Archives - Wednesday, June 30th, 1999

Prager and Pornography

Jewish theologian Dennis Prager writes in the June 14, 1999 issue of the Weekly Standard about Harvard's firing of Ronald F. Thiemann, the dean of the Divinity School, for having numerous pornographic pictures on his Harvard-owned computer:

"The Harvard feminists who protested against Dean Thiemann after they learned about the pornography - and who intimidate most universities' administrators - would have protested just as strongly against any other dean. The protesters' argument was not that Thiemann was the dean of a religious institution (which he was not), but that he engaged ina form of misogyny by consuming pornography. No politically correct college...has a president who will say the truth: that it is none of our business what legal pictures a man looks at in private, and that there is no correlation between viewing pornography and woman-hating."

In the 6/28 issue of the Weekly Standard, readers responded:

Nathan Schlueter writes from Irving, Texas: "First, Prager's insouciant dismissal of pornography as harmless "boys will be boys" play is misguided. The "plain fact" is that most men who enjoy looking at scantily clad women usually feel a bit dirty when they do it, especially when their wives or mothers find out. Nor ist his phenomenon of shame culturally determined; it is no mistake that immediately upon eating the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve realize they are naked and cover themselves, with apparent approval by God. Pornography endangers human beings by transforming them from persons (subjects with intelligence and free will) into objects for the satisfaction of self-centered desire. Thus it is not surprising that criminologists have discovered a high correlation between pornography and certain kinds of violent crime.

"Second, Prager claims that this case involves a "deprivation of privacy." Does he know that word does not exist in the Constitution, that it is a figment of the Supreme Court's imagination?"

Joan Adams writes from New York: "Would Prager encourage women to pursue a career in porn? Would he welcome porn shops in his neighborhood? Doubtful.

"Downloading, collecting, and viewing pornography at work may be more stupid than immoral. Still, the stupidity of Dean Thiemann's act does not make pornogrpahy benign. Privacy should ensure that one can engage in all the socially acceptable behavior one wants, but typically that protect does not extend to work, nor does it make things like pornography acceptable."

Luke: I don't buy Prager's argument that what people do privately, so long as no innocent party is hurt, is nobody's business. If someone wants to eat like a pig, or a man to wear women's clothing, or to use some legal or illegal drug, or to simply watch trash TV... Why should someone have an absolute right to be not gossiped about? Where does this absolute right to privacy come from? Not from the Torah or Judaism nor from the US Constitution.

Public figures like Prager, Hirsch, and porn stars hate to be seen as gossips. They want to legislate (either morally or legally) against people talking negatively about them. I say we have no such right to absolute privacy (even while acting within ethical bounds) nor to be not gossiped about.

A right to privacy, like the right to free speech or the right to drive a car, and virtually all other rights must be dependent on its participants, context, and effects. Like Prager I believe in situational ethics and absolute ethics: the situation determines the absolute. I would write things about Steve Hirsch or Jim South, for instance, that I would not write about Russ Hampshire, because I have more respect for Hampshire. I feel few qualms about ridiculing Steve for impregnating Ginger Lynn. I thinking that bringing children into the world outside of committed heterosexual marriage is disgusting unless you give them up for adoption. I freely use satire, gossip and news on this site to stigmatize certain behaviors and praise others.

I write things about pornographers that I would not write about most groups. Because, as a group, pornographers strike me as particularly low types.

Isn't it interesting how Gene Ross has left this whole Steve Hirsch controversy, with his lawsuit threat against me, totally alone. I guess $300,000 worth of advertising a year by Vivid in AVN carries its privileges. When was the last time Ross or AVN dissed Vivid or VCA?

Just in case you had any doubt that porno is a haven for the self-destructive, here are a few lines from today's www.geneross.com: "Is it Kristal or Crystal Methud? The new and improved Crystal Dawn aka Viagra Falls, now Crystal Methud isn't even sure at this point. Methud, who already has a non-exclusive gig with Passion Pictures, is eyeballing a tentative offer from Extreme Associates, but that might entail a name change to Kristal, emphasis on the "tal". Passion Pictures wants her to keep the Crystal Methud name in keeping with their band-oriented shtick. Whichever way the wind blows on the names, Methud has dropped her husband of five months."

