Larry Flynt
Publisher of Hustler magazine and free speech advocate
8/16/11
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larry-flynt/privacy-revisited_b_928321.html
For the average American citizen, the notion of privacy is extinct. Any information you put out into cyberspace could come back to bite you in the ass. Retail stores sell your purchase history to third parties without your consent. Social media sites and search engines act as data mines, storing information that could later be accessed by the government and used against you in court.
The Feds have no problem letting companies collect and exploit our personal information because it makes running a surveillance state that much easier to do. Whenever the government wants to find out what weird shit you're up to on the Internet, guess what they¹re going to find out? You can thank Google, Facebook, Walmart and all the other megacorps for that.
Be alert: Big Brother is watching you.
Showing posts with label Hustler. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hustler. Show all posts
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Awesome Website & Mag: Maxim
Okay, nobody really needs to hear from The Konformist that Maxim and Maxim.com rules. But we'll tell you that anyways. Why? Because they've given us a free subscription to the mag for being a respectable media source. So let them know you heard from Konformist.com how awesome they are. PS: Playboy, Penthouse & Hustler, we'll give you the same plug...
Confessions of a Raving, Unconfined Nut
From PaulKrassner.com, Website of THE Paul Krassner:
Confessions of a Raving, Unconfined Nut:
Misadventures in the Counterculture
by Paul Krassner — New Expanded Edition
– for $22 (plus $3 S&H)
“Krassner has the uncanny ability to alter your perceptions permanently.”
— Los Angeles Times
“Wickedly funny... Chillingly funny... A convincing look at a man who knows how to wield absurdity.”
— San Francisco Chronicle
“Krassner is one of the best minds of his generation to be destroyed by madness, starving, hysterical, naked — but mainly hysterical. His true wacky, wackily true autobiography is the definitive book on the sixties.”
— Art Spiegelman
“Paul¹s own writing, in particular, seemed daring and adventurous to me; it took big chances and made important arguments in relentlessly funny ways. I felt, down deep, that maybe I had some of that in me, too; that maybe I could be using my skills to better express my beliefs. The Realist was the inspiration that kept pushing me to the next level; there was no way I could continue reading it and remain the same.”
— George Carlin
“He is an expert at ferreting out hypocrisy and absurdism from the more solemn crannies of American culture.”
— New York Times
“Krassner lives in a world where Truth and Satire are swingers, changing partners so often you never know who belongs with whom.”
— Playboy
From Amazon:
Kindle Price: $9.99 includes free wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004K1EY0W/thekonformist
In December 2010, the writers’ organization PEN presented Paul Krassner with their Lifetime Achievement Award. This expanded edition of his autobiography — Confessions of a Raving, Unconfined Nut: Misadventures in the Counterculture — provides the reasons for that honor.
He published a groundbreaking satirical magazine, The Realist, from 1958 to 1974, and reincarnated it as a newsletter in 1985. “The taboos may have changed,” he wrote, “but irreverence is still our only sacred cow.” When People magazine called Krassner “Father of the underground press,” he immediately demanded a paternity test. The final issue was published in Spring 2001. All the issues are online at The Realist Archive Project.
His style of personal journalism constantly blurred the line between observer and participant. He interviewed a doctor who performed abortions when it was illegal; Krassner then ran an underground abortion referral service. He covered the antiwar movement; then co-founded the Yippies with Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin (writing a few animated re-enactment scenes for the documentary Chicago 10 four decades later). He published material on the psychedelic revolution; then took LSD with Tim Leary, Ram Dass and Ken Kesey, later accompanying Groucho Marx on his first and only acid trip.
In Confessions, you’ll read about his friendship with controversial comic Lenny Bruce, his association with Hustler publisher Larry Flynt, and his investigation of Scientology and Charles Manson. There’s an entire chapter, “The Parts Left Out of the Kennedy Book,” about his most notorious article.
Tom Robbins: “Thanks to Paul Krassner for continuing to be the lobster claw in the tuna casserole of modern America.”
Arianna Huffington: “Paul Krassner–confidant of Lenny Bruce, co-founder of the Yippies, defiler of Disney characters, publisher of The Realist, investigative satirist extraordinaire--as soon as we decided to create the Huffington Post, I knew I wanted Paul involved. His irreverence was just what the blog doctor ordered.”
Kurt Vonnegut: “I told Krassner one time that his writings made me hopeful. He found this an odd compliment to offer a satirist. I explained that he made supposedly serious matters seem ridiculous, and that this inspired many of his readers to decide for themselves what was ridiculous and what was not. Knowing that there were people doing that, better late than never, made me optimistic.”
Lewis Black: “I have been a fan of his since I was a snot-nosed kid, and his words have been a driving force and influence on my life. If you have read his work before, you know the joys that you are in for. If you haven’t, start reading, and consider this your lucky day. For Paul Krassner is an activist, a philosopher, a lunatic and a saint, but most of all he is funny.”
On the other hand, a couple of FBI agents went to one of his stand-up performances and stated in their report, “He purported to be humorous about government policies.” His FBI files indicate that after Life magazine published a favorable profile of him, the FBI sent a poison-pen letter to the editor, complaining: “To classify Krassner as a social rebel is far too cute. He’s a nut, a raving, unconfined nut.”
In May 2004, he received an ACLU Uppie (Upton Sinclair) Award for dedication to freedom of expression. At the 14th annual Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam, Paul Krassner was inducted into the Counterculture Hall of Fame -- “my ambition,” he claims, “since I was three years old.”
Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 599 KB
Publisher: Paul Krassner (January 18, 2011)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
Language: English
ASIN: B004K1EY0W
Saturday, April 3, 2010
SIBEL EDMONDS: THE TRAITORS AMONG US
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click here to view the post.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Common Sense 2009
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larry-flynt/common-sense-2009_b_264706.html
Larry Flynt
Publisher of Hustler magazine and free speech advocate
August 20, 2009
Common Sense 2009
The American government -- which we once called our government -- has been taken over by Wall Street, the mega-corporations and the super-rich. They are the ones who decide our fate. It is this group of powerful elites, the people President Franklin D. Roosevelt called "economic royalists," who choose our elected officials -- indeed, our very form of government. Both Democrats and Republicans dance to the tune of their corporate masters. In America, corporations do not control the government. In America, corporations are the government.
This was never more obvious than with the Wall Street bailout, whereby the very corporations that caused the collapse of our economy were rewarded with taxpayer dollars. So arrogant, so smug were they that, without a moment's hesitation, they took our money -- yours and mine -- to pay their executives multimillion-dollar bonuses, something they continue doing to this very day. They have no shame. They don't care what you and I think about them. Henry Kissinger refers to us as "useless eaters."
But, you say, we have elected a candidate of change. To which I respond: Do these words of President Obama sound like change?
"A culture of irresponsibility took root, from Wall Street to Washington to Main Street."
There it is. Right there. We are Main Street. We must, according to our president, share the blame. He went on to say: "And a regulatory regime basically crafted in the wake of a 20th-century economic crisis -- the Great Depression -- was overwhelmed by the speed, scope and sophistication of a 21st-century global economy."
This is nonsense.
The reason Wall Street was able to game the system the way it did -- knowing that they would become rich at the expense of the American people (oh, yes, they most certainly knew that) -- was because the financial elite had bribed our legislators to roll back the protections enacted after the Stock Market Crash of 1929.
Congress gutted the Glass-Steagall Act, which separated commercial lending banks from investment banks, and passed the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, which allowed for self-regulation with no oversight. The Securities and Exchange Commission subsequently revised its rules to allow for even less oversight -- and we've all seen how well that worked out. To date, no serious legislation has been offered by the Obama administration to correct these problems.
Instead, Obama wants to increase the oversight power of the Federal Reserve. Never mind that it already had significant oversight power before our most recent economic meltdown, yet failed to take action. Never mind that the Fed is not a government agency but a cartel of private bankers that cannot be held accountable by Washington. Whatever the Fed does with these supposed new oversight powers will be behind closed doors.
Obama's failure to act sends one message loud and clear: He cannot stand up to the powerful Wall Street interests that supplied the bulk of his campaign money for the 2008 election. Nor, for that matter, can Congress, for much the same reason.
Consider what multibillionaire banker David Rockefeller wrote in his 2002 memoirs:
"Some even believe we are part of a secret cabal working against the best interests of the United States, characterizing my family and me as 'internationalists' and of conspiring with others around the world to build a more integrated global political and economic structure -- one world, if you will. If that's the charge, I stand guilty, and I am proud of it."
Read Rockefeller's words again. He actually admits to working against the "best interests of the United States."
Need more? Here's what Rockefeller said in 1994 at a U.N. dinner: "We are on the verge of a global transformation. All we need is the right major crisis, and the nations will accept the New World Order." They're gaming us. Our country has been stolen from us.
Journalist Matt Taibbi, writing in Rolling Stone, notes that esteemed economist John Kenneth Galbraith laid the 1929 crash at the feet of banking giant Goldman Sachs. Taibbi goes on to say that Goldman Sachs has been behind every other economic downturn as well, including the most recent one. As if that wasn't enough, Goldman Sachs even had a hand in pushing gas prices up to $4 a gallon.
The problem with bankers is longstanding. Here's what one of our Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson, had to say about them:
"If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issuance of their currency, first by inflation, and then by deflation, the banks and the corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their father's conquered."
We all know that the first American Revolution officially began in 1776, with the Declaration of Independence. Less well known is that the single strongest motivating factor for revolution was the colonists' attempt to free themselves from the Bank of England. But how many of you know about the second revolution, referred to by historians as Shays' Rebellion? It took place in 1786-87, and once again the banks were the cause. This time they were putting the screws to America's farmers.
Daniel Shays was a farmer in western Massachusetts. Like many other farmers of the day, he was being driven into bankruptcy by the banks' predatory lending practices. (Sound familiar?) Rallying other farmers to his side, Shays led his rebels in an attack on the courts and the local armory. The rebellion itself failed, but a message had been sent: The bankers (and the politicians who supported them) ultimately backed off. As Thomas Jefferson famously quipped in regard to the insurrection: "A little rebellion now and then is a good thing. The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
Perhaps it's time to consider that option once again.
I'm calling for a national strike, one designed to close the country down for a day. The intent? Real campaign-finance reform and strong restrictions on lobbying. Because nothing will change until we take corporate money out of politics. Nothing will improve until our politicians are once again answerable to their constituents, not the rich and powerful.
Let's set a date. No one goes to work. No one buys anything. And if that isn't effective -- if the politicians ignore us -- we do it again. And again. And again.
The real war is not between the left and the right. It is between the average American and the ruling class. If we come together on this single issue, everything else will resolve itself. It's time we took back our government from those who would make us their slaves.
