AdvocateGrrl Riffs on Sledge Hammer's Death And The Buzzards Waiting To Pick At His Carcass

 I don't know if this is the same woman who tweets as @AIPChristina, but after first seeing this reaction to Sledge Hammer's death, I just had to repost it here. The views expressed there are her's and her's alone....though I just might agree with most of them.

I have deactivated some embedded links, they are active over at the original blog.

Marland Anderson (Sledge Hammer) Tazed To Death By LAPD

According to the LA Times, “Porn Actor Is Dead After Clash With LAPD Officers.” A clash…? From what I’ve read and heard, this sounds much more like murder, not a “clash.” Of course most media outlets won’t tell the true story. God forbid we accuse the LAPD of fucking up. For the record, I never knew Marland Anderson (aka Sledge Hammer), and have only started communicating with his girlfriend, Alexa, today. However, from what I can tell, the LAPD REALLY screwed this one up.

 (Oh, and I know this may seem like a minor detail, but “Porn Actor” is not an accurate way to describe an individual who works in pornography. “Porn Performer” would be more accurate. I did not know this until a good friend made me aware of this a couple of months ago.)

For those of you who are unfamiliar with what happened, you can read the REAL story (rather than the crap that the LA Times published) here http://www.lukeisback.com/

This was a man with a mental illness, not a criminal. There needs to be more communication between mental health professionals and law enforcement. Cops are NOT mental health professionals! I don’t understand why only cops show up to this sort of emergency- why isn’t there a therapist on staff? If Alexa called 911 regarding a mental health issue, WHY WHY WHY were there NO mental health professionals present? Why were there cops using force with an innocent man? Why did they need to taze him 6 times!? Oh…and why the hell did it take them TWO hours to get him to a hospital?

As both a therapist and a sex-worker advocate, I am disgusting by how this case was handled. What Marland actually needed was an ambulance to bring him to a hospital so that he could receive the care that he needed. A person with mental illness should be treated with respect and care, just as any other individual with an illness would be treated.

It breaks my heart to think of what Marland must have been thinking in those moments. I have struggled with horrible bouts of insomnia in the past, and after being awake for 4 days, I thought I was losing my mind. This is not a fun place to be, and I was fortunate enough to receive proper medical care. Shouldn’t everyone be able to receive the same? He told the police that he was “very tired and scared.” This doesn’t sound like a man who was out to hurt anyone, except for perhaps himself. This was a man who needed help.

So here’s my question- now what? Will the LAPD be held accountable? Will this make headline news? Marland worked as a porn performer. If he had worked as a politician, would this be making headline news? Absofuckinglutely. I don’t want to make this article about sex worker rights, but it’s something to consider. Do stigmatized members of our society receive the same respect as other individuals do? No they don’t, and it doesn’t take a genius to figure that out.

Okay, and here’s another thing- Monica Foster, I have never met you, but you’re an idiot. When I read your blog, my brain cells die off quicker than usual. It pains me to read some of your crap, but I guess I’m addicted to the pain. Much like Shelley Lubben’s garbage/anti-porn propaganda, I just can’t tear myself away.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with these two women, they two former-porn performers turned anti-pornography nut jobs. Shelley Lubben recently made a memorial video, showcasing the various performers who died at the hands of the porn industry. Except wait…that’s not the truth. Most of the performers died of causes that can’t even logically be tied to the porn industry. Some of the performers died due to suicide and substance abuse issues, but can we blame that on the porn industry? Correlation does not equal causation. What don’t people understand about that?

My job as a therapist can be stressful at times, so if I go and off myself, will people start to blame the field of psychology for my death? Other performers in this video died in car accidents and due to heart problems. Why is Shelley Lubben trying to relate these deaths to the porn industry? It doesn’t even make sense. One of the performers actually died from an asthma attack, can someone PLEASE tell me how that could be related to the porn industry? Another from brain cancer. Does pornography cause cancer? Give me a break.

This isn’t a memorial, it’s just another way to push her anti-porn agenda. You can see the “memorial” video here:

Bullshit Memorial Video

As I’ve said before, Shelley Lubben claims to want to help porn performers, but all that she does is label them, stigmatize them, and try to speak for them. Ok, now back to the other idiot that I mentioned.

Today Monica Foster tweeted the following:

Details of the today's death of black male pornstar Sledge Hammer on http://www.PornNewsToday.com #rip #teamgod #teamjesus #GetOutPornValleyNow

(PornNewsToday.com, yeah that’s another real gem).

Ok, so let me get this straight, are these anti-porn activists SERIOUSLY  going to try and blame the porn industry for Marland’s death? If Marland had “gotten out of porn valley,” would his mental health issues magically vanish? No! Once again…GIVE ME A BREAK!

Ugh, idiocy everywhere I turn. Whatever, I’m off to put on my pink wig and head to NYC for the Sybarite Awards. Cheers.
Xo
Page

RIP

          

                                

Marland "Sledge Hammer" Anderson, Police Taser Abuse, And Porn Performer Stigma

I wish that it didn't take a tragedy like this to jolt this blog out of its ennui...but sometimes stuff happens.

I had no idea of whom Sledge Hammer was until I saw the stories of his sudden and very untimely death last Thursday. For all I know and read, he was just like most other professional male porn performers who just went on living their lives...save for his mental health issues.

On the other hand, I am well acquainted with stories of police abusing Tasers and the resulting injuries and deaths...so much so that I am slowly approaching progressive blogger Digby's position that we might as well banish those things permanently.

Where this story becomes interesting as well as tragic, though, is in the intersection between the image of the porn industry in LA, particulary in lieu of the city condom mandate law and the subsequent attempt to extend it through Los Angeles County, and the treatment of porn perfomers by the cops and authorities therof.

Most tales of porn mistreatment are about the women allegedly "trapped" in the "sex slavery" and "sex trafficking" world, or about the few women who make it to become highly publically successful.  Not much, though, is written about the men who pursue this business, since it's probably assumed that all you have to do is get someone with a 8" or larger dick off of the street, point him to some hot girls, and let nature do the rest.  In fact, it takes more than just a large erection to be a successful performer; the ability to sustain one's self and "finish" on cue is what seperates the wannabes from the pros....and from every testimony, Sledge was fast becoming a professional.