Galactic Galaxina Lives

Aspiring porn star Galactic Galaxina writes Luke F-rd and Gene Ross:

I want to thank you Sir Luke F-rd if was not for you & Dago People would have thought I was dead and it would have hurt me in the long run ,I sincerly thank you Hi this is Roxxxy Galactic Galaxina my other screen name is roxxxy1013,Kevin korey had called my brother Billy regarding Okkkk,where do I start,welp in May I had a surgery and the right implant broke through a small area of thin skin,that needed a flap surgery had the Dr. done this many emergency surgeries could have been prevented,why did he not? because his words to me where it is to complex to go in such an area involves a lot of time and he was hoping the scar tissue would mend its self,yet he contradicted him self so many times on this because in one breath would say its dead the scar tissue needing a flap,then say lets hope it heals and grows healthy tissue,at any rate the implant broke through,another thing on this was staff infection which I had contacted Jan 1st 1998 when the portfill broke through the nipple aroal part just the head of it,whice days latter I felt flu like and water retention in the right breast which did not no it then but staff the first one,I was running fevers chills could of died,it was removed the implant and irragated,and 5 weeks or 6 the implant was put back in,he only did a blood test,no infections,but it was hiding the staff deep in the tissue,only latter the Dr. said we should have done a culture on it closed you up and would of known,but problem with that each time one is opened one runs risk of infection,we dont know for sure how this staff is happening I have asked my Dr. he said many things can result in that even to many surgeries ectc.

Anyways back to May,I had staff running through my body felt like landaleers and a 3d degree burn of hives my whole body toes to finger tips,and I have taken some medical and realized I'M in trouble more then just an infection, before this the emgernacy room when I say a slight swelling in the right side I had said to my Dr. can you put me on one million ius of penicillin and 1million ius of potassium injection treatment for 7 days this does have impact on killing the infection not just antibiotics,he said no,I asked why? he said I don't have the means to do so,which made no sense to me so I said to him look tell you what you write the prescription out then and forward to a medal internal Dr. and covearse with him what you want to be done,he said no lets just wait this out,

I new this was bad news I have seen what waiting does for almost well yes 2 years now,the first year was not surgeries gone wrong in Mexico it was trying to get what I wanted and they need to contact Ireland and so forth for custom made implants,it takes 16 weeks,and that Dr. there messed up on communication because of laws there they need to through interring office that can only speak to the other county then relay info back to the Dr. nuts I know,it take a year of my life back and forth and my own calling to the other county to get info faster,but still problems,anyways the next year found this other Dr. here in USA,he messed up by filling me up to fast and also I'M stacked implants,by filling to fast it tore my skin baboom infections,and repeated suregyies,so this may was so hard on me the news and when I saw the implant start to break through I was crying comming unglued called my Dr please help me I don't want to take it out and do this again is there not a way of at least a drain and injections and bag hook up for insulin and antibiosu it is done all the time for organ rejection of a Foreign body,he said no.

it needs to come out,so we will set an appointment up some time next week,the hole got bigger in hours I called that night screaming to him all this infection colors came out I could see the implant I don't feel good please I'M scared help me,he said calm down its open at least you will be ok your on antibioics,then Friday morning I spent all morning calling his office screaming the hole got to the size of half doller,it the landalear biting like razor blades all over my body rashes happening nausa dizzness I new I was in trouble of gangrene or worse,I said then I'M going to emergency the sectarty said calm down I will have the Dr call you but you know darn well the emergency cant do nothing for you there not your Dr.roxy what are you trying to do,so I wanted around by 4pm I had Billy take me to emergency and the Drs there freaked out,I would not give name of my Dr. I did not want to get him in trouble he is all I had left no place els to go ran out of funds and this Dr. had me on a account payment plan that I could affored,so all the Emergency could do was injections and said this will slow it down but get to your Dr.fast or this can be fatal,I lost it,I just could not think straight went back to my apartment in LA I have a place there and in Covina not west Covina,and yes I treed to commit suicide took a whole bottle of pain pills and pills with alcohol and slit my wrist,and laid down just to go to sleep,days before this I wanted to die,I posted on Galaxygg a screen name I had good-bye Norma Gene the whole song,and said I understand now,and that I love everyone, what I was trying to say is well it should speak for its self,

anyways back to my apartment in LA Billy checked in on me,freaked out called my sisters they came down there was a huge fight and had to pick up iopec and force vomiting ect and try to stop the bleeding in my wrist no arty was servered,but screaming at Billy why did he not call sooner regarding all this,he just threw his hands up in the air f--- it and spilt,I did not know all that took place after that,but he had sent mail out only to handfull of people I new that I died peacefully,he said to me look I felt it was over Im protected my ID in his name for website name,and he felt it is over,and likely I will leave or end up doing suicide anyways,kevinkorey got the mail and I love kevin like a brother,he cared cares and I guess felt compelled to go after this Dr. and warn others about the danger of implants,but Billy had remained in contact with my sister they were to get an attorney to take care of this,he wrote kevin say yes ok if a major mag wants to do an arcal ok but wait till her sister get all this wraped up under the rug because it may go to the media kevin,but don't do nothing yet,I will talk to you about some things latter,

