographic pictures of children as young as 2 on the Internet.

During the investigation, police found a database containing more than 100,000 pornographic photographs of naked boys and girls and confiscated computers and computer programs from dozens of suspects.

Police said they targeted 180 suspects and arrested more than 40 people in the raids, which took place on three continents -- in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Britain, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Sweden and the United States.

``I am unaware of another police operation that has ever pulled together so many law enforcement agencies worldwide to effect simultaneous raids and arrests,'' said Bob Packham, deputy director general of the National Crime Squad.

Earlier, the squad said there had been more than 100 arrests. No explanation was given for the revised figure.

U.S. Customs special agent Dick Weart, contacted in Washington later today, said the 32 raids in 22 states resulted in four U.S. arrests.

He said authorities expect to make more arrests as they evaluate evidence collected today, and that there are more than 100 suspects.

The pornographic ring originated in the United States, but the investigation began earlier this year when Sussex police in southeast England discovered pedophiles downloading child pornography from the Internet, authorities said.

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WASHINGTON, Sept. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Customs Service today executed 32 Federal search and seizure warrants in 22 states around the United States to search for evidence in an investigation of a worldwide child pornography trading ring that involves more than 100 suspects in 14 countries around the world. Search warrants and arrests are taking place simultaneously around the globe today. The investigation is part of a global investigation that stems from information the U.S. Customs Service developed during a highly publicized 1996 investigation of a child pornography trading and molestation ring.

"The people who exploit children in this way think they can hide in cyberspace," said Raymond W. Kelly, Commissioner of the U.S. Customs Service, "They are wrong. We will find them and bring them to justice."

During Customs' 1996 investigation, intelligence information led to the discovery of several international participants in that ring. Information on the international participants was turned over through U.S. Customs Attache offices to the appropriate law enforcement authorities in those countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and Finland. The investigation and subsequent arrests of the British suspects in 1997 and 1998 led police to another larger and more sophisticated international child pornography trading ring. The British police opened an investigation into the ring and began finding subjects throughout the world -- more than 100 in 14 countries to date. Each member had to have multiple images of child pornography in order to join, some as many as 10,000. Most of those subjects were in the United States, and information on these subjects was turned over to the U.S. Customs Service.

The U.S. Customs Service opened the U.S. portion of the investigation, to investigate U.S. suspects. The challenges of coordinating an international investigation in which suspects could tip each other off if contacted individually by police, coupled with evidence that active molestations may have been taking place, has placed this investigation on the fast track for law enforcement agencies throughout the world, giving rise to today's simultaneous worldwide activity.

Customs opened the first federal law enforcement investigation into computer child pornography in 1989 and the first federal law enforcement investigation into Internet child pornography in 1993. Since then, Customs has become a recognized leader in Internet and other computer-related child pornography investigations.

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Lex writes on RAME:

The religious crazies may be loud, but they are few. They can hardly muster the numbers for censorship of the press.

Furthermore, it is only the conservative side of the street that will embrace the law because it comes from a majority rather than because it conforms to a particular favored moral notion. In this defect, the Religious Right resembles the Left far more than their fellow conservatives. For conservatives on the whole, if you can't get 50+% support, you have nothing and if your can't get the numbers to amend the Constitution, you can't change it's meaning. Ultimately this point of view is far better for the future of porn, commerce, free speech, and FUN than anything the Totalitarian Socialist Feminist Regulation-Crazy Utopian Whackos of the Left have to offer by way of their "enlightened" despotism.

The fundamental questions need to be recast. For decades the "important" questions have been, "What should my neighbor be allowed to do?" and, "Will I give up a little freedom to make sure he doesn't do what offends me?"

The question we need to be asking is "Does freedom work?"