The circumstances surrounding Sledge's death are still being fleshed out and questioned, with the LA Times version of the details clashing with testimony from his girlfriend that was posted to LukeIsBack.com (Cindi practicing journalism never sucks). In any case, the truth will out itself, and hopefully we will get something out of it...like, maybe, a serious reassessment of how we treat mentally ill people?? Or....porn performers??

Presente, Sledge/Marland.

BTW...please don't be fooled by buzzards disquised as "Christian porn star cam models" using faked up gossip sites engaging in Darrah Ford fantasies, exploiting Sledge Hammer's sudden death to blame "the porn industry" for offing one of its own for its own profit. The Illuminati is only another one of her many fantasies trapped within her personalities. Again, Monica...get over your selves. (No link, just Google.)

Could Scottsdale, Arizona, Become The New "Porn Valley"?

As the day rapidly approaches that the LA condom mandate law takes full effect, the speculation has already began on whether the porn industry either fights the law or takes flight for more secure surroundings.

Some have been talking Las Vegas as a possible target replacement, while others have focused on Florida, where production has already been at full strength for quite a while.

However, the latest speculation is that the metro area of Phoenix, Arizona would be the prime candidate for porn production should there be a mass exodus of the San Fernando Valley.

This has been further strengthened by a story that originally aired on the ABC-TV local Tempe affiliate, then reposted to TheRealPornWikileaks, in which there is a discussion on whether or not the industry moving to the Phoenix area would be a good idea.

The article used two familiar faces for the "debate"; for the pro side, performer Taryn Thomas:

Taryn Thomas tells ABC15 Arizona could see an increase in adult films being made here because of a new regulation in Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles City Council recently passed an ordinance requiring condom use on porn sets.

Filming pornography is actually legal in California but that’s not the case in Arizona, here it’s considered pandering.

But Thomas tells ABC15 pornography is shot in Arizona anyway.

In fact, Thomas says the Valley is a breeding ground for adult film stars like her.

Thomas says with porn being a multi-billion dollar industry, Arizona should be happy to have it.

“Ultimately it’s going to bring revenue if it does come here,” said Thomas.

“Arizona should be thankful and begging us to come here because our state is in such a budget deficit.”

Needless to say, there is a contrarian view....and no surprise who ABC15 tapped to present it.

But Shelley Lubben, President of the Pink Cross Foundation, believes talk of the porn industry moving to Arizona is simply a bluff to get the ordinance changed.

If the industry does move to Arizona, Lubben says Arizona will be worse off for it.

“You don’t want this in Arizona because they’re bringing prostitution,” said Lubben. “They’re bringing illegal drugs. They’re having unprotected sex so those sexually transmitted diseases go into the general public. You don’t want this.”

Right, Ministress....because crystal meth labs don't already exist in Arizona, and people aren't already engaging in "unprotected sex".

Actually, probably fitting that the article pits Shelley against Taryn...a few years ago, Lubben had made an attempt to recruit Thomas into her PCF flock, taking advantage of a couple of low days Taryn had. When Thomas politely denied Shelley, the latter went apepoop, threatening to out Taryn for allegedly engaging in "dangerous sex" and using drugs, among other sins. Taryn simply flipped Shelley off and moved on. (A abridged synopsis of the matter can be found here.)

Interestingly enough, there may already be some "casing" going on, since Taryn Thomas hosted one of the first ever porn conventions in Arizona, the Pornstar Ball.  I'm sure that a good time was had by all...just check Taryn's Twitter page for updates.

Update:   WOW...Taryn Thomas just tweeted that apparently ABC15 is tiring of the clown act of Shelley Lubben, because in this morning's coverage of their "porn coming to Arizona" story, they purged all of her "testimony" from their segment. Ouch...even I felt that one.

Why Kayden Kross Kicks More Ass Before 6 AM Than Most Regular Folk Do All Day: The FOXBiz "Condom Mandate" Debate

 [Updated...scroll to bottom.]

A very illuminating debate on the LA condom mandate law took place last week.

Representing the pro-mandate side was Wendy Murphy, crusading prosecuting attorney and long-time TV trial analyst, well known for high-profile prosecutions...and apparently, waist-deep in Gail Dines' antiporn ideology. (Yeah, like Gloria Allred and Marcia Clark and Nancy Grace and other high-profile female prosecutors aren't???)

Repping the anti-side?? Porn performer and Digital Playground contract starlet Kayden Kross, who also knows how to spin a phrase or a thousand, having wrote plenty of pieces for Mike South's blog, and whom was a major contributor to Michael Whiteacre's still-in-the-works expose/documentary on Shelley Lubben.

The venue?? The FOX Business Channel's "The John Stossel Show".

Now, if you weren't aware of Kayden's gift of the tongue, you'd think that she would be mincemeat for the much more seasoned Murphy. Heck, Murphy basically looks like she could be Kayden's mother...and as we shall see, Murphy probably acts like she wants to be Kross' mother, too. After all, the prevailing conventional wisdom is that unless her name happens to be Nina Hartley, porn girls are so obsessed with their boob implants and what/how many dicks they can jam into their vaginas and mouths and buttholes that they aren't really that bright enough to defend their profession.

That day, though, Kayden busted that stereotype and crashed it into a million pieces. To put it simply, she kicked ass.



This was an especially gratifying boat race because apparently Wendy Murphy had gotten the memo from her antiporn colleagues that it was perfectly OK to slut-bait and personally embarrass Kayden for being such an advocate for intelligent porn women...up to and including bringing Kross' parents into the debate and dissing K2's arguments as "the dumbest thing I've ever heard". That K2 handled such an ambush with her usual public grace and class is not too surprising..though, I'm sure that her inner voice had some much...ummmm....earthier phrasing.

But aside from the personalities involved, the most important discussion point of the debate was the conflict between using the law for the purpose of "public safety and protection" -- the main justification used by proponents of the condom mandate law -- and the protection of individual liberty and freedom from unnecessary government intervention...which happens to be Stossel's main theme as a right-wing libertarian.

I should preface this with my own disclaimer: I am not a fan of John Stossel or of any network associated with Roger Ailes's "Political Crackhouse"....errrrrrrrrr, FOX political propaganda outlet, and I fundamentally reject his base view of libertarian capitalism totally freed of useful regulation and affirmative government as a referee insuring a level playing field.  I may be pro-porn and sex positive, but I'm still also very much a Lefty. Refer all objections to my new Twitter page, @AJK_DontGiveAFuck.  (Please don't..it doesn't exist..but you get my drift.)