Larry Flynt
Publisher of Hustler magazine and free speech advocate
August 20, 2009
Common Sense 2009
The American government -- which we once called our government -- has been taken over by Wall Street, the mega-corporations and the super-rich. They are the ones who decide our fate. It is this group of powerful elites, the people President Franklin D. Roosevelt called "economic royalists," who choose our elected officials -- indeed, our very form of government. Both Democrats and Republicans dance to the tune of their corporate masters. In America, corporations do not control the government. In America, corporations are the government.
This was never more obvious than with the Wall Street bailout, whereby the very corporations that caused the collapse of our economy were rewarded with taxpayer dollars. So arrogant, so smug were they that, without a moment's hesitation, they took our money -- yours and mine -- to pay their executives multimillion-dollar bonuses, something they continue doing to this very day. They have no shame. They don't care what you and I think about them. Henry Kissinger refers to us as "useless eaters."
But, you say, we have elected a candidate of change. To which I respond: Do these words of President Obama sound like change?
"A culture of irresponsibility took root, from Wall Street to Washington to Main Street."
There it is. Right there. We are Main Street. We must, according to our president, share the blame. He went on to say: "And a regulatory regime basically crafted in the wake of a 20th-century economic crisis -- the Great Depression -- was overwhelmed by the speed, scope and sophistication of a 21st-century global economy."
This is nonsense.
The reason Wall Street was able to game the system the way it did -- knowing that they would become rich at the expense of the American people (oh, yes, they most certainly knew that) -- was because the financial elite had bribed our legislators to roll back the protections enacted after the Stock Market Crash of 1929.
Congress gutted the Glass-Steagall Act, which separated commercial lending banks from investment banks, and passed the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, which allowed for self-regulation with no oversight. The Securities and Exchange Commission subsequently revised its rules to allow for even less oversight -- and we've all seen how well that worked out. To date, no serious legislation has been offered by the Obama administration to correct these problems.
Instead, Obama wants to increase the oversight power of the Federal Reserve. Never mind that it already had significant oversight power before our most recent economic meltdown, yet failed to take action. Never mind that the Fed is not a government agency but a cartel of private bankers that cannot be held accountable by Washington. Whatever the Fed does with these supposed new oversight powers will be behind closed doors.
Obama's failure to act sends one message loud and clear: He cannot stand up to the powerful Wall Street interests that supplied the bulk of his campaign money for the 2008 election. Nor, for that matter, can Congress, for much the same reason.
Consider what multibillionaire banker David Rockefeller wrote in his 2002 memoirs:
"Some even believe we are part of a secret cabal working against the best interests of the United States, characterizing my family and me as 'internationalists' and of conspiring with others around the world to build a more integrated global political and economic structure -- one world, if you will. If that's the charge, I stand guilty, and I am proud of it."
Read Rockefeller's words again. He actually admits to working against the "best interests of the United States."
Need more? Here's what Rockefeller said in 1994 at a U.N. dinner: "We are on the verge of a global transformation. All we need is the right major crisis, and the nations will accept the New World Order." They're gaming us. Our country has been stolen from us.
Journalist Matt Taibbi, writing in Rolling Stone, notes that esteemed economist John Kenneth Galbraith laid the 1929 crash at the feet of banking giant Goldman Sachs. Taibbi goes on to say that Goldman Sachs has been behind every other economic downturn as well, including the most recent one. As if that wasn't enough, Goldman Sachs even had a hand in pushing gas prices up to $4 a gallon.
The problem with bankers is longstanding. Here's what one of our Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson, had to say about them:
"If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issuance of their currency, first by inflation, and then by deflation, the banks and the corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their father's conquered."
We all know that the first American Revolution officially began in 1776, with the Declaration of Independence. Less well known is that the single strongest motivating factor for revolution was the colonists' attempt to free themselves from the Bank of England. But how many of you know about the second revolution, referred to by historians as Shays' Rebellion? It took place in 1786-87, and once again the banks were the cause. This time they were putting the screws to America's farmers.
Daniel Shays was a farmer in western Massachusetts. Like many other farmers of the day, he was being driven into bankruptcy by the banks' predatory lending practices. (Sound familiar?) Rallying other farmers to his side, Shays led his rebels in an attack on the courts and the local armory. The rebellion itself failed, but a message had been sent: The bankers (and the politicians who supported them) ultimately backed off. As Thomas Jefferson famously quipped in regard to the insurrection: "A little rebellion now and then is a good thing. The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
Perhaps it's time to consider that option once again.
I'm calling for a national strike, one designed to close the country down for a day. The intent? Real campaign-finance reform and strong restrictions on lobbying. Because nothing will change until we take corporate money out of politics. Nothing will improve until our politicians are once again answerable to their constituents, not the rich and powerful.
Let's set a date. No one goes to work. No one buys anything. And if that isn't effective -- if the politicians ignore us -- we do it again. And again. And again.
The real war is not between the left and the right. It is between the average American and the ruling class. If we come together on this single issue, everything else will resolve itself. It's time we took back our government from those who would make us their slaves.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Death of 'D.C. Madam' Becomes Rich Ground for Conspiracy
Robalini's Note: Coming to bash the DC Madam conspiracy theory is David Corn, the CIA's main man (along with Mark Cooper) in the establishment left.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,353876,00.html
Death of 'D.C. Madam' Becomes Rich Ground for Conspiracy Theory
Thursday , May 01, 2008
By Greg Simmons
WASHINGTON — Police in Tarpon Springs, Fla., said there was "no question" that Deborah Jeane Palfrey committed suicide by hanging Thursday, but that was not enough to stop immediate speculation that the infamous "D.C. Madam" was the victim of murder.