Conservatives, favoring as they do local self-governance over federal regulation, are the group hollering a resounding, "Yes!" It is the left that immediately launches into canards about racism and immanent planetary death by hot air to justify their power/money grabbing schemes. They are the ideology of division (caste system by race, class, sex, ethnicity...) rather than unity; of hatred rather than growth. When was the last time you had a conversation with one of the mavens of PC without him pulling out some prejudicial epithet of hate to use as a club to shut down the discussion. I cite the recent "Asia is a racist because she doesn't do interracial movies and if you defend her you must be one too" and the "Homophobe" threads as current examples. This is not a group that believes in free speech or any other kind of freedom that I can tell. They need to be exposed.

Mike Ross writes:

First, I am a registered Republican.. have been for over 20 years, and have worked for democratic legislators. I usually work for legislators that are consumer oriented in some fashion;

Second, I believe that I am smart enough to decide what is correct, so I don't vote along party lines;

Third, I am Jewish, and probably the only "public" Jewish Republican in existance;

Fourth, in the recent past (last two years), the people who have supported us the most in the political process, are the Republicans.

Why? If we approach them as a business, then things are fine, they can respect that. But, if we approach them as "pornographers" then we always lose. That is why SB 1014 (taxation of adult products) died in the legislature... namely the Republicans couldn't and wouldn't vote to "increase taxes," even on an industry they dislike.

Additionally, if you watched the debate on AB 726, you will notice that their were more Democrats in support of the measure than Republicans (even though the bill passed both houses, more democrats voted in support than republicans)

My job is to balance the "liberal vs conservatives. And when this industry learns that the ACLU and "wild activism" (like condoms over the capitol) may be great in the short term, those policies and positions actually makes us more enemies in the long run

I hope in the next year that this industry will respect both democrats and republicans and ACLU's and those opposed, just as we supposedly support gay and lesbian rights.

Pat Riley writes on RAME:

Look up hypocrisy in the dictionary and you'll find "see Brandy Alexandre".

Here's a woman who is vociferous in her complaints about Luke F-rd's publication of porn stars real names (many of whom are dead/retired anyway) but because she doesn't like Margold is quite willing to point out that the address given by him is his home. Haven't you found out Luke's home address and telephone number yet, Brandy?

Reminds me of AVN's (another load of hypocrites) attitude when Stacey Donovan gave an industry-unfriendly interview on TV: punish her by giving out her real name.

Bill Margold writes on RAME:

It has never been necessary for "Talent" to join FREE SPEECH in order to purchase a ticket to The Night of Stars.

It was simply a courtesy to make each performer a member of the organization for the $100 dinner/dance ticket price, thus giving "Talent" more of a value for their purchase.

I suspect that Ms. Eden Rae simply did not qualify under the above heading, and therefore presented her rant in lieu of accepting the fact that it takes some modicum of "talent" to be considered in such a manner.

Like blathering Brandy before her, what we have here is bitterness personified and/or a desperateness to be recognized, even if, in fact, there is nothing about the person in question worthy of recognition.

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Blake, husband of Heavenly Leigh, writes to me: "To Eden Rae:First I do agree on the testing of STD's but to be safe you would have to get tested every other day.Come on the single guys and the single women in porn are having sex out side of the business all the time, so you could get a test one day and have something the next.Anyone in porn that is single tells me that they only have sex on camera is full of it, and you DAMN will know they don't ask for a HIV or STD test when they pick up some one in a bar or where every they meet someone.So condoms are the best protection for anyone in this business at this time,there is also some other ways of going like VCF's before you do your scene if you are ALLERGIC to condoms.( and that is another whole issue.) So if you think condoms are a EASY WAY OUT you are a ignorant women.TESTING IS GOOD BUT CONDOMS IS THE BEST PROTECTION FOR ALL TALENT IN THIS BUSINEES!!When you come up with a better way for every women and man in porn to be 100% safe from HIV or STD you will be one rich lady,but for now the Condom is that protection so wise up you can't protect anyone from HIV or STD's in this business have you not learned from Marc Wallice.So you go right ahead and preach your s--- and lets see how many other women have to die before you wise up."