However, there are times when I do think that libertarians do have a point or two...and this is one of them.

Allow me to quote from Marv Montag, an adult reviewer who posted at his blog his own review of the FBC's debate.

To start, it should be noted that I have no problem with condoms in my adult films, and I fairly regularly review the one (?) company that I know of that consistently uses them--Wicked Pictures.  I also review the releases of a number of companies that don't.  I'm neutral on the whole issue from the "aesthetics" perspective.

That said, I do have a problem with the unnecessary intrusion of laws on personal freedoms--particularly those dealing with freedom of expression.  In her rebuttals, Ms. Murphy noted that it was the job of the government to protect people.  On the surface, this is a laudable goal and has a good deal of truth to it.  What is lost in her espoused application of this idea, however, is the fact--and it's one fundamental to our nation's very core--that it's as much, or more so, the government's job to protect our liberties.  In watching various shows on television and reading various news articles, I have found that certain prosecutors seem to have a tendency to forget this fact...or at least put it aside when they so choose or when it's most convenient.  Indeed, sometimes the best way for a government to do its job--and to protect its peoples' liberties--is to do nothing at all.  (Thoreau, anyone?)

Now, one argument that invariably arises in this debate is the notion that workplace safety is regularly regulated by law and governmental agencies, etc. and that this should be no different.  It is certainly true that workplace safety is regulated.  As someone who deals with this firsthand in "real life", one might even say that it's regulated too much.  That said, the overall effect--in general--is a positive one.  But, what this argument fails to account for is that those instances most thought of in terms of workplace safety regulation do not deal heavily with inherently-speech-related items.  In the state of California--where this is all going down--the production of adult films falls fully under constitutionally-protected freedom of expression  (ref.:  the Freeman decision).  By forcing adult performers to wear condoms in their scenes--because the government presumes to know "what's best for them"--the art itself is being changed...the expression itself is being substantively and meaningfully altered.  This--to me and as one who holds dear all of our personal liberties--is enough to call this new law a "bad" one. 

Further, it does--as Kayden noted--have serious ramifications in the area of personal choice...sexual choice, which is also a form of personal liberty.  One could envision any myriad of things that could be "regulated" out of existence in the interest of "protecting people against themselves".  Indeed, if given enough leeway, a good many of our rights could be squelched by these same types of arguments.

Mr. Montag's point about prosecutors taking liberties with their power to convict people by appealing to the meme of "Those criminals are really guilty, they're just using their 'Constitutional rights' to trial by jury to game the system and get over from justice!!" is very much a germane and excellent point...especially given my point that most female high-profile prosecutors tend also to be more than a bit biased towards the antiporn crusader position of "rescuing girls from their abusers". That mentality does tend to support more coercive and blunderbuss regulation of public behavior, under the notion that going after the "source" and the "roots" of violent and dangerous behavior will curb the negative impacts of such behavior.  That describes the condom mandate proponents down to the crossed T and dotted I.

My main focus, though, is on the notion that because the government has a role in workplace safety because private business simply can't be trusted to self-regulate themselves, that automatically justifies laws like the condom mandate. Even though I support the use of government in ensuring government safety, I always have qualified that support with the condition that such regulation be limited to the harm that is being mitigated, that such regulation not be excessive as to harm those who are not directly responsible for that harm, and that those who will suffer the full weight of that regulation have some flexibility and some input into how such a regulation should be enforced. In other words, an effective regulation should be focused on the immediate harm, not be used as a wedge to impose even more restrictions on those not directly affected.

I also agree with Marv's position on how the condom mandate would essentially destroy free sexual expression in porn by reducing such expression to a narrow political/"health protection" spectrum. It's one thing for government officials to give rewards to groups who do endorse proper health care goals such as reducing STI's or promoting condom usage broadly as one of many means of prevention. It's quite another to insist that ALL porn performers should be forced to wear condoms and dental dams, and that any portrayal of sexual expression lacking such should be sanctioned, punished, or even censored. The former is proper progressive activism; the latter is what is more common with fascists and Nazis. Art and expression should only be regulated to the point that free and consenting adults are given full rights to engage in such with maximum protection from abuse or coercion. When government or monopolistic business abuses their power to micromanage adult people's sex lives or viewing habits, then we have lost any legitimacy as a representative democracy or a humanist state.

However...my main objections to the condom mandate remain the same as they always were: the law simply addresses a phantom pandemic that simply doesn't exist and never existed; it destroys and scapegoats a community (porn performers) who actually had a system of prescreening and testing that actually DID work well in containing STD's; and it is essentially a Ponzi scheme for the gross profits of shakedown artists like AHF's Michael Weinstein, BS propagandists like "Christian" activists Shelley Lubben and Monica Foster, and ultimately, a drive to regulate porn out of existence in California, and do an end-around over the Freeman decision that legalized porn production.

That "liberals" like Wendy Murphy and Gail Dines and Mike Weinstein can ally with "conservatives" like Pat Trueman and Shelley Lubben in boosting this law says a lot.

A few more eloquent voices like Kayden Kross would do a lot of good. And, I don't even mind the red hair. In fact..it kinda rocks.

Keep kicking 'em, K2.

Update:  Sean over at TheRealPornWikileaks.com has just posted a followup interview with Kayden Kross, where she elaborates on her adventure with Stossel and Murphy and restates her views on the condom mandate's impact. Just go there and read up on it...Kayden's looking better by the second. As if she didn't look damn HOT already.

How Defective Condoms In South Africa Directly Affect The LA Condom Mandate (Or...Class, Capitalism, and Sloppy Seconds??)

[Also reposted over at my Red Garter Club blog]

This will take a bit of background to build to the main point..but it’s worth it, I promise. Just stick with me on this, Clones.

One of the many, many talking points put out by those who defend the LA condom mandate law is that since people — especially young people — look to porn as their only means of “sex education, and copy what they see in these videos, only showing condomized sex on screen or online will motivate them to use condoms in real life…and thusly, sexually transmitted diseases and infections will disappear, and global peace will reign supreme.

All that is fine and good….and promoting condom usage amongst the general public as a means of protection against both unwanted pregnancy AND STI’s is NOT a bad thing at all.

However..since condoms aren’t produced out of thin air, but made by corporations who exist first and foremost to make a profit, the inevitable question arises of: “What about the QUALITY of the condoms being issued to the general public? Are they of the top of the line, or are they merely the rejects and scrubs of the condom companies while the good, high-quality stuff remains on a store counter to be sold for an arm and a leg?”