Hustler magazine publisher and free-speech advocate Larry Flynt -- one of Palfrey's staunchest advocates -- was the strongest voice forwarding the notion that Palfrey's death was not by her own hands.
"I think the media should be very cautious in treating this as a suicide," Flynt told FOXNews.com in a telephone interview from his Beverly Hills office.
Asked if he believed Palfrey was murdered, Flynt responded: "I personally believe that's what happened, but I have no proof."
Palfrey was found guilty of federal racketeering charges on April 15 in connection to her prostitution business, Pamela Martin & Associates, which operated out of California but hired Washington, D.C.-area women for its operations.
The case drew wide attention early last year when Palfrey gave media organizations phone numbers of her clients, but not their names, in the hopes that the clients would support her claims that her business was a legitimate escort service.
Flynt was an integral part in keeping Palfrey's story public and worked with her and investigative reporter Dan Moldea to break the story that the phone number of Sen. David Vitter, R-La., was among those numbers in Palfrey's client list. Flynt targeted Vitter because he had campaigned for office on a family-values platform.
Vitter apologized in July 2007 for his name appearing on Palfrey's list, saying, "This was a very serious sin." The senator never explained his relationship to Palfrey's business. His office did not respond on Thursday to a phone message seeking comment.
The Palfrey case also contributed to Randall L. Tobias' resignation from a position at the State Department after a news report identified him as a Pamela Martin client. A receptionist reached Thursday at Tobias' Indianapolis foundation said, "There will be no comment."
Flynt said he met Palfrey around the time of her indictment in March 2007 and discussed her case with her on several occasions.
Palfrey's defense relied on an argument that her business was a "sexual fantasy" business but did not involve paid sex -- at least none that Palfrey was aware of.
But Flynt outright dismissed that notion. Asked if she knowingly sold sex for money, Flynt said there's "no question."
But she also was an intelligent woman, he said.
"She did not have the demeanor of the type of person that would carry certain signs of suicide, like being withdrawn or depressed," Flynt said. "You know, those are the kinds of signs that you look for. She didn't display any of those traits. ... She was very friendly. ... Very bright. She was by no means a dummy. She knew what she was doing."
Flynt said he believes that in her quest to avoid prison time -- her sentencing hearing had been scheduled for July -- Palfrey was prepared to release one or two final names connected to her case.
"She had a lot of names, and I know she was holding on to them for a reason," Flynt said. He said he knew some of the clients' names, and they include big-hitters in the political and media worlds. None of those names came to light, though, because they didn't fit the mold that Flynt was pushing for: politicians who said one thing and did another. Only Vitter, Flynt said, appeared to match that description.
But Flynt hinted at much juicier material to be unearthed.
"Let me put it this way, there were more Democrats on it than Republicans," he said, supporting his theory that the only reason this case was of interest was because of the number of Democrats who could be targeted by the Bush administration.
But Flynt said his conversations with Palfrey were off the record, and if any investigators come knocking on his door for names, they'll have to look elsewhere.
Flynt said the only person who might know more about those conversations with Palfrey is Moldea, who was working with Palfrey on a book. Flynt said he has no financial stake in that book.
While Flynt's version of events might be the most intriguing, they are not the only version. Many believe justice ran its course -- however misguided -- and the case won't have any lasting effect, said David Corn, Washington bureau chief of Mother Jones magazine and a Washington-based journalist who reported on the case.
"I met her once -- and it was not in a sordid fashion -- as a reporter, and I kept asking her, 'You know, if you had any famous, high-profile clients.' And she said, 'Well, not really. A lot of people wouldn't recognize these people anyway,' " Corn recalled on Thursday.
He said it struck him as odd that the prosecution focused on her case, rather than any of the other "escort services" that can be found in the local phone book. Corn said Palfrey seemed to have a "why me?" attitude.
Corn did not question that Palfrey had taken her own life.
"There's a certain sad element to this -- anytime there's a suicide," Corn said. "She went to her grave, her death, not fully understanding why hers became the only escort service to be targeted for such prosecution."
And he said he did not think her death was the result of any sort of conspiracy.
"You hate to say this about anybody, but Jeane's death won't have any consequence to Washington," he said. "She's not taking any secrets with her. She seemed to not have them in the first place."
A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Washington did not return a phone call Thursday, and Palfrey's defense attorney, Preston Burton, was not available for comment. He issued a statement through a colleague at his firm, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe.
"This is tragic news. My heart goes out to her mother," Burton said, according to Orrick attorney John Pitts.
FOX News.com's Catherine Donaldson-Evans contributed to this report.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,353876,00.html
Death of 'D.C. Madam' Becomes Rich Ground for Conspiracy Theory
Thursday , May 01, 2008
By Greg Simmons
WASHINGTON — Police in Tarpon Springs, Fla., said there was "no question" that Deborah Jeane Palfrey committed suicide by hanging Thursday, but that was not enough to stop immediate speculation that the infamous "D.C. Madam" was the victim of murder.
Hustler magazine publisher and free-speech advocate Larry Flynt -- one of Palfrey's staunchest advocates -- was the strongest voice forwarding the notion that Palfrey's death was not by her own hands.
"I think the media should be very cautious in treating this as a suicide," Flynt told FOXNews.com in a telephone interview from his Beverly Hills office.
