Hardcore/fetish porn, in his words, could be considered to have about as much of a negative effect as fashion/glamour magazines does for teen women. Porn propagates a view of how women should be/act in the bedroom. Magazines turn women into consumerists and could be contributing to the glass ceiling in that it encourages women to think about “pleasing the man” and “staying at home to raise the children.”

Other than that romantic porn or softcore porn isn’t harmful at all, and likely healthy in most cases. It keeps spice in a relationship and provides comfort to those in need. For example: a man who’s wife has recently died, or a woman who’s husband is in the military and deployed in a warzone.

Stop making wild ascertains that something is bad, especially without backing it up.

I firmly believe in two things: I can decide what is proper for myself and my potential family to see, and will leave ‘net-nanny’ services up to private companies; I also believe in the red square with the ‘x’ in it at the top, along with use of the my finger in conjunction with my brain to take me away from what I don’t like.

I remember a long time ago, talking to a friend about how opposed I was to the “internet decency act.” I was shocked when my friend said “I’m glad if they get rid of porn.”

I guess my friend was willing to let the government set a precedent of censorship and fairly arbitrary policing of the internet. And for what purpose? People act as if porn kills. Actually, if little johnny sees pictures of nipples and clits when he is five, it won’t make any significant difference in his life.

Which is more important, making sure that some little boys don’t see quite as many pics of clits, or making sure that we develop a legislative framework that protects everyone’s rights on the internet?

Kevin Martin is a shit stain.

Also, just imagine how annoying it would be for some village cop in China to prosecute a westerner for driving an unlicensed motorbike. They have bigger fish to fry. They respect westerners from rich countries, and don’t particularly want to arrest or fine you. Don’t let your experience convince you that police and government officials in China are not often extremely corrupt, or very hard on ordinary Chinese people. They just don’t bother government officials (those with white license plates on their cars) or westerners.

Living in mainland China, I was frequently visited by police, at my home, asking for ID without cause – I lived in a pretty upscale apartment. That’s “normal” in China. They can search anyone they want, at any time. I know someone who was visited and warned by police shortly after replying to a blog post.

China is not a free country. They don’t even have a framework in which to legislate freedom.