That is not a unimportant question, because it’s the general public, and especially the poor and working class folk, who bear the worst burden of HIV and other STI infections, as well as the greatest risks…and if you are going to tell everyone that condoms are the best defense, you damn well had better insure that that defense isn’t corrupted or compromised.

Because if you slip that shit up, stuff like what happened in South Africa last week is bound to result.

This is what happens when quality control is pushed under the bus and dragged behind at expressway speed:

Some condoms burst. Others leaked like sieves. 

South Africa’s leading anti-AIDS group said Tuesday that allegedly faulty condoms are among more than 1.35 million handed out at the African National Congress’ 100th birthday party.

Health officials confirmed that all of those condoms have been ordered to be recalled. But the Treatment Action Campaign said no warning has been issued to people that they may have carried away defective condoms that could now cause them to unsuspectingly spread or contract HIV. South Africa has the world’s highest number of AIDS patients, some 5.6 million.

The third recall in less than five years raises questions about the quality of some of the 425 million-plus condoms that the government gives away each year, and the competence of the South African Bureau of Standards that is supposed to ensure their quality is up to international standards.

AIDS activist Sello Mokhalipi of the Treatment Action Campaign said he complained to the health department after “we had people flocking in, coming to report that the condoms had burst while they were having sex.”

Some were panicking because they were infected with AIDS and were concerned for their partners, he said.

Spokesman Jabu Mbalula of the Free State provincial health department, which distributed the condoms before the Jan. 6-8 celebrations, said they had recalled the entire batch of 1.35 million condoms around Jan. 18. He said there was no need for a panic.

But he was unable to say how many of the condoms were used or have been recovered.

In 2007, the government recalled more than 20 million defective condoms manufactured locally but recovered only 12 million. The Health Ministry said many of the condoms failed the air burst test.

That came after a recall the same year of 5 million defective and locally produced condoms. In that case, the Ministry of Health said a testing manager at the South African Bureau of Standards had taken a bribe to certify the faulty contraceptives.

[....]

South Africa recalls defective condoms (via SFGate.com)

Now, the article does not state whether the Republic of South Africa manufactures their own condoms, or whether they outsource them from a private manufacturer, but they do state that their Bureau of Standards is supposed to insure that whatever is distributed to the public meets their quality standards.

Apparently, they either looked the other way because they were willing to prove their main point, or they just slipped up on the job.

What does that have to do with the condom mandate law in LA, you ask??

Well…it’s an open secret that the major condom companies here in the US (Lifestyles, Durex, Trojan, et. al.) would just love to tap into the “pro condom”/”safer sex” mood for their own financial advantages. Remember that it was Lifestyles employees who were recruited as “protestors” to follow AIDS Healthcare Foundation president Michael Weinstein’s “protests” against HUSTLER and other companies for not banishing bareback sex vids and wrapping their dicks. I would think that such companies would make a nice killing (no pun intended) from scoring exclusive sponsorships or deals with porn companies forced into condom-only vids in order to promote the “safer sex” memes in the larger public. Imagine “Announcing, the 2014 AVN Awards….Brought To You Byyyyyyyy…..DUREX CONDOMS!!!!!!” Or, better yet, imagine you favorite porn starlet sprouting a Trojan necklace and getting paid an endorsement fee for insisting on wrapping up her male partners. Kinda like the decals on the NASCAR racing cars, or the walking ads on World Cup soccer players, except sexier.

The problem with all that, though, is that most poor folk simply can’t afford to buy condoms off the shelf…especially not the top-of-the-line, quality stuff. So, they must go to the local clinic to get their protection…and while condoms there are indeed free, something tells me that they are also not quite so high on the quality factor. I mean, what’s to say that the condom companies don’t just dump their second- or even third-hand product on medical clinics to give to “the poor” while hoarding their quality stuff to sell for maximum profit?? It’s not as if food stores and major retailer chains don’t set the precedent of dumping their excess, close to shelf date product onto food shelters, right??

Do you now see the recipe for disaster here, gangstas and gangstrices??

Imagine if the condom law goes nationwide, thanks to the efforts of AHF and OSHA. Now, imagine AHF and Lifestyles getting a sweetheart deal with the city of LA and a major porn producing company (let’s use VIVID for an example) to put out “FREE CONDOMS!!!!!” to all citizens of that metropolis as a means of promoting “safer sex”. Now, imagine Lifestyles simply dumping its lower quality, excess product onto the streets of LA, using AHF perps to pass out the rubbers to the public.

And now, imagine one or two or five or fifty cases of condoms breaking during use, and as a result, someone gets infected with HIV. Or worse, a performer gets infected during a shoot because he/she didn’t know that the partner was infected but had to do the scene anyway…and the condom accidentally shatters during the main event.

Gee…I wonder how Mike Weinstein will react to THAT.

More importantly, how will this play in the minds of sexual reactionaries who will insist all along that condoms are simply another evil “sex pozzie” attempt to provide false protection for sexual depravity of the privileged wealthy at the expense of the poor, who are merely guniea pigs and cash cows for the “sexual elite”??

The very same arguments, BTW, are being used to slander Planned Parenthood, ACORN, and every other progressive service org delivered to the poor and working class without the approval of the Religious Right.

Be careful of what you ask for…

How To Run A Smear Campaign, The Sequel: Have Cal-OSHA Employees Been Trolling Porn Sites Propagandizing For Condom Mandate?? Is Water Wet??

Not that this will be a big blockbusting surprise to you all, but it does stir the pot a bit.

Over at The Real Pornwikileaks, Sean Tompkins has just dropped an article there, citing "a well placed source" which charges that employees of Cal-OSHA, the state agency responsible for maintaining health and safety standards, were not quite as non-partisan as they are sworn to be regarding proposed regulations concerning "barrier protection" within porn shoots.

Actually, it's more like Cal-OSHA officials actively colluding with advocates for mandatory condoms such as Michael Weinstein's AIDS Healthcare Foundation, even going as far as anonymously and pseudomonsly posting pro-condom mandate propaganda on various porn websites and message boards.