Asked if he believed Palfrey was murdered, Flynt responded: "I personally believe that's what happened, but I have no proof."
Palfrey was found guilty of federal racketeering charges on April 15 in connection to her prostitution business, Pamela Martin & Associates, which operated out of California but hired Washington, D.C.-area women for its operations.
The case drew wide attention early last year when Palfrey gave media organizations phone numbers of her clients, but not their names, in the hopes that the clients would support her claims that her business was a legitimate escort service.
Flynt was an integral part in keeping Palfrey's story public and worked with her and investigative reporter Dan Moldea to break the story that the phone number of Sen. David Vitter, R-La., was among those numbers in Palfrey's client list. Flynt targeted Vitter because he had campaigned for office on a family-values platform.
Vitter apologized in July 2007 for his name appearing on Palfrey's list, saying, "This was a very serious sin." The senator never explained his relationship to Palfrey's business. His office did not respond on Thursday to a phone message seeking comment.
The Palfrey case also contributed to Randall L. Tobias' resignation from a position at the State Department after a news report identified him as a Pamela Martin client. A receptionist reached Thursday at Tobias' Indianapolis foundation said, "There will be no comment."
Flynt said he met Palfrey around the time of her indictment in March 2007 and discussed her case with her on several occasions.
Palfrey's defense relied on an argument that her business was a "sexual fantasy" business but did not involve paid sex -- at least none that Palfrey was aware of.
But Flynt outright dismissed that notion. Asked if she knowingly sold sex for money, Flynt said there's "no question."
But she also was an intelligent woman, he said.
"She did not have the demeanor of the type of person that would carry certain signs of suicide, like being withdrawn or depressed," Flynt said. "You know, those are the kinds of signs that you look for. She didn't display any of those traits. ... She was very friendly. ... Very bright. She was by no means a dummy. She knew what she was doing."
Flynt said he believes that in her quest to avoid prison time -- her sentencing hearing had been scheduled for July -- Palfrey was prepared to release one or two final names connected to her case.
"She had a lot of names, and I know she was holding on to them for a reason," Flynt said. He said he knew some of the clients' names, and they include big-hitters in the political and media worlds. None of those names came to light, though, because they didn't fit the mold that Flynt was pushing for: politicians who said one thing and did another. Only Vitter, Flynt said, appeared to match that description.
But Flynt hinted at much juicier material to be unearthed.
"Let me put it this way, there were more Democrats on it than Republicans," he said, supporting his theory that the only reason this case was of interest was because of the number of Democrats who could be targeted by the Bush administration.
But Flynt said his conversations with Palfrey were off the record, and if any investigators come knocking on his door for names, they'll have to look elsewhere.
Flynt said the only person who might know more about those conversations with Palfrey is Moldea, who was working with Palfrey on a book. Flynt said he has no financial stake in that book.
While Flynt's version of events might be the most intriguing, they are not the only version. Many believe justice ran its course -- however misguided -- and the case won't have any lasting effect, said David Corn, Washington bureau chief of Mother Jones magazine and a Washington-based journalist who reported on the case.
"I met her once -- and it was not in a sordid fashion -- as a reporter, and I kept asking her, 'You know, if you had any famous, high-profile clients.' And she said, 'Well, not really. A lot of people wouldn't recognize these people anyway,' " Corn recalled on Thursday.
He said it struck him as odd that the prosecution focused on her case, rather than any of the other "escort services" that can be found in the local phone book. Corn said Palfrey seemed to have a "why me?" attitude.
Corn did not question that Palfrey had taken her own life.
"There's a certain sad element to this -- anytime there's a suicide," Corn said. "She went to her grave, her death, not fully understanding why hers became the only escort service to be targeted for such prosecution."
And he said he did not think her death was the result of any sort of conspiracy.
"You hate to say this about anybody, but Jeane's death won't have any consequence to Washington," he said. "She's not taking any secrets with her. She seemed to not have them in the first place."
A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Washington did not return a phone call Thursday, and Palfrey's defense attorney, Preston Burton, was not available for comment. He issued a statement through a colleague at his firm, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe.
"This is tragic news. My heart goes out to her mother," Burton said, according to Orrick attorney John Pitts.
FOX News.com's Catherine Donaldson-Evans contributed to this report.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Penthouse wants Ashley Alexandra Dupre
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2008/03/13/2008-03-13_penthouse_wants_ashley_alexandra_dupre_f.html
Penthouse wants Ashley Alexandra Dupre for cover shot
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Updated Thursday, March 13th 2008
The woman at the center of the Eliot Spitzer call girl scandal will have no problem cashing in on her notoriety: Penthouse and Hustler are already knocking on her door.
"We’ve been looking at that very closely. She’s young. She’s pretty. She’s a model," said Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt. "We would love to do business with her, and we will approach her."
Penthouse has been trying to reach out to 22-year-old Ashley Alexandra Dupre, too, but had yet to make contact Thursday afternoon.
Penthouse Magazine Group president and publisher Diane Silberstein said she would "love to have her in the magazine" and would consider offering her a cover shot.
"She sounds like a very interesting and talented young woman, and I’m sure she has a great story to tell," Silberstein said. "We promise to make it worth her while."
The New Jersey-born Dupre was thrust into the limelight this week when The New York Times identified her as the high-priced call girl whose arrangements for a rendezvous with New York’s governor at a Washington, D.C., hotel were secretly monitored by the FBI.