( I personally don't feel Kevin did nothing wrong OK, he did not bring it to mainstream media he did not no I did not die, one cant be held in contempt because there soul felt pain and justice needed to prevail, and in a way he did that OK he got it wrong I did not die but lets not forget the message of what implants by bad DR. s and trying achieve something so be on what the body can handle can do, hopefully it made some impact of saving many a life you know, to think before you go through a process that could be the worst choice ever made,anyways he told me about Kevin finally I freaked about that and the letter sent, and said you need to clear things up Billy, and I tried to contact the people he said he mailed which the letter was lost so he said well it was the ones in your box and a few I new you new,uh!fright night, I tried to clear it up, as he talked to Kevin on the phone when Kevin said so when is the funeral Billy said uh well uhhhh she is at her sisters (which Im sorry it really is no laughing matter but how Billy put it I had to laugh cause Im thinking from what Billy said his replay was he sounded scared and huh what like gross family euuu they cant let go they have her stinking up the place there! or he thought she is laid out there how mabacabe!)he went on to say she is alive Kevin needless to say Kevin was up set.

I tried calling Kevin that I am so sorry, he still was up his reputation was at stake,Im thinking come on mainstream would pull crap with this snotty attidue,but adult Industry is more intuned with the ability to understand the many sides of human nature and able to laugh where as mainstream if they laughed it would likely crack there mind which they do need a lobotomy some of them,anyways that's the long and short of it. But in a way part of me is dying Roxxxy the child like girl that was always searching not understanding why I did not fit in, I have music back ground and occult magick back ground since 10 to 11 on up to now, and ran away from home a lot,sucide has always been haunting me with attempts,frineds have helped me past months as well as a close friend Tom who just graduated from AFI and said to me hon Im here for you,he seems to understand what Im going through,Im redoing the surrey the staff is gone and I will be on stage this Nov Dec plan to permanently be based at Fantasy Island and don't know if I will travel or not, or If the porn Industry will have me or not, but I will check in with Kevin and Jim South,and as well as my writings of Galactic Galaxina for comic books xxx occult and other projects, but I have spiritually transcended my self to another entity for my self Roxxxy a type of metempsychosis a passing of a soul at death into another body or entity even though Im not dead and Galactic Galaxina is metamorphosis from the physical from supernatural means, shall become one, which will release Jan 1st 2000, so was he wrong or right Kevin he was only wrong the physical part of me but not in the spirit part.At any rate i feel like the song Lost in Space Lost In Time Darkness Conquered Brad and Janet and the song Im Coming Home of The Rocky Horror Picture ShowDobel Feature,My sincerest apologies to Kevin Korey and Miss Nakita Kash for any misunderstandings.Roxxxy Galactic Galaxina

Luke: What's happened to the "Sex Scene" column in Screw magazine? For that matter, what happened to the "informational backbone of Screw?"

Running for more than 20 years, Sex Scene used to be written by David Aaron Clark and Eric Danville. Screw has degenerated into funneling people into Al's website and phone sex operations.

I hear that Sin City contract girl Shay Sweet will be doing guys again on camera.

Frey, Garfinkle Sue John Bone

On June first in Los Angeles Superior Court, Charley Frey and Jerry Garfinkle filed suit against their former partner John Bowen.

John has a few more days to respond to the suit before defaulting, says Frey.

Steve T. Lowe, Esq.
State Bar No. 122208
12100 Wilshire Blvd. #1900
Los Angeles, CA, 90025-7120

Plaintiffs, GSC Impressive Productions Inc; Jerry Garfinkel, Charles Friedson aka Charles Frey vs. John T. Bowen and Cream Entertainment Group, LP Duplicating...

Case No. BC211228

Complaint For: Breach of Fiduciary Duty, An Accounting, Declaratory Relief, Conversion, Claim and Delivery, Violations of the Lanham Act, Defamation, Aiding and Abetting Breach of Fiduciary Duty.