Keep in mind that Cal-OSHA is currently in the process of drawing up new regulations involving the transmission of "infectious materials" in the production of adult films, of which part of the new proposed standards would include mandatory condoms for most if not all penetrative sex acts, dental dams for oral sex acts amongst female performers, and other forms of "protection" such as goggles, gloves, and other forms of protection for "bloodborne pathogens". (An addendum to those regulations would exempt oral sex from the mandate, but only under the conditions of rigorous testing and vaccination, with expensive follow up by a verified physcian.) This is totally independent of the successful campaign by AHF to induce the LA city council to pass into law their "condom mandate" bill which would require all porn shoots getting FilmLA permits to go condom only.

Now, some of you would have guessed that Cal-OSHA was in on the fix all along, considering the paternalistic attitude that folk like safety officer Deborah Gold showed at that classic June 7th hearing of theirs, when plenty of performers showed up to defend their right to their own choice of protection and to question why this was needed in the first place.

But, if that still wasn't enough to convince you of the gross collusion between Cal-OSHA and the AHF, perhaps this will seal your concerns:

FSC has been endeavoring to work with the Standards Board to develop new, industry-appropriate regulations to replace those haphazardly applied to the adult industry years ago absent any consultation with industry leaders. But many observers within the adult community have long believed that the fix is in.

This view was bolstered by the recent leak of a cache of AHF emails that seem to indicate a cozy relationship between AHF and Cal/OSHA officials.

The emails include references to Cal/OSHA records being sent to AHF, as well as apparent assurances by OSHA leaders that the process was tilted in favor of AHF’s agenda.

A May 24, 2011 email, from AHF attorney Brian Chase to Weinstein, indicates that, while Senior Safety Engineer Deborah Gold and attorney Amy Martin, confided they were “not at all happy about” a motion made by L.A. councilman Richard Alarcon that sought to create a mechanism of local enforcement for workplace standards for porn, the two Cal/OSHA leaders nonetheless “confirmed that the new Chief [Ellen Widess] is onboard with adding a specific [Cal/OSHA] regulation requiring condoms in the production of adult films.”

Weinstein then asked, “Will Jim Clark be the attorney for Cal/OSHA? If so we may have to educate him on the employer/employee relationship between performers and producers.”

If the latest reports are true, elements within Cal/OSHA have already made up their mind about what’s best for the porn industry, and have taken to porn news and gossip sites to spread pro-AHF rhetoric.

That would be these emails, folks.

The TRPWL article goes on to list the names of Cal-OSHA officials who might be trolling for propaganda; I'll simply refer you to their article for finding out if you've been buttonholed or shook down. I just wonder how much money Weinstein's giving them under the table...if you catch me drift.

Condom Mandate Now Officially Law In LA: Revelations And Repercussions

[Updated -- scroll to bottom.]

I know that this page should be blank today in solidarity with the ongoing protest against the Stop Online Piracy Act (and it's only slightly less noxious cousin, the Protect IP Act. But fuck it...this is too damn important not to comment on.

Yesterday, the LA City Council completed their collusion deal with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation and the Cal-OSHA bureaucrats and finally passed into law the condom mandate legislation.

This was done mostly to ward off the "threat" of an initiative vote that would have taken place this coming June, but mostly, it was done so that a legal industry and its talent could be abused and used as free cannon fodder and a cash cow for the profits of Michael Weinstein, the condom companies, and the Religious Right.

Naturally, Weinstein and his allies in this are now crowing loud about how this new legislation will be the ultimate push in "protecting" porn talent from dangerous and deadly diseases, and that rumors that the industry will simply pick up their roots and leave LA are simply overblown...and besides that, as he so abruptly put it: "Wherever they go, we will find them."

And just as naturally, certain liberal elitist "sex positive" intellectuals and avant garde pornographers are also hailing this ruling as a victory for "common sense", because merely jamming condoms and dental dams down the throats of performers is merely, according to them, the equivalent of forcing motorcycle riders to wear helmets or automobile drivers to wear safety belts..in short, just a necessary and slightly uncomfortable intervention to save lives.

(And yes, that "liberal elitist sex positive" smack is coming from a even more leftist sex positive, so don't assume stuff.)

So, once again, a community of sexual dissidents are used as a stepping stone and a disposable rack by supposedly well meaning "liberals" and "communitarians" to line their pockets with cash and puff up their paternalistic and maternalistic credentials...and the targets and guinea pigs are treated as less than human and unable to even think enough for themselves to be asked their opinion on the "benelovent" ones who used trumpted up scandals and faked "panics" to seal their power grab.

But do they really think that this condom mandate will really work to meet their "objectives" of "role modeling" porn consumers to use condoms more?? Really??

If decades of condom advocacy in the general society as well as free and inexpensive access to condoms in the civilian world has not done much to increase its usage, then how in the hell do these fools think that mandating every porn scene with them will succeed any better?

If it has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt time and time again that porn consumers will fundamentally reject sex scenes with condoms because they prefer unwrapped sex, then how in the hell will this legislation, if enforced, lead to anything other than legal businesses being forced out of business, and the tube site/bitTorrent underground of illegal porn piracy getting new leases on life? (Especially with the new XXX domain available for the looting??)

If it is proven that FilmLA, the permitting agency for movie shoots in LA, is simply not fitted to enforce this cockamamey scheme, then who exactly will??  The LAPD, via raids like they had in the pre-Freeman days?? A special "condom squad" of Shelley Lubben's ex-sluts or disaffected and paid AHF agents, squawking around every porn venue for any signs of unwrapped dick or undammed lesbian 69?? Cal-OSHA?? (A state agency enforcing a local city ordinance?? Bureaucracy creep much??) Or, maybe, AHF can simply use that $50-per-year fee now imposed on porn producers and talent to pay their own snitches to monitor grown adults to enforce the condom mandate?? (Course, the idea of relying on the very people you are driving out to pay for driving them out might seem a bit contradictory, but moral sex panics aren't known mostly for their deep thought of consequences.

If most porn production has already been outsourced out of LA to other venues, or, even more important, transferred to mostly homemade porn sites out of private homes, then what's to prevent the new Safe Sex Commisars from attempting to extend their reign of "protection" to private homes? Will we see the LAPD now invade Streamate or Cam Central camshows in order to embarrass performers into compliance with the mandate?

And what about the testing regime for STD's that has been crafted first by AIM and now by APHSS, which will now be essentially torched in favor of the "condoms first, don't ask questions later" policy. (And remember, because California law does not allow employers or employees to force anyone to reveal their HIV status, there can be no more testing along with condoms, so a condom breakage is the only thing standing between porn performers and a major HIV outbreak.  But never fear, because you can trust AHF to provide nothing but the utmost care for those now at even greater risks.)