So far, authorities haven’t filed charges against Spitzer or Dupre, who was identified in court papers only by her escort agency pseudonym, Kristen, but she has a lawyer and hasn’t been speaking about her encounter with the governor while the case is under investigation.
Flynt, who last June took out a full-page advertisement in The Washington Post offering $1 million for anyone who could prove he or she had illicit sexual relations with a prominent politician, suggested that by the time Dupre starts talking she may be too big a media phenomenon for a simple magazine spread.
"She is no doubt going to do a book. There will probably be a movie," he said. "I think she is going to have so many offers coming in that it will probably be wishful thinking just to get in the door."
Penthouse wants Ashley Alexandra Dupre for cover shot
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Updated Thursday, March 13th 2008
The woman at the center of the Eliot Spitzer call girl scandal will have no problem cashing in on her notoriety: Penthouse and Hustler are already knocking on her door.
"We’ve been looking at that very closely. She’s young. She’s pretty. She’s a model," said Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt. "We would love to do business with her, and we will approach her."
Penthouse has been trying to reach out to 22-year-old Ashley Alexandra Dupre, too, but had yet to make contact Thursday afternoon.
Penthouse Magazine Group president and publisher Diane Silberstein said she would "love to have her in the magazine" and would consider offering her a cover shot.
"She sounds like a very interesting and talented young woman, and I’m sure she has a great story to tell," Silberstein said. "We promise to make it worth her while."
The New Jersey-born Dupre was thrust into the limelight this week when The New York Times identified her as the high-priced call girl whose arrangements for a rendezvous with New York’s governor at a Washington, D.C., hotel were secretly monitored by the FBI.
So far, authorities haven’t filed charges against Spitzer or Dupre, who was identified in court papers only by her escort agency pseudonym, Kristen, but she has a lawyer and hasn’t been speaking about her encounter with the governor while the case is under investigation.
Flynt, who last June took out a full-page advertisement in The Washington Post offering $1 million for anyone who could prove he or she had illicit sexual relations with a prominent politician, suggested that by the time Dupre starts talking she may be too big a media phenomenon for a simple magazine spread.
"She is no doubt going to do a book. There will probably be a movie," he said. "I think she is going to have so many offers coming in that it will probably be wishful thinking just to get in the door."
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Porn Providers Rethinking Next-Gen DVD Plans
Robalini's Note: Who would've guess the battle for for DVD standards would turn on "Jenna Haze Oil Orgy"?
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2704,2247595,00.asp
Porn Providers Rethinking Next-Gen DVD Plans
01.10.08
by Chloe Albanesius
LAS VEGAS—The adult film industry is still taking a wait-and-see approach to the Blu-ray /HD DVD wars. But while Blu-ray's perceived costs have pushed some companies into the arms of the HD DVD camp, Warner Bros.' decision last week to exclusively support Blu-ray has some thinking that the end of HD DVD is nigh.
Executives in the adult-film industry spoke Wednesday during the opening day of the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo 2008, which briefly overlaps with the more mainstream Consumer Electronics Show ending Thursday.
"It could be a real sign that things will shift," Jeff Thill, director of video operations for the Hustler Video Group, said about the Warner decision. Thill said he sees no advantage of one format over the other, but is "leaning Blu-Ray" after Warner's announcement.
The Blu-ray camp, led by Sony, has been fighting Toshiba and its HD DVD format for years in a battle reminiscent of the VHS versus Betamax battle. In that fight, Betamax maker Sony's refusal to work with the porn industry helped usher in a VHS victory when the adult industry capitalized on the burgeoning popularity of VCRs and video rentals.
Hustler had some success recently with the Blu-ray release of Jenna Haze Oil Orgy, said Thill, who was on hand to showcase Hustler's latest releases at the annual AVN Adult Entertainment Expo.
The company packaged the "Jenna" disc with an HD DVD and standard version in case users had trouble with Blu-ray, but has thus far not received any complaints. In March, Hustler will release its latest "Barely Legal" DVD in the Blu-ray format, he said.
Hustler has released two titles using the HD DVD format, Thill said. The company expects to release between 15 to 25 high-definition videos in 2008, most of which will probably be Blu-ray, Thill said.
Blu-ray is "a little bit of a headache" because of royalty fees, but it's "six of one, a half dozen of the other" with the format wars, he said. Blu-Ray also "sounds sexier," according to Thill, and there's "an important base in the gaming world" because the popular PlayStation 3 runs Blu-Ray while Microsoft has released an optional HD DVD drive for its Xbox 360 console, Thill said.
Vivid Entertainment, home to porn star Jenna Jameson, has also released videos on Blu-ray and HD, said David Peskin, Vivid's national sales manager. It currently has two Blu-ray titles and three HD DVD titles on the shelves.
Vivid was initially "conservative" with its high-definition re-order numbers, but is "starting to stock a little heavier" since sales have been promising, Peskin said. Vivid has seen Blu-ray sell more units online while HD does better in retail stores, he said.
The company doesn't yet have a format preference. "Both have surpassed expectations," he said, though Peskin also pointed to the PlayStation 3 connection as a plus for Blu-ray.
Some companies have had to bypass Blu-ray altogether. Jackie Ramos, vice president of DVD production for Wicked Pictures, "looked to Blu-ray" when the company was first exploring high-definition about a year ago, but had trouble finding a provider that would produce Blu-ray discs for the adult industry.
Wicked has since released about a half dozen HD DVD titles, but Ramos managed to track down some porn-friendly Blu-ray producers and is now "aggressively" looking at those options.
