Media Update – January 7, 2008 - National Coalition for Sexual Freedom

1. Ex-Hedge Fund Manager Hsu To Report To Prison
2. Relax, It's Just Sex(TM)
3. Pinellas Sheriff cracks down on adultery
4. Best and Worst of Sex 2007
5. Christmas, Bondage-Style
6. Woman wants off sex offender site

National Coalition for Sexual Freedom — Media Update
January 7, 2008
www.ncsfreedom.org
media@ncsfreedom.org

NCSF Media Updates represent a sampling of recent stories printed in US
newspapers, magazines, and selected websites containing significant
mention of SM-leather-fetish, polyamory, or swing issues and topics.

These stories may be positive, negative, accurate, inaccurate – or
anywhere in between.

NCSF publishes the Updates to provide readers a comprehensive look at what
media outlets are writing about these topics. NCSF permits and encourages
readers to forward these Updates where appropriate.

Ex-Hedge Fund Manager Hsu To Report To Prison
by staff writer
FINalternatives
January 7, 2008

Albert Hsu, the former hedge fund manager convicted of plotting to have
his ex-mistresses kidnapped and raped, is set to enter prison today. The
founder of Anchor Point Capital will begin serving a two-and-a-half year
sentence.

In October, Hsu pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree kidnapping and
trafficking in personal information. Upon his release, he will be on
probation for another dozen years, and will have to register as a sex
offender.

Hsu admitted he posted an ad on a bondage and sadomasochism Web site
seeking a "real-life abduction and rape scene" for his ex-mistress after
she ended the affair. Posing as the victim, he listed a variety of
personal information, including her license plate number and where she
usually stood on the platform at a commuter rail station in their hometown
of New Canaan, Conn.

Hsu was originally scheduled to enter prison last month, but his
sentencing was delayed. He dropped his motion to spend the holidays with
his wife – who has filed for divorce – and children after his victim
announced her intention to oppose the bid. He has been barred from New
Canaan, where both the victim and his family still live. Since his guilty
plea; he has been living with his parents in New York.

To read this article, go to:
http://www.finalternatives.com/node/3207
To respond, go to: http://www.finalternatives.com/contact

Relax, It's Just Sex(TM)
press release
via Reuters newswire
January 4, 2008

DENVER, Jan. 4 /PRNewswire/ — Kasidie.com today announced its launch of a
new online magazine published, edited and written by one of this country's
most controversial and misunderstood sub-cultures: Swingers.

In the United States alone, the number of people involved in the swinging
lifestyle is estimated to be as high as eight million; the majority being
highly educated and affluent young white-collar professionals. Yet
swinging (commonly referred to as "the lifestyle") has had a decided lack
of accurate PR, and most Americans' views on the subject remain steeped in
stereotypes and moral judgments.

Kasidie.com is a total departure from what the general public might expect
to find in an online swinger magazine. With no personal classified ads,
chat rooms, or gratuitous pornographic material, Kasidie has taken an
intellectual and creative approach to exploring the lifestyle of swingers.
Through information, conversation and some sexy stimulation, Kasidie
aspires to overturn prejudices and preconceived notions about sexuality
and the modern swinging lifestyle.

"Most people hear the word 'swinger' and they immediately focus on the
sex," says Kasidie's publishers, Scott and Nicoleta. "But the swinging
lifestyle is really not about sex, it's about sexuality and it's about
friendship. We wanted to create a publication that reflects that and
focuses on the lives, thoughts and real issues of the people who are a
part of the lifestyle. Kasidie magazine is not just for swingers, it's
about swingers. It's a lifestyle magazine with particular emphasis on life
& style."

[continued]

To read this entire article, go to:
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS190698+04-Jan-2008+PRN20080104
To respond, write to: Scott Purcell, scott@kasidie.com

Pinellas Sheriff cracks down on adultery
by Valerie Boey
WTSP TV (Tampa/St.Petersburg, FL)
January 2, 2008

Largo, Florida — At the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office deputies are
supposed to uphold the law and set a good example for others. That's why
Sheriff Jim Coats created a policy in 2005, banning adultery among
employees, "Obviously there's nothing wrong with developing relationships
in a work environment, just don't do it with married couples, with
somebody else's married wife or husband."

He was concerned, when he received a complaint from a deputy, "One married
individual developed a relationship with another married individual."

According to an administrative investigation, Matthew Clouser filed a
complaint, that his wife Heather, was having an affair with Deputy John
Bradshaw. And Clouser adds, that affair began April 1st, after working
together in the communications center.