7. In...July 1997, Garfinkel, Friedson and Bowen formed a California General Partnership...utilizing the trade name Cream...

9. During the period June 1997 and June 1998, the Partnership substantially financed, produced, developed and/or acquired each of the following partnership assets:

(a) a secondary meaning and name recognition in the adult film industry and with consumers of adult videos through the world for the trade name "Cream"...

(b) a business (i.e., joint venture) relationship with Impressive whereby Impressive engages in the distribution of Cream videos utilizing the "bar codes" necessary for the sale thereof...

(c) numerous adult video titles including...I Can't Believe I Took It, Kendra Jade Lost Tapes, Windsong, and Kandid Kristen...

(d) business relationships with various adult film actresses including...Kendra Jade.

42. Bowen...libeled and defamed Garfinkel, Friedson and the Partnership known as "Cream"...in the issues of Adult Video News (AVN) and the Web pages of Gene Ross and to other third parties...which exposes plaintiffs to hatred, contempt, ridicule, or obloquy, and which causes them to be shunned...

Run Luke Run

Tuesday afternoon I attended the critically praised German movie "Run Lola Run." I hated it. I hate films about drug dealers generally. I never saw Trainspotting and would to choose to never see anything like Lola or Train. I hate films and works of art that portray life as absurd and the universe as guided by caprice. However much I hate porno, I hate nihilistic modern art and modern pop culture at least as much.

I realize that l-keford.com must seem absurd to many readers. While it has its share of nonsense, I try to underlay it with deadly moral seriousness however dressed up in farce. I prefer to view my life, and life generally, as a 19th Century Victorian novel. I believe that good generally triumphs over evil, that the good are rewarded and the evil are punished. I believe that the greatest struggle for the individual in a free society like the USA is against himself. The problem is not that life is unfair, it is that life is not perfectly fair.

Paganism and porno rest on these ancient premises: (1) that its deities are dependent on and influenced by a metadivine realm, (2) that this realm spawns a multitude of malevolent entities, and (3) that if humans can tap into this realm they can gain the magical power to coerce the gods to do their will.

By contrast, I believe in one supreme God who contends neither with a higher realm nor with competing peers. The world of demons is abolished; there is no struggle with autonomous foes because there are none. With the demise of the demons, only one creature remains with "demonic" power - the human being. Endowed with free will, his power is greater than any attributed to him by pagan society. Not only can he defy God but, in Priestly imagery, he can drive God out of his sanctuary. In this respect, humans have replaced the demons.

Humans can drive God out of the sanctuary by polluting it with their moral and ritual sins. All that good people can do is periodically purge the community of its impurities and influence the people to atone for their wrongdoing.

I am not really writing these words. I am rewriting the superb Anchor Bible commentary on Leviticus by Rabbi Jacob Milgrom (p. 43-49).

In Israel (aka the Holy Community), impurity was harmless. It retained potency only with sancta. Lay persons - but not priests - might contract impurity with impunity; they must not, however, delay their purificatory rites lest their impurity affect the sanctuary (Leviticus 5: 1-13). The retention of impurity's dynamic (but not demonic) power with sancta served a theological function. The sanctuary (aka Holy Community) symbolizes the presence of God; impurity represented the wrongdoing of persons. If persons unremittingly polluted the sanctuary tehy forced God out of his sanctuary and out of their lives.

Similarly, sexual sin and porno are inevitable and if tightly controlled (by individuals and by society) they are relatively harmless. But we must have rituals to purify our lives (be they prayer, incense, meditation, organized religion, classical music or whatever is efficacious). Without these rites of cleansing, impurity will triumph and the Force of Life will flee our lives and our community.

Rabbi Milgrom calls this Levitical thinking the Priestly Picture of Dorian Gray. It declares that while sin may not scar the face of the sinner it does scar the face of the sanctuary. This image graphically illustrates the Priestly version of the old doctrine of collective responsibility: when the evildoers are punished they bring down the righteous with them. Those who perish with teh wicked are not entirely blameless, however. They are inadvertent singers who, by having allowed the wicked to flourish, have also contributed to the pollution of the sanctuary. In the Priestly scheme, the sanctuary is polluted (read: society is corrupted) by brazen sins (read: the rapacity of its leaders) and also by inadvertent sins (read: teh acquiescence of the "silent majority"), with the result that God is driven out of his sanctuary (read: the nation is destroyed). In the theology of the purification offering Israel is close to the beliefs of its neighbors and yet so far from them. Both hold that the sanctuary stands in constant need of constant purification lest it be abandoned by its resident god. But whereas the pagans hold that the source of impurity is demonic, Israel, having expunged the demonic, attributes impurity to the rebellious and inadvertent sins of man instead.