With the Warner decision, things are "a little more serious," Ramos said, and, to him, it makes sense to examine Blu-Ray should it become the industry standard.
Ramos also had concerns about the Blu-ray price point. There's a copyright aspect you can't get around with Blu-Ray, whereas HD DVD allows you to choose whether or not you want that copyright protection, he said. "With adult industry, HD DVD was friendlier price wise."
Ramos expects to select a Blu-ray producer in the next few weeks and hopes to release Wicked's first Blu-ray title in the next few months, he said. But he was not convinced that the porn industry was driving the debate as it did with VHS and Betamax.
"What really drives it is the availability of players" and what the consumers want, Ramos said. HD capitalized on that by selling cheaper players, but now that many of the major studios have jumped on the Blu-Ray bandwagon, "we'll have to see," Ramos said.
Albert Lazarito, vice president of Silver Sinema, also believes the consumer is key to winning the DVD battle. "With the Warner Brothers decision, the market will direct the outcome," he said. Lazarito is "more than confident that it won't be the adult realm" that selects a final DVD format.
Silver Sinema has been filming in HD because Blu-ray is too expensive, Lazarito said, but his company is "ready to go depending on how the market shifts."
Pink Visual was also turned off by the cost of Blu-ray, explained director of marketing Kim Kysar. "HD DVD was affordable; it was doable. Blu-ray was too expensive," she said.
Pink Visual will release its first HD-DVD video next week.
"Everybody's going to want to have both options," Kysar said. "Blu-Ray could be the next step, but not if nobody uses it and it stays too cost prohibitive."
Kysar also expressed concern about how much the camera would capture in high-definition, a sentiment echoed by Lazarito.
"Imperfections are modified," Lazarito said.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2704,2247595,00.asp
Porn Providers Rethinking Next-Gen DVD Plans
01.10.08
by Chloe Albanesius
LAS VEGAS—The adult film industry is still taking a wait-and-see approach to the Blu-ray /HD DVD wars. But while Blu-ray's perceived costs have pushed some companies into the arms of the HD DVD camp, Warner Bros.' decision last week to exclusively support Blu-ray has some thinking that the end of HD DVD is nigh.
Executives in the adult-film industry spoke Wednesday during the opening day of the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo 2008, which briefly overlaps with the more mainstream Consumer Electronics Show ending Thursday.
"It could be a real sign that things will shift," Jeff Thill, director of video operations for the Hustler Video Group, said about the Warner decision. Thill said he sees no advantage of one format over the other, but is "leaning Blu-Ray" after Warner's announcement.
The Blu-ray camp, led by Sony, has been fighting Toshiba and its HD DVD format for years in a battle reminiscent of the VHS versus Betamax battle. In that fight, Betamax maker Sony's refusal to work with the porn industry helped usher in a VHS victory when the adult industry capitalized on the burgeoning popularity of VCRs and video rentals.
Hustler had some success recently with the Blu-ray release of Jenna Haze Oil Orgy, said Thill, who was on hand to showcase Hustler's latest releases at the annual AVN Adult Entertainment Expo.
The company packaged the "Jenna" disc with an HD DVD and standard version in case users had trouble with Blu-ray, but has thus far not received any complaints. In March, Hustler will release its latest "Barely Legal" DVD in the Blu-ray format, he said.
Hustler has released two titles using the HD DVD format, Thill said. The company expects to release between 15 to 25 high-definition videos in 2008, most of which will probably be Blu-ray, Thill said.
Blu-ray is "a little bit of a headache" because of royalty fees, but it's "six of one, a half dozen of the other" with the format wars, he said. Blu-Ray also "sounds sexier," according to Thill, and there's "an important base in the gaming world" because the popular PlayStation 3 runs Blu-Ray while Microsoft has released an optional HD DVD drive for its Xbox 360 console, Thill said.
Vivid Entertainment, home to porn star Jenna Jameson, has also released videos on Blu-ray and HD, said David Peskin, Vivid's national sales manager. It currently has two Blu-ray titles and three HD DVD titles on the shelves.
Vivid was initially "conservative" with its high-definition re-order numbers, but is "starting to stock a little heavier" since sales have been promising, Peskin said. Vivid has seen Blu-ray sell more units online while HD does better in retail stores, he said.
The company doesn't yet have a format preference. "Both have surpassed expectations," he said, though Peskin also pointed to the PlayStation 3 connection as a plus for Blu-ray.
Some companies have had to bypass Blu-ray altogether. Jackie Ramos, vice president of DVD production for Wicked Pictures, "looked to Blu-ray" when the company was first exploring high-definition about a year ago, but had trouble finding a provider that would produce Blu-ray discs for the adult industry.
Wicked has since released about a half dozen HD DVD titles, but Ramos managed to track down some porn-friendly Blu-ray producers and is now "aggressively" looking at those options.
With the Warner decision, things are "a little more serious," Ramos said, and, to him, it makes sense to examine Blu-Ray should it become the industry standard.
Ramos also had concerns about the Blu-ray price point. There's a copyright aspect you can't get around with Blu-Ray, whereas HD DVD allows you to choose whether or not you want that copyright protection, he said. "With adult industry, HD DVD was friendlier price wise."
Ramos expects to select a Blu-ray producer in the next few weeks and hopes to release Wicked's first Blu-ray title in the next few months, he said. But he was not convinced that the porn industry was driving the debate as it did with VHS and Betamax.