In the investigation, Clouser provided evidence of cell phone and text
messaging between Deputy Bradshaw and Heather Clouser. He says the two
visited a Swingers Club in Tampa. There was also a liaison at Bradshaw's
residence in Pasco County, while Bradshaw's wife was away. Then there was
a night at the Grand Plaza Hotel in St. Pete Beach. It was right before
that incident, that Matthew Clouser filed for divorce. But Clouser says
the breaking point was when he came home and found Bradshaw sleeping in
his bed, while his wife was taking a shower. Clouser video taped Bradshaw
and turned it in deputies. Sheriff Coats says adultery creates a bad work
environment. That's why he's enforcing the policy, "Certainly any time our
deputies are disciplined it's embarrassing to the agency, it's
embarrassing to me."

[continued]

To read this entire article, go to:
http://www.tampabays10.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=71026
To respond, write to: 10news@tampabays10.com or comment at bottom
of the article

Best and Worst of Sex 2007
by Tristan Taormino (opinion column "Pucker Up"
The Village Voice (NYC, NY)
January 2, 2008

Tristan's annual roundup…

Worst Legal Ruling: By refusing to hear the appeal in the case of Sherri
Williams v. Attorney General of Alabama, the Supreme Court basically
upheld Alabama's ban on sex toys in the state, which prohibits the
distribution of "any device designed or marketed as useful primarily for
the stimulation of human genital organs for anything of pecuniary value."
Williams has fought for Alabamans to be able to buy dildos, vibrators, and
other toys for eight years, and says she will continue to: "My motto has
been they are going to have to pry this vibrator from my cold, dead hand."
Former gubernatorial candidate Loretta Nall is proposing that people send
sex toys to Troy King, the state attorney general of Alabama, to encourage
him not to waste money prosecuting sex-toy shops.

Best Perversion of a Common Household Appliance: British sex-toy company
Love Honey began selling the Tingle Tip Electric Toothbrush Clitoral
Stimulator, which turns an electric toothbrush into a vibrator for your
lady parts. After the Love Honey site posted a picture of the Tingle Tip
atop an actual Oral B toothbrush, Procter & Gamble lawyers sent a 66-page
cease-and-desist letter warning them to take it down or else. Love Honey
complied, but the company continues to sell the attachment, which could
help Alabama vibrator-lovers slip under the radar.

Biggest Real-Estate Move of the Year: Kink.com owner Peter Acworth bought
the State Armory and Arsenal building, a 200,000-square-foot landmark in
San Francisco's Mission District, to house his $20 million Internet BDSM
empire. Despite protests from neighbors and anti-sex press coverage,
neither deterred the sale of this historic property, which Acworth
converted into studios and offices for his network of sites, including
fuckingmachines.com and wiredpussy.com. He's since proposed adding kinky
condos to the building, equipped with webcams and live feeds so people can
watch online.

[continued]

To read this entire article, go to:
http://www.villagevoice.com/people/0801,taormino,78763,24.html
To respond, write to: the author at tristan@puckerup.com or the
editors at http://www.villagevoice.com/aboutus/index.php?page=contact

Christmas, Bondage-Style
by Tamara Lush
Miami New Times
December 20, 2007

Nelson Suarez stands in a desolate warehouse off Florida's Turnpike. He's
in the middle of a small room painted the color of blood and illuminated
by an oversize candelabra with nine flickering red candles. Shirtless,
Nelson wears black boots, black jeans, and a black rubber apron that hangs
to his ankles. He has muscular arms and bat tattoos on each shoulder.

A short, doe-eyed woman with long blue-black hair stands nearby. She wears
a long black skirt and corset ensemble made of PVC rubber. There are also
black leather boots and fishnet stockings, which peek out from the
high-cut slit in the back of the skirt.

Nelson grins. "Do you want a rope or do you want shackles?" he asks.

"Shackles," she responds.

The woman is 34-year-old Marlen Palmero. She steps over to a large wooden
structure that's seven feet tall, painted black, and shaped like an X. A
dozen inch-long silver hooks jut from the outer edges; black leather
handcuffs dangle from the top of the contraption. Marlen raises her arms
so Nelson can strap her to the wood. She faces away from him.

Nelson, age 32, steps back to take it all in. He made the rough-hewn,
medieval-looking cross and nearly a dozen other pieces of bondage
furniture strewn about the warehouse. In the past three months, he has
sold three pieces at $100 a pop to a fetish photographer, a Wynwood
gallery owner, and a used-car salesman. He recently crafted another piece
– a giant rocking horse – that can be used for riding, whipping, or
fucking. But he's not pleased with the construction, not yet anyway.

Now is not the time to think about art, though. He walks to a nearby rack
that holds a paddle, a riding crop, a long dog chain, and a
leather-fringed whip. "Do you wanna get a little bit hurt?"