JD writes: "If you're going to use theology as a tool against pornography, you really need to be explicit about how and where the two connect. True, some porners are pagans (though more seem to be atheists or irrelegious hedonists). But that does not mean that pornography itself is built around or reflective of a pagan belief system, nor do you offer any evidence or argument to support such a contention. Frankly, I like that you are trying to broaden the scope of l-keford.com, to go beyond mere gossip and infighting. But such sloppy thinking is disappointing. If you wish to practice sledgehammer satire, slam away. But you need a mite more precision if you truly want to become a Victorian moralist."

Thursday evening at 7PM, Luke will attend a lecture by Wendy Shalit entitled, like her recent book, "A Return to Modesty." Location - Museum of Tolerance at 9760 West Pico Blvd. $10. (This is an Orthodox Jewish environment.) Read on: Impurity.

To avoid a conflict with Luke's Holy Sabbath, Sin City has rescheduled its party celebrating its new office building to Thursday night, July 8th.

Meanwhile, Fantasticonline owner Craig Vasiloff says that his new industry magazine has changed in name and concept. Formerly entitled "XXXGen," the new publication will be called "Luke F-rd."

"My people tell me that there's more money to be made in f---ing the adult industry rather than serving it," explained Vasiloff. "Besides, Luke did not feel like he was receiving enough attention. This should shore up his fragile sense of self."

In response to this shift to more aggressive porn coverage, Fantastic received resignation letters from porners Rodger Jacobs and Jim Gunn.

Sitting on the Santa Monica beach Monday afternoon with XXXGen cover girl Kendra Jade and her new haircut, Luke felt the need to say something profound.

"Roll on deep blue ocean," Luke intoned.

Kendra stared out to sea and then suddenly turned to me.

"Oh look Luke," she squeaked. "It's obeying you."

Later in the day, while walking along the Venice Beach, Luke came across an AVN journalist caught in bribery. A crowd had gathered around Gene Ross, and they threatened to stone him. I broke them up by screaming loudly, "He who is without sin, let him light the first joint."

After they dispersed, I patted Gene on the head, and said, "Go and sin no more."

"Master," Gene replied, "but what must I do to be saved?"

Luke: "Sell all that you have and follow me. I will make you a fisher of men."

And thus Gene followed in Luke's footsteps, even going so far as to start up www.geneross.com, which is patterned after my site.

Director James DiGiorgio: "Your messiah complex is becoming more and more evident. It's apparent you're casting roles for "Luke F-rd, Superstar." Gene Ross as Peter, and Kendra Jade as Mary Magdalene. I'm hoping you'll consider me for the part of Pontius Pilate. I think for the part when you carry the cross down Fairfax, past all the delis, the cross should be constructed of paper mache made from pages of various issues of AVN."

Question: If my sweetie often waits 2-3 days before returning my calls, does this indicate that she is not particularly interested in me? I feel like responding by not returning her call for two weeks. Doesn't she know that I am l-keford.com? I think I'll rent Michael Carpenter's latest series, "Make The Bitches Beg."

Kendra Jade writes: "And who would this sweetie be? Is there something I should know Luke? Someone you are hiding from me? Now I know you are a twotimimg bastard."

Fred: "If your friend takes two days to return your voice mail, it could mean one of several things: a) she is not very interested; or b) she is trying to create the impression that you have to work to become a higher priority; or c) she is afraid that if she calls you back immediately, she will appear too anxious/desperate; or d) she spends a lot of her time out, gets back late, and checks her phone messages, but by then it is too late to call, so the message waits. In short, the answer to your question is that one would need to know more to answer your question."

Brian Long writes: Luke - I was always a big fan of your site and your journalistic skills. You told it like it was, and how it was told to you. You didn't care about what was said or threatened to you. However, your site now has degenerated into incoherent ramblings that have nothing to do with the business. I don't know when you're writing something serious, or just making an attempt at satire. I was long awaiting your book, but now won't even buy it because I think you have suffered some sort of mental breakdown or something. You have a great deal of hate towards so many people now, that there isn't any reliability to what you write. It's really unfortunate. Like I said, I admired you so much in the past, now I just skim over your page and say to myself "Not again. What the hell is this?"