I'm pretty sure that the lawsuits are already being prepared to overturn this law, and that actions are already being taken by the companies and the talent to either fight this full scale or begin the process of pulling up shop. But, one thing is definitely for certain; this new "Weinstein Model" of porn "protection" will work about as well in really representing porn talent as the Swedish Model of sex work regulation is doing for prostitutes.  And by "about as well" I really mean "not bloody well".

Congratulations are in store though, Mr. Weinstein. You pulled your political punches well. So, what will you do when the next real HIV porn panic resulting from acts like your boy Derrick Burts screwing off camera and removing his condom??  Or, from girls like Desi Foxx contracting HIV from side escorting and still being allowed to do porn work..and subsequenly infecting others because the condom broke??

From this day forward, Mikey, you can't blame AIM, or Larry Flynt. Anyone gets infected, it's all on your ass. You built the house of straw, now live in it and take the consequences.

Update: If nothing else scares you absolutely shitless about this new law, this comment by prominent porn attorney Michael Fattorosi (aka "Pornlaw") absolutely should. Quoted from this latest article from XBiz.com:

Attorney Michael Fattorosi, who represents numerous adult industry clients, said the ruling raises the possibility that a designated vice squad could be reassembled to investigate adult shoots.


“I fear that LAPD may be directed to resurrect a dormant unit of the Valley Vice Squad,” Fattorosi said. “Several years ago LAPD Vice had a unit devoted to investigating non-permitted adult film shoots. 

Many of the more popular shoot locations were well known to the unit. The undercover officers would often gain entry to sets posing as a driver and female talent by knocking and stating at the door they were there for the next scene.
 
“They were often let into the set by one of the crew or other performers not realizing they were undercover officers. On rare occasions, uniformed officers would even jump fences and enter the shoot location through unlocked rear doors. Once in, they showed their badges and started to take the names of everyone on set and even confiscate tapes and hard drives as evidence.”

That would be the same LAPD that was used to harrass porn producers during the bad old days before the Freeman decision liberated porn production in California. The very same vice squad that used to terrorize performers and producers alike.

And the very same squad that busted gay porn with even more enthusiasm.  You know, the very same gay porn that uses condoms. The very same gay male porn whose standards of no-testing and dependence on condoms will now be imposed on the "straight" porn industry. Using...the very same damn people who wanted to shut down porn entirely, not just enforce condoms.

Protect performers??  MY ASS!!!

(Aside note: that reference to Desi Foxx was meant to be only an example of a fictional scenario.  As far as I know, she's NOT HIV+.)

How To Run A Smear Campaign: The AHF War On Porn..Errrrrrrr...Condom Mandate Campaign EXPOSED Via Email Dump

Yesterday morning, when I posted that the LA City Council had given preliminary approval to the proposed condom mandate legislation, I wondered whether there would be any push back from people opposed to this legislation.

Well, last night, the push came back. Did it ever.

After logging in from work, I happened to notice an email from which forwarded me to a site called Pastebin.com, which in itself featured a long series of email discussions and exchanges involving some key figures in the whole condom mandate campaign amongst AHF, Cal-OSHA, Shelley Lubben's Pink Cross Foundation, various media types, and a few individuals also affected or involved in the whole campaign. Needless to say, the reading was interesting and illuminating, to say the least.

The emails go from around April of 2010, when AHF was initiating and expanding their efforts to shut down AIM through nuisance lawsuits and forced government action, to September of last year, in the midst of the last HIV "outbreak" and the initiation of the LA city condom mandate ordinance. Mostly, it's internal communication between AHF President Michael Weinstein and legal counsel Brian Chase, and their media contingent attempting to exploit ongoing events to sell their campaign.

However, the sideshow action accompanying the main event is rather intriguing in and of itself. Appearences include: Shelley Lubben attempting to nose herself and her org in on the promotion, while AHF attempts to keep her at arms length, for the obvious reasons; former performer Tim Tirch (aka "Joe Know") playing the role of the whistleblower, even though he ultimately can't deliver the goods; Diane Grundmaison ("Desi Foxx") as the test case sacrificial lamb for undoing AIM, her pimping out her own daughter at Nevada brothels aside; Molly Hennessy-Fiske, reporter for the LA Times, doing her best to propangandize for AHF; and Derrick Burts, bi/gay Rentboy model and "Patient Zeta" for the 2010 "outbreak", pleading for money to get out of his probation problems.

The most interesting and shocking moment for me comes when Desi (nee' "Dee Grandmason") attempts to bring in Donny Long's posting of a faked up HIV+ test of retired porn actress Mercedes Ashley...and Weinstein and Chase treat it as actual legitimate test and even solicits to recruit Ashley to the cause!!!  Never mind that Ashley not only refuted that charge, but countered with her own HIV test which proved negative.

There are the funnier points, too: Chase mumbling about the Ministress trying to muscle in on their operation and score some promotional points at AHF's expense; DBurts being mocked for soliciting money from the "Bail Twinks Out Of Jail" account; Weinstein bitching at a Canadian TV program for "favoring" Nina Hartley over Darren James in their coverage of the 2010 "outbreak"; Lubben lobbing the charge at LukeIsBack.com that they allowed "known bondage film producer who promotes violence against women" Ernest Greene to post comments against them (I guess she forgot that Ernest is the husband of Nina "contracted chlamydia 4 times" Hartley, right??)...etc., etc.

But please, don't take my word for it. Just go over to Pastebin.com and take a looksee for yourself.

Or, if you wish, just go over to my Red Garter Club blog, where I have posted as a special page a slightly redacted copy of the email dump.

BTW...Michael Whiteacre has posted a nice analysis/timeline relating the emails to the ensuing events over at LukeIsBack.com; Part 1 can be found here, Part 2, here.

A point of clarification: there may have been the implication that since I had originally learned of the Pastebin.com article from Michael Whiteacre, he must have been one of those responsible for the release of the data. That is entirely FALSE, and I can vouch to the fact that he himself was forwarded the link from others, whom also emailed me; and that is his ONLY involvement regarding this matter.

LA Porn Panic 2012: The Requiem - LA City Council Clears Way For Condom Mandate Bill...The End Or The Beginning?

Sorry that I've been away this past few weeks, but other business took precedence.

But, this latest is enough to bring me back, and it's a blockbuster.