This past August, Nelson went into free-fall. He moved into a warehouse
near Tamiami Airport, threw down a futon, stocked the fridge with Red Bull
and Lean Cuisine pepperoni pizzas, and invested in wood-working tools. He
spent a few hundred dollars on wood, mostly pine two-by-fours, and some
black paint and cherry stain.

Nelson continued to work at his computer job during the day, but as small
planes buzzed overhead in the night sky, he hammered together the cross
that within a few weeks would become his first piece of fetish furniture.
He posted it for sale on eBay (of course, he first tested it on a female
friend), and a local fetish photographer won it for $100. "I like to say
that all of my pieces are quality assured," Nelson jokes. They are also
cheaper than some. Take, for instance, "The Spankmeister," a spanking
contraption made in western Massachusetts. Cost: $1,000 ($1,800 with brass
and bronze hardware).

Later Nelson flogs Raiza on the cross and in the stocks. He also whips
Marlen on the cross. Raiza flogs Marlen and Leidys, and Leidys gets her
wish to have her boyfriend, Aquiles, paddle her on the spanking bench. At
one point, a professional dominatrix named Jenica pulls down her shirt,
places blue electrical tape on her nipples, and poses for photos on the
spanking bench with a girl named Ashley. Jenica holds a knife to Ashley's
throat. The fog machine pumps out some white smoke, and on the stereo, the
band Athamay sings what could be a song from central casting on a BDSM
porn shoot: "Sex, pain, pain, pleasure/Eternal torture lasts forever…."
It all seems a little forced, even for Nelson – who watches Jenica and
Ashley near-kiss while playing with the knife.

[continued]

To read this entire article, go to:
http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2007-12-20/news/christmas-bondage-style
To respond, write to: feedback@miaminewtimes.com or comment at the
end of the article

Woman wants off sex offender site
by Scott Kraus
The Morning Call (Allentown, PA)
December 18, 2007

Doreen Stoia had hoped that when she wore a wire last year to help
prosecutors convict her boyfriend of sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl,
that it would keep her name off the state's Megan's Law Web site.

But while Stoia, 41, formerly of Perkasie, escaped a prison term for her
role in the abuse, her sentence of 10 years' probation for conspiracy did
not exclude her from the state's sex offender registry.

Stoia was in Bucks County Court on Monday asking to have her name removed
from the registry, saying the district attorney's office had not lived up
to its side of her cooperation agreement.

''I know the prejudice in the community ? '' Stoia testified. ''It was
important to me that my name and picture not be on there.''

Her former boyfriend, Robert Gress of Upper Makefield Township, was
sentenced in October to 33 1/2 to 67 years in state prison, after a trial
that included testimony about how the couple involved the girl in their
bondage lifestyle — even giving her a slave name.

Jennifer M. Schorn, former chief of the district attorney's special
victims unit, said that because of a mix-up, the cooperation agreement
Stoia signed included a pledge by her office to ask the state not to list
her name on the Internet.

A revised agreement deleted the pledge, but Stoia never signed it.

Schorn said Stoia did sign a guilty plea agreement in October 2006 that
included a provision that she would be subject to sex offender
registration under Megan's law.

[continued]

To read this entire aricle, go to:
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-b1_2stoia.6188291dec18,0,2973201.story
To respond, write to: athe author at scott.kraus@mcall.com or the
editors at letters@mcall.com or comment at end of article

HOW TO WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Feedback letters are an effective way to convey a positive image of
alternate sexual practices such as SM, swinging, or polyamory. You can
help to correct negative social myths and misconceptions about these types
of practices. These letters help achieve the advocacy goals of the NCSF.

Generally, for a letter to be published, it's important to include your
name (or first initial, last name), city and daytime phone (for
verification only). For more information, see:
https://ncsfreedom.org/media/writelettertoeditor.htm

Please alert us to positive, negative or neutral stories about SM,
swinging and polyamory at media@ncsfreedom.org. Comments to the editor of
this Update may be sent to keith@ncsfreedom.org.

###

A project of NCSF and ITCR: The Foundation of NCSF

National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF) is a national organization
committed to altering the political, legal, and social environment in the
U.S. in order to guarantee equal rights for consenting adults who practice
forms of alternative sexual expression. NCSF is primarily focused on the
rights of consenting adults in the SM-leather-fetish, swing, and polyamory
communities, who often face discrimination because of their sexual
expression.

National Coalition for Sexual Freedom
822 Guilford Avenue, Box 127
Baltimore, MD 21202-3707
410-539-4824
media@ncsfreedom.org
www.ncsfreedom.org