Friday, April 23, 2010
The Hypocrisy about Pornography
Politicians doing what they do best
Recent reports about participation of SEC staff using office computers to view and download pornographic items made the front page of major newspapers. Some Americans were outraged. Well, at least that was what one gathered from their reaction.
Antics of politicians, Republican politicians more than the others, are amusing to say the least considering the number of elected Republican legislators who were exposed after getting caught in sexual peccadillos in recent years. But they are shameless, have thick hides. The noise being made by Senator Grassley and his colleagues could very well be a wild hare to sabotage passage of legislation for reform of Wall Street.
Nothing new. One can expect politicians to bloviate about such things. Pornography is big business in America. The Internet and modern technology have made it so. While one cannot condone people at work spending hours viewing and downloading x-rated items, for every employee who does so there must be millions more who do it at home. The appeal of pornography is not restricted to a particular class. Whites, Blacks, rich, poor, are all consumers of pornography in some form or other. Most of them will not admit to it but the explosive growth of this sector makes it obvious. And major American corporations are participating in this highly profitable sector.
A Frontline report titled American Porn contained the following:
It's one of the hottest industries in America. Easier to order at home than a pizza, bigger than rock music, it's arguably the most profitable enterprise in cyberspace. AT&T has been in the business. Yahoo! has profited from it. Westin and Marriott have made more money selling it than selling snacks and drinks in their mini-bars. And with estimates as high as $10 billion a year, it boasts the kind of earnings that most American businesses would envy.That was in February 2002!
"Sex sells" - It sure does
A Stanford University study covering the period 1997-2001 stated:
Sex sells. As the number one income generator on the Internet today, pornography is a ripe business that will continue to grow along with the advancement of technology. With a reported annual growth rate of 40% since 1997, and the status of being the most queried subject on search engines, pornography is a thriving industry and one of the only successful e-businesses.It would be interesting to see an update of the report but one can be sure that the growth rate has accelerated way past 40%.
The Genie -- if it is considered as one -- cannot be put back into the bottle despite rumblings from the so called family values groups. Paradoxically, residents of the Bible Belt were reported to be major consumers. See Pornography and the Bible Belt posted here in March 2009.
While there are undeniably harmful effects, pornography is here to stay. It has become a part of mainstream society, and not only in America. Recommended reading: How teenage access to pornography is killing intimacy in sex TimesOnLine January 17, 2010.
"Teenagers have such easy access to hardcore porn that a skewed view of sex is becoming the norm in society and the idea of intimacy is dying"
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Passages: April 2010
Eyjafjallajokull * April Showers * Wild Flowers
Sound of Bees Humming
Reports about the volcanic eruption from Eyjafjallajokull (pronounced EY-ya-fyat-lah-YOH-kuht -- try it) in Iceland continue to dominate the headlines. Misery for stranded travelers is not going to end any time soon. But an item in the Washington Post mentioned a happy woman who lives near London's Heathrow Airport.
"It's been wonderful," said Monica Robb, 80, who on Saturday afternoon was sitting in her back garden under a clear, blue sky, enjoying a lunch of toast and fruit. "I can hear the bees humming."
A Cool, Wet April for San Francisco Bay Area
Last weekend was wet and cold. This Sunday morning, the sun is out. Temperatures remain cold enough for sweaters in the evening. Showers in the forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday. The foothills look lush and green. Does not take long for them to turn into what some describe as California gold. Buckeyes have began to sprout. So, cool days notwithstanding signs of Spring are abundant.
Have come across more wild flowers down in the valley than at Russian Ridge up on Skyline. A mixed bag of photographs follow.
Pulgas Ridge, San Carlos, CA.
Mission Bells
© Musafir
California Lilac
© Musafir
Star Lily
© Musafir
Solomon's Seal
© Musafir
Trillium sessile
Trillium sessile
© Musafir
"Commonly found in central part of the eastern United States and the Ozarks." I have come across trillium sessile in Mid-Peninsula preserves, including Wunderlich and Coal Mine Creek.
Edgewood Park, San Carlos, CA.
Goldfields, Blue-eyed Grass, Owl's Clover
© Musafir
Tidy Tips
© Musafir
Owl's Clover
© Musafir
Larkspur
© Musafir
Easter Sunday. Stanford Dish, CA.
Hikers and cows
© Musafir
© Musafir
Hoover Tower and beyond
© Musafir
For my friends who love to tend to their gardens and walk in the woods:
It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so! ~Mark Twain
Everything is blooming most recklessly; if it were voices instead of colors, there would be an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of the night. ~Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters of Rainer Maria Rilke
The sun was warm but the wind was chill.
You know how it is with an April day.
~Robert Frost
In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt. ~Margaret Atwood