It seems that Michael Weinstein and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation finally got their way with the Los Angeles City Council in his attempt to bypass his own initiative for mandating condoms on porn shoots.

You will remember originally that the LA City Attorney's office had filed suit to block the proposed initiative from being sent to the voters in LA in June, citing legal and financial issues.

Well, all that money that AHF sent to the LA City Council got them some results, because they were able to browbeat the Attorney's office to dismiss their suit and tenatively pass their own legislation mandating condoms in porn shoots through approvals through FilmLA.

Here's how the Huffington Post wrote the story (via LukeIsBack.com):

LOS ANGELES — An ordinance that would require porn actors to wear condoms during film shoots was tentatively approved by the City Council on Tuesday.
The council voted 11-1 for the proposal. The ordinance still requires a second vote next week for final approval.
Under the ordinance, porn producers would have to provide and require the use of condoms on set in order to obtain permits to film in the nation’s second-largest city.
Approval of the ordinance would supersede a proposed ballot initiative by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. The group has long advocated for mandatory condom use in adult films and urged council members to approve the ordinance.
"This long struggle to move us to a place of making Los Angeles a safe place to make adult films has taken a huge leap forward today," said foundation President Michael Weinstein, referring to advocacy work and legal attempts to create a mandate for condoms in porn and to enforce it.

 [...]

The council also agreed to form a group comprised of law enforcement, state occupational safety regulators, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation and other stakeholders to hammer out how to enforce the new rules.
The council also voted unanimously to drop a lawsuit filed by the city attorney against the foundation aimed at stopping its proposed ballot measure.

 I'm assuming that "other stakeholders" will NOT include actual porn performers who will be forced under this potential law to wear condoms against their stated will or be denied their paychecks and livelihoods, right??

As for that lawsuit?  Well, it was dropped when AHF reached a deal where they would pay the legal fees for any challenges to the law forthcoming, releasing the LA City Council from any liability.

In other words, the fix was in from the very beginning, and AHF's economic might and capacity for bribery ultimately carried the day...or at least, will when the proposal gets final approval next week.

So...does this mean the beginning of the end for porn production in Los Angeles?? Will the major companies (VIVID, Wicked, DP, and so on) simply adjust to the new regime and once again condomize their performers?? Will other companies simply uproot to new venues or simply go overseas to less stringent regulatory markets, leaving performers fundamentally to the whims of the underground?

What about the replacement of the testing regime that has basically worked well to contain STI panics with a "just wear the damn condom, and trust it not to break" mentality that generates huge bucks for Lifestyles and Durex, but puts performers at even greater risks??  (Remember, they won't be able once the new condom regime kicks in to inquire whether or not their partner is HIV+ or not, thanks to California anti-HIV+ discrimination law.)

And, how about the total undermining of all the work done to fight against porn piracy...because we all know that the majority of fans wanting bareback porn will go to great extents to get it...and if they won't get it through legitimate channels, they will just go through free tube sites and bitTorrents and message boards.

But it gets worse....if AHF is genuinely serious about their stated goal of protecting people from STI's through massive condom usage, then how in the hell do they enforce the law against home-grown porn websites or simply people using their own camphones and websites to put out bareback sex?? Will we ultimately get a "condom police squad" raiding the Internet and targeting sites which don't wrap their schlongs?? Or, maybe, they team up with the dotXXX folk and announce legislation that forces all uncondomized sex portrayals into the .XXX domain under threat of censorship or jail time?? (Thus making lots of instant bank for both AHF AND ICM.)

I'm so sure that some of the more elitist "sex-positive" liberal gurus (Violet Blue, Dr. Gloria Brame, Tony Comstock) and the more avant garde porn artistes (Mike South) will welcome this new age of "safer sex protection", since they will be the ones most likely to profit from more mainstream porn getting smashed. And, I'm just as certain that certain antiporn "activists" (yes, Ministress, I'm looking straight at you), are practically creaming in their blessed panties in anticipation of the new potential of fresh recruits when performers are forced underground into far more dangerous venues to make their livelihood.

In the meantime...if I was a porn addict...ahhhh, I mean, porn connisseur, I'd seriously start investing on some external hard drives..the more space, the better. All the more to store up all that old porn that you will have to do with once wrapped sex becomes the rule.

Happy Freakin' New Year, indeed.

LA Porn Panic 2011/2012: The Series Continues: Mike Weinstein Gets His Condom Mandate Initiative On LA Ballot For Next June

Things are now about to get real, folks.

Yesterday, Michael Weinstein of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation released a press statement and had a press conference announcing that his proposed initiative mandating condom usage for all porn shoots in the greater Los Angeles area had gotten past the necessary 48,000 signatures to appear in the ballot for June of next year.

The presser was done to coincide with World AIDS Day (yes, because you know that only porn stars and gay men get HIV/AIDS, get it???) and to give Weinstein yet another chance to play verbal roulette with the truth.

Using his dedicated front group, the oxymoronically acronymed "F.A.I.R" ("For Adult Industry Accountablilty"), Weinstein was all a flutter about getting his precious initiative going, even with the progress of Cal-OSHA's making their own regulations on mandating condoms and other "barrier protections" for porn performers against their stated will.

So much so, in fact, that he wasn't even willing to wait until the vote next June; he wants the L. A. City Council to use the sigs to enact the proposal NOW. As in, before Chiristmas.

Don't believe me??  Here's a direct quote from the AHF press release (via here):

“Producers of adult films are required by California Code of Regulations Title 8, Section 5193 to use barrier protection, including condoms, to protect employees during the production of adult films,” said Brian Chase, Assistant General Counsel for AIDS Healthcare Foundation. “However, many producers of adult films in Los Angeles consistently violate the worker safety provisions of this Code. In addition, pursuant to Section 12.22(A)(13) of the Los Angeles Planning and Zoning Code, producers of all films within the City of Los Angeles, including adult films, are also required to obtain film permits. Such permits issued may contain conditions ‘consistent with public health, safety and general welfare.’ We believe the city already has the authority to tie film permits to condom use—this ballot measure will allow Los Angeles voters to weigh in and make certain this happens.”

 And here's a direct quote from Weinstein himself at the press conference, as captured by AVN's Mark Kernes (full article here):

Perhaps the most important point for the adult industry, aside from the announcement that AHF had apparently collected more than enough signatures to put its mandatory-condom initiative on the ballot in June, was the claim by AHF president Michael Weinstein that if city clerks, doing a random check of petition signatures, find that the initative has qualified for the June ballot, that enacting an ordinance needn't wait for voter approval.


