La Libertine has officially moved to Blogger! Over the next few months I will be reposting certain articles, such as my series on sex work and several others I adore. Comments are not allowed on the new site but you will be welcomed to email comments to me. The email address will be posted. Hope to see you there!

~Aspasia

http://lalibertine.blogspot.com/

So I've decided to move La Libertine to Blogger for a very simple reason: affliiate status. I can actually make money on Blogger from link-ads placed on the blog courtesy of websites such as JennaCash or my favorite online sex toy store, Eden Fantasy's, etc. etc. Hopefully this will generate a little pocket cash for me, especially since I am FINALLY returning to school this autumn! Yay me!

In the meantime, here's a good article from Adult Video News: Debunking the Porn Addiction Myth. . 

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/29/world/middleeast/29syria.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&hp

I do appreciate the fact that the main concern is that there may be some underage girls involved or women coerced into this situation. While one mother did express grief at her daughters working as strippers or prostitutes, overall the concern was with any possible trafficking or coercion. Forced work of any kind is horrible but it could be a hell of a lot worse. A possibility exists for freedom.

Of course, I wonder if we will hear about the exiled Iraqis that didn't get so lucky. The ones that may find themselves literally enslaved and literally closed off from public views; ones that may have been forced into domestic servitude where they may never leave the actual house and none of us out here in the world know their fate.

And I say good riddance. That man was a menace to society and made private lives disgustingly public thanks to his hateful religion. He is to credit for creating the "Moral Majority", you know the assholes that criminalize adult sexual expression, hope to recriminalize abortion, erode women's rights, create homophobic fury, called Democrats (and by extention anyone else who wasn't a card-carrying, conservative Christian GOP member) ungodly, and superficially supports the family though the Majority often votes against legislature that will benefit all families.

Na-na-na-na! Na-na-na-na! Hey! Hey! Hey! Goodbye!

If you think that is too harsh, dear reader, I leave you with these Falwell quotes as pertains to our shared interest:

"He is purple---the gay-pride color; and his antenna is shaped like a triangle---the gay-pride symbol." [on Teletubby Tinky Winky]

"AIDS is not just God's punishment for homosexuals; it is God's punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals."

"Any sex outside of the marriage bond between a man and a woman is violating God's law."

"I am saying pornography hurts anyone who reads it, garbage in, garbage out."

"I think pornography is a scourge on society."

"I truly cannot imagine men with men, women with women, doing what they were not physically created to do, without abnormal stress and misbehavior."

"If you're not a born-again Christian, you're a failure as a human being."

"We will see a breakdown of the family and family values if we decide to approve same-sex marriage, and if we decide to establish homosexuality as an acceptable alternative lifestyle with all the benefits that go with equating it with the heterosexual lifestyle."

"And, I know that I'll hear from them for this. But, throwing God out successfully with the help of the federal court system, throwing God out of the public square, out of the schools. The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way -- all of them who have tried to secularize America -- I point the finger in their face and say, "You helped this happen."
-- Rev Jerry Falwell, blaming civil libertarians, feminists, homosexuals, and abortion rights supporters for the terrorist attacks of Tuesday, September 11, 2001, quoted from John F Harris, "God Gave US 'What We Deserve,' Falwell Says," The Washington Post (September 14, 2001) [Source: Positiveatheism.org's Big List of Scary Quotes]

"Grown men should not be having sex with prostitutes unless they are married to them."
-- Jerry Falwell, on CNN's Crossfire, May 17, 1997 [Source: ibid]

So no. I cannot even give Falwell an ounce of compassion in death, for he has made life for us a living hell. I certainly do not subscribe to the belief that a person's horrible actions in life somehow become forgiven and forgotten and lessened upon death.

Though considering how much Falwell hated gays, I wonder if we'll ever find out who his gay lover is/was as the most virulent homophobes always turn out to be "homos" themselves.

All quotes, unless otherwise noted, from Brainy Quote.

Spring has sprung, grass is green and the air is warm. Time for a fertility rite! Today marks the holiday of Beltane (or Beltaine), the official coupling of the Great Goddess, usually a Great Mother-Whore deva like Aphrodite or Inanna, with her Wild God consort such as Dumuzi, Adonis, etc.

In the far western lands like the British Isles comes the most famous of Beltane accoutrements, the Maypole. The Maypole is a phallic symbol implanted in the Earth herself, her yoni. As with most pagan dances, dancing around the Maypole is circular and red and white ribbons attached to it.

Older English-Celtic texts, I do believe the Bard as well as some (as usual) condemning religious texts of the day, refer to people making "Greenbacks". This refers to Beltane rites that people continued to celebrate even after Christians damned it. The folks would go into the woods to have their Beltane orgies and return, quite literally with green backs. :)

Today also marks the first day of National Masturbation Month. So get out the vibrators and dildos and fleshlights and lube and jack and jill off to your heart's and genital's content! If you need supplies either use makeshift (and safe!) objects at home or order from a reputable online store like Babeland, Good Vibrations, or my personal favorite Eden Fantasy's.

Not that we need an official month to celebrate masturbation or self-loving, to quote Betty, but maybe you can celebrate in a different way this year. Perhaps with a new toy or technique. if you have a lover, try mutual masturbation if you've never done that before. Swap tales with your friends. Have a Jack Off or Jill Off party with like-minded buddies. Anyway you want to, rejoice in your body and the sexual freedoms we still have, though they are continuing to dwindle.

And because it is expected of me, yes, I do have an opinion on the DC Madam case. As with all similar controversies, this is incredibly stupid and a waste of time. Who cares? So long as the women are working consenually and the men aren't abusive assholes no one is getting hurt. No one, much less the government, has the right to regulate private, peaceful sexual adult affairs. Though I am not a fan of anyone in the Bush Administration, they have lost an important person because of this silliness.

Meanwhile, I am quite certain that the violent crime rate in DC has not dwindled in the slightest. Imagine if all these vice cops and whatever other law enforcement officials are involved in this were, instead, reassigned to patrolling bad neighborhoods or chasing down leads concerning local rapes, murders and assaults. But no. Let's harass a Madam! She's dangerous! Why, she may give your daughter a job making hundreds per hour! Or worse, you might cum! OH NO!

I am amused that she is ready to name names and that she's not going down without a fight. Though in other circumstances this information should remain private and preferrably shredded and in the fireplace, perhaps this will encourage those in power who peruse such services to have it decriminalized? That way our taxpayer money and their freedoms won't be in jeopardy.

Blessed Beltane!