"What really drives it is the availability of players" and what the consumers want, Ramos said. HD capitalized on that by selling cheaper players, but now that many of the major studios have jumped on the Blu-Ray bandwagon, "we'll have to see," Ramos said.
Albert Lazarito, vice president of Silver Sinema, also believes the consumer is key to winning the DVD battle. "With the Warner Brothers decision, the market will direct the outcome," he said. Lazarito is "more than confident that it won't be the adult realm" that selects a final DVD format.
Silver Sinema has been filming in HD because Blu-ray is too expensive, Lazarito said, but his company is "ready to go depending on how the market shifts."
Pink Visual was also turned off by the cost of Blu-ray, explained director of marketing Kim Kysar. "HD DVD was affordable; it was doable. Blu-ray was too expensive," she said.
Pink Visual will release its first HD-DVD video next week.
"Everybody's going to want to have both options," Kysar said. "Blu-Ray could be the next step, but not if nobody uses it and it stays too cost prohibitive."
Kysar also expressed concern about how much the camera would capture in high-definition, a sentiment echoed by Lazarito.
"Imperfections are modified," Lazarito said.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Mag Pairs Hot Chicks With Cold Stiffs
This summary is not available. Please
click here to view the post.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Flynt is tracking congressional sex scandal leads
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/flynt-is-tracking-20-congressional-sex-scandal-leads-2007-07-11.html
Flynt is tracking 20 congressional sex scandal leads
By Elana Schor
July 11, 2007
Larry Flynt, the porn-industry magnate who first linked Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) to the escort service of the “D.C. Madam,” said Wednesday that his investigators are tracking more than 20 leads on alleged congressional sex scandals.
As Vitter remained missing in action for two Senate votes on defense policy, Flynt insisted that he exposed the conservative lawmaker’s sexual indiscretions only because they contradicted Vitter’s longtime defense of the “sanctity of marriage.”
“If someone’s living a life contrary to the way they’re advocating ... then they become fair game,” Flynt told reporters. “I don’t want a man like that legislating for me, especially in the area of morality.”
In addition to the phone records of “D.C. Madam” Deborah Jeane Palfrey, accused of prostitution and racketeering by federal authorities, Flynt is mining responses to an ad he placed last month in The Washington Post. The ad promised a million-dollar reward for anyone providing evidence of illicit encounters with members of Congress.
The 20-plus new leads, Flynt said, come from the newspaper ad and not Palfrey. The Hustler publisher, arrested and jailed multiple times during his decades-long career, vowed to provide clear proof and only out lawmakers whom he perceives to be hypocrites.
“You guys always know, [from] the past, I deliver,” Flynt said. “And if I fail to, the mainstream media will crush me like a bug.”
The Vitter scandal has touched off new anxiety among Republicans over whether their party will pay the price for members who fail to live up to their moral principles. Flynt, an unabashed Democrat, acknowledged that the GOP provides him with easier targets.
“Republicans are more fun because they get caught so easily,” Flynt said. “They’ve been living a repressed life all their life. Democrats are liberal — they wear it on their sleeve. Their sex life is what it is. They don’t spend their whole life trying to cover it up.”
Flynt released the particular wireless phone bill containing Vitter’s phone number on Palfrey’s calling list, confirming that the Louisianan contacted the escort service while serving in the House. Flynt also claimed to have testimony from five New Orleans prostitutes about their sexual encounters with Vitter, adding that that quintet would likely share the $1 million bounty with Palfrey.
Flynt is tracking 20 congressional sex scandal leads
By Elana Schor
July 11, 2007
Larry Flynt, the porn-industry magnate who first linked Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) to the escort service of the “D.C. Madam,” said Wednesday that his investigators are tracking more than 20 leads on alleged congressional sex scandals.
As Vitter remained missing in action for two Senate votes on defense policy, Flynt insisted that he exposed the conservative lawmaker’s sexual indiscretions only because they contradicted Vitter’s longtime defense of the “sanctity of marriage.”
“If someone’s living a life contrary to the way they’re advocating ... then they become fair game,” Flynt told reporters. “I don’t want a man like that legislating for me, especially in the area of morality.”
In addition to the phone records of “D.C. Madam” Deborah Jeane Palfrey, accused of prostitution and racketeering by federal authorities, Flynt is mining responses to an ad he placed last month in The Washington Post. The ad promised a million-dollar reward for anyone providing evidence of illicit encounters with members of Congress.
The 20-plus new leads, Flynt said, come from the newspaper ad and not Palfrey. The Hustler publisher, arrested and jailed multiple times during his decades-long career, vowed to provide clear proof and only out lawmakers whom he perceives to be hypocrites.
“You guys always know, [from] the past, I deliver,” Flynt said. “And if I fail to, the mainstream media will crush me like a bug.”
The Vitter scandal has touched off new anxiety among Republicans over whether their party will pay the price for members who fail to live up to their moral principles. Flynt, an unabashed Democrat, acknowledged that the GOP provides him with easier targets.
“Republicans are more fun because they get caught so easily,” Flynt said. “They’ve been living a repressed life all their life. Democrats are liberal — they wear it on their sleeve. Their sex life is what it is. They don’t spend their whole life trying to cover it up.”
Flynt released the particular wireless phone bill containing Vitter’s phone number on Palfrey’s calling list, confirming that the Louisianan contacted the escort service while serving in the House. Flynt also claimed to have testimony from five New Orleans prostitutes about their sexual encounters with Vitter, adding that that quintet would likely share the $1 million bounty with Palfrey.
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