"At that point [after the signatures have been checked], the city council will have 20 days to enact the ordinance as is, or else it will go to the June ballot," Weinstein said. "We're very confident of victory in the election. Certainly, we think it is primarily the responsibility of the city council to enact this measure, and we hope that their consciences will be pricked and they will do the right thing and do that, but we're perfectly prepared to move forward.... We will be making an announcement shortly about actions we're going to take to move the agenda along at the county level as well."

 Of course, Weinstein seems to have forgotten that the second the condom mandate even becomes law, it will be hit with a tsumami of lawsuits challenging its legality...never mind the fact also that I'm guessing that LA doesn't have anywhere close to the funding to effectively enforce such a broad-reaching law. But, then again, all those potential condom dollars from Lifestyles and Durex must still be affecting his brain cells.

To further buttress his case, Weinstein bought out his crewe of sycophants and "several former actors" in the adult industry" (at least, that's what his press statement promised)...which turned out to be two actors. But oh, how interesting they were.


Testimonial #1 was from none other than Derrick Burts, the eye of the 2010 "porn scare", who waxed real good about how easy it was for him to get all kinds of STI's from unprotected sex and how only condoms would have saved him. (From Kernes again)

Burts, who "works alongside the AIDS Healthcare Foundation" and claimed to have been infected with chalymdia, herpes, gonorrhea and HIV after performing in adult movies (straight and gay) for just four months, opined, "I think it's very safe and fair to say that in this industry as a worker, when you're not wearing barrier protections, the likelihood of you getting an STD is extremely high."

Perhaps more interesting was Burts' claim that, "One thing I always point out time and time again, is that testing is not enough because there's too big of a time frame where we can go out and have sex with someone in the general public—you know, a lot of performers, female performers go out and have sex in the general public—male performers as well—and we go back to work on a porn set and we can easily spread that before testing again."

Ahhh, yes...the old "we porn stars are just too slutty to protect ourselves, so we need the State to intervene for our own good and jam condoms down our throats" card. Funny, but having someone who managed to infect himself in a scene WITH A CONDOM INCLUDED, who openly boasted of being an active bisexual swinger, and who even managed to use a negative AIM test to pimp himself for Rentboy.com, is hardly the best person to use to promote sexual restraint. (Also, go here and here to see more of DBurts playing fast and loose with the facts.)

The other former actor to take advantage of AHF's crying towel was Darren James, whom at least has a bit more cred as the centerpiece of the notorious 2004 HIV outbreak that actually did claim 4 female performers (Lara Roxx included).Like Burts, James pitied the fact that his life essentially changed after his HIV infection, and naturally, he blamed not having a condom on during the scene:

"People are going to buy porn regardless," James argued. "The fans that I've seen on the street, they could care less. They just want to see performers. If that means that a guy can't use a condom, you get a better actor that can use a condom... It's gonna sell. Don't believe all the directors talking about—they try to use every kind of scapegoat they can to get out of it, but it all comes down to the same thing: You gotta stick by the condom. The condom is the only way because just testing—that's what I thought: Just getting a test was saving me. And look at me now: I'm HIV-positive. The tests don't mean nothing; it's after the fact."  (excerpted from Kernes)

So, Mr. James...why weren't you willing to stick to your own words when you had that tryst in Brazil before doing that scene?? Or..why didn't the obvious anal sores on Lara Roxx's buttocks raise the red flag that something was more than a bit wrong and that maybe it should have been time to bail out?? Viruses don't invade by themselves, you know..you have to get them and spread them.

And don't even begin to start me on the claim that James and/or Roxx might have been infected before that infamous shoot, due to they shooting in Canada..see this story.

The other spokesperson there was Brian Chase, AHF's chief legal counsel, who riffed on how the condom mandate would be enforced if the initiative was ratified or passed. Apparently, he thinks that FilmLA, the organization that permits movie shoots in Los Angeles, can be induced to enforce the law:

"Everyone knows that when you go the city to get a permit, that permit comes with some conditions," Chase stated. "If a mainstream film studio wants to get a film permit and there's going to be pyrotechnics, then they have to have safety measures; they have to have the fire department involved. When you get a construction permit for your house, that means you've got to follow all the rules regarding workplace safety for construction workers. It's the exact same thing in the adult film industry. We have regulations saying that when workers might be exposed to the threat of disease, they have to be protected with barrier protection. In the context of adult films, that means condoms. This is a law that already exists, but this industry seems to believe that it's above the law, that it can just ignore the law and get away with it. It can't, and we're going to continue to do whatever we can, including going to the voters, to put pressure on this industry to start protecting its workers."

 Yes. but FilmLA does not have a charter to impose rules for condoms on porn shoots, and I don't see LA giving them the money to do so (otherwise, that would be called an "unfunded mandate", which is a no-no politically). But, Chase and Weinstein have an out for that: just let either the LA County Dept. of Public Health or Cal-OSHA take over the enforcement. The former, though, wants out of the condom police biz altogether after being burned far too often, and the latter already has enough powers through fines and raids (and is currently seeking to change the regs to force the mandate via "barrier protection" enforcement".

Just as interesting as who was there, though, was who was absent.

Like, for example, any active current porn performer, even though there are more than a few who do support the idea of more condoms in porn.

Also...no females this time; you'd think that Weinstein would want to avoid the stigma of having men lecture female performers on protecting themselves.

But the biggest absence of this drama?? No Ministeress!!!

Apparently Shelley Lubben has become much too radioactive for even the folks at AHF to recruit her ministry for propaganda's sake, thanks to the allegations that "Madelyne" (the former Michelle Avanti) raised against her and her Pink Cross Foundation. Either that, or Shelley's decided to focus her audience for her book on her fundamentalist Christian roots, and palling around with a liberal gay organization would get in the way. (Not that she's not doing her deeds en rogue, her YouTube page just put out a video of the presser, albeit altered to make it seem as if she was there.)

And if you remember, Clones, Shelley and Pink Cross was all over the original presser in June announcing the initiative; she even had her present protege Jan Meza pose in the background.Whether this is a permanent break or simply part of the strategy of divide and conquer, we shall see.

In any rate, maybe it's time for the industry to get past their differences and pull together and fight this nonsense. It's only your profession, you know.