Only "gummint busybodies and religious crusaders" are going to be sympathetic? I think that you have spent too much time on the internet. It doesn't take crazy people to realize that nothing good comes from porn and that it is a destructive, disgusting, immoral industry.

The quantum side of the mushroom is that I agree and disagree at the same time. Pr0n is a con, a tease and an addictive surrogate for a great many men. But it also fulfills a biological need (if women wanted to fark as much as men, there'd be no one doing anything else) as well as a need for illusion and fantasy. One could also make a pretty convincing argument that all the romance crap that women willfully subject themselves to creates an unhealthy and unrealistic view of men and relationships. Many a man has suddenly found himself in the doghouse for not being able to telepathically read a woman's mind.

The majority of sane people believe (pr0n is bad). It is not an unusual, backward, or unfounded notion. I don't think that people of my parents' generation realize the extent to which their sons and daughters are falling victim to the lie and becoming involved in or addicted to porn.

Billions are being spent on pr0n, but watching pr0n is just one of those things that people do that they see no reason to admit to. Sexuality cannot be separated from humanity and it's been around awhile.

http://india-travel.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_erotic_temples_of_khajuraho

If we create a market for this filth, someone is going to do it.

It's economics. The human sex drive came first (sorry) and pr0n is just the latest incarnation of market forces fulfilling a need...and it's only going to get worse (or better). To paraphrase (and update) Dennis Miller: If some unemployed construction worker in Trenton, New Jersey, lying on a sofa with a bong, can jack in to his computer and make love to Megan Fox for $19.95, this virtual reality stuff is going to make crack look like Sanka."

I realize that sex workers have more options than 19th century factory workers, but there is no way that working in the sex industry is psychologically healthy. Someone is always going to do it as long as the industry continues to grow.

Just like Lubben says, those who are involved defend the industry. I find that porn users defend porn like it's their firstborn. Regulate and make as many laws as you want. Porn is and always will be a plague on society.

Pr0n has its place in both society and life itself. A great many religious people can and do watch it.

It would be wonderful if everyone found the love of their life and had a committed relationship, etc., but that's not how the world works.

Prostitution should be legal the world over. The Europeans are light years ahead of us on this, and Jerusalem is the prostitution capital of the world.

The internets must be used for more than witty political remarks and sifting!

Ahhh, at last, our insane front is revealed to the world!

Quick summary:
In the recent municipal election in Jerusalem, the dominant religious political group (known here as "Haredim") was split between two of their candidates, and a secular candidate name Nir Barkat managed to get elected mayor.

As one of his official acts as mayor, he approved the opening of the Safra parking lot on saturdays to relieve some of the pressure on the no-parking reality of the ancient city in Jerusalem (Near the western wall, al-aqsa mosque and other holy places).

This caused quite a bit of unrest from the Haredim due to the breaking of their Status Quo, which was basically "seculars don't fuck with Jerusalem, we don't fuck with the rest of the country".

Note - There is no actual violation of Jewish law on behalf of the Jerusalem municipality. There is no city employee guarding the parking lot. There is no city employee actually driving on behalf of the city. The only actual event was that a steel chain closing the parking lot off on saturdays was removed.

After the original riots a few weeks ago, which led to several arrests, Mayor Barkat seemed to back down and close the parking lot, but then requested permission from the court to open a different parking lot (Karta), which was under some legal dispute at the time. This threw the "decision ball" away from the city and into the courts, which, legally, had no choice but to approve the opening.

So now the parking lot is open, the Haredim are protesting and there is a chance for actual Government-Religion seperation in the city of Jerusalem.
Let's hope it lasts.

And Throbbin - They don't cut their hair because they grow it in the firstplace for religious purposes, and they don't have to get a real job, because they have 8-12 kids per family and get enough money for each kid from the government to be able to exist just above the poverty line, which frees them to spend the rest of their time telling the rest of us what we're doing wrong.

>> ^gorillaman:
Uh, 0%. It's justified 0% of the time.


So scat porn and snuff films should be A-OK for YouTube?

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Perhaps there are those that are secular, but everything I've seen leads me to believe that at its core, this conflict is about countries that were theologically founded. Things may have become more "cultural" or "secular" or whatever, but at its most basic element, these conflicts are about which magic cookimajiki in the sky is the right one to pray to.

Just look at these fine characters:

http://www.videosift.com/video/Feeling-the-Hate-In-Jerusalem-on-Obama-s-Cairo-Address#comment-778152

There will be no compromise till people stop believing in their magic hajooji in the sky and start realizing that we are all human beings.

>> ^longde:
Very succinct and TRUE summary of the situation.
What was new to me was the explanation of the Israeli justification of assymetric casualties. Great sift.


i disagree with that justification.
you would think that for a people that suffered so greatly in so many terrible ways would at LEAST have the cognitive understanding what they are perpetrating on another people.
the term "jewish people" is not an entirely representative statement.there are many jewish nationalities.which particualr jewish tribe was promised isreal by the british empire?khazars,newly converted.
does that make them any less jewish?of course not.
i only state these things to lend context to an otherwise entangled situation.
before the amended balfor declaration 3 million lived in jerusalem peacefully,christian,jew and muslim,that changed with the balfor declaration.
so i do agree with his premise on the wrongs of empirialism,and its long-lasting affects.
but i heartily disagree with his justification for it assumes that all jews are the same.they are not.

Check out this photo from the AP: http://tinyurl.com/lwznh3

"An Ultra Orthodox Jewish man walk past posters, hung by an extremist right wing group, depicting US President Barack Obama wearing a traditional Arab headdress, in Jerusalem, Sunday, June 14, 2009. Senior aides say they don't expect Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to explicitly endorse Palestinian statehood when he delivers an anxiously awaited policy speech Sunday night, a stance that would preserve an uncomfortable impasse with the United States."
AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner

Wow... I thought he was joking when he said they all got together to stop the gay pride parade in Jerusalem....

Man, f you religion. All of you. You are collectively the best argument for atheism I've seen so far.

United in their intolerance.

>> ^quantumushroom:
Israeli Jews have better Tyrant Detectors than American lefties.
And c'mon, we all know if this gang of rowdy frats was criticizing Bush in the same exact manner, the left would be cheering.


That's something you'll never understand.

It's not about left and right.

It's about right and wrong.

>> ^quantumushroom:
Israeli Jews have better Tyrant Detectors than American lefties.

And c'mon, we all know if this gang of rowdy frats was criticizing Bush in the same exact manner, the left would be cheering.

In the UK they're called "Chavs". Here, I call them "bro's" or "broseph". They're always named Travis or Trevor or Jered or something like that. Point is, we all have them, and nobody will ever admit to agreeing with them.

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More like hoping.

>> ^gwiz665:
Are you saying they're not!?

Are you saying they're not!?

>> ^demon_ix:
>> ^Truckchase:
Wow; Maybe it's because I'm on xbox live too much, but does it seem that this generation of youth is just outright racist? (not just Israel, but everywhere)

If you really believe that, why not take a camera to a Jerry Springer show, and conclude that the entire population of the US consists of angry rednecks who sleep with each others' sisters and then start fighting over it?

>> ^Truckchase:
Wow; Maybe it's because I'm on xbox live too much, but does it seem that this generation of youth is just outright racist? (not just Israel, but everywhere)


If you really believe that, why not take a camera to a Jerry Springer show, and conclude that the entire population of the US consists of angry rednecks who sleep with each others' sisters and then start fighting over it?