Public Nudity in Times Square

Andy Golub is an artist. He paints nudes. Not on canvas. On human bodies. Primarily female bodies.

 

He does his work in public. Specifically Times Square in New York City.

 

He performs his work much like those who earn a living body painting in Key West during Fantasy Fest.

 

He is paid by the model/subject. People want their bodies painted for various reasons. Some for parties, others for commercial shows, others for the mere thrill of it.

 

Golub charges from $700 to $7,000 for his work.

 

As indicated, his studio is today's Times Square. Times Square today is not the same as that of yesterday. It is now a huge pedestrian mall. The streets have been closed off. Tables and chairs and lounging chairs abound. Street peddlers, much like on Key West's Duval Street, sell their wares.

 

Nudity has become increasingly acceptable from a legal perspective in recent years. The recent mini skirt protest in Jakarta, the underwear protest in Salt Lake City, the Slut Walks in Montreal, London, Rome and Paris, and the permissible nudity in San Francisco are examples.

 

Golub was arrested recently. So too was his female Australian model/customer. The charges were public lewdness and public exposure. Such laws are rarely enforced these days. There is an increasing public acceptance of nudity and such laws are considered ambiguous.

 

Once Golub's case reached the courtroom, the legal problems were obvious. Were the laws even good law today? Might the judge have to throw the charges out? Were the laws under today's standards unconstitutional? And a possible lawsuit by Golub if he were acquitted. 

 

Such were the City's considerations.

 

Golub had his problems. A drawn out court battle would cost him money. Plus, Golub was effectively out of work till his case was decided.

 

Compromise was the solution.

 

Both sides agreed that Golub could do his nudity painting by day and night, with one qualification. By day, the model/canvas had to wear a g string. By night, nothing. No g string. Topless was not a problem. It has not been a consideration in most jurisdictions for years.

 

I find the result/decison the height of hyprocracy. Times Square by night is more lite and brighter than by day. All the electronic advertising and street lights. Privates are just as evident by night, if not more so.

 

Whatever, it was a way out for both sides.

 

Golub's problem received big time world wide publicity. It was reported on in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Daily News and Huffington Post. I have to believe Golub's business will now be better than ever and his prices higher.

 

Isn't America wonderful!

GET OUT OF MY BEDROOM!

Ever hear of Shippensberg University? Until recently, I never had. I doubt whether most of you had either.

 

Shippensberg University recently and suddenly appeared in the media. This little known school became famous. Perhaps, infamous.

 

The reason fits into the recent hype regarding contraception. Shippensberg University has a vending machine on campus that sells the morning after pill. Known also as the Plan B pill via federal law.

 

Nothing new to Shippensberg students and faculty. The vending machine has been selling them for two years. Put $25 in the machine and the pill drops out like a candy bar.

 

The vending machine is located in the medical building on campus. The place designated to treat student health problems. Persons entering the medical building must first sign in. Federal law requires that any one purchasing the pill be at least 17 years of age. The Steppensberg administration advised that they have had no female enrolled under the age of 17.

 

The vending machine also sells condoms and pregnancy test kits to students.

 

You should be aware that the morning after pill is openly sold in Pennsylvania drug stores. No prescription required. No signing in. Just enter the drug store, select the packaged pill, and pay on the way out.

 

Steppensberg University is located in Pennsylvania. About 40 miles from Harrisburg. It sits in Amish and Mennonite country. Enrollment is 8,500. Steppensberg makes up part of the Pennsylvania state college system. It is a public institution. One of 14 comprising the State college system.

 

Two years ago, the students voted on whether to add the morning after pill to the vending machine. Eighty five per cent voted yes. Approximately 400 of 3,700 female students a year utilize the product via the vending machine.

 

Conception and reproduction are becoming confusing topics. The morning after pill supposedly prevents conception if taken within 72 hours of intercourse. Whereas the male sperm and female egg may have already mated, the pill prevents the egg from attaching to the uterus wall. Without the attachment, there can be no pregnancy. Manufacturers of the pill say it is preventive. Anti-abortion persons claim it is abortificient. That means it causes abortion.

 

A play on words. A play on labels.

 

All this conception/abortion chatter is mind boggling. You almost have to be a doctor to comprehend the minute being discussed.

 

An interesting question is raised by all this. Where was Republican Presidential candidate Rick Santorum  the past few years when first the vending machine was located on Steppensberg's campus and thereafter? Except for a few words in the recent debates, he was not heard from.

 

Where was Romney. He was heard from not at all.

 

Steppensberg is part of the Pennsylvania public college system. Santorum was either a United States Senator, a candidate for United States Senate, or a Pennsylvania citizen interested in morality, as he perceives it, when the vending machine and thereafter the morning after pill were discussed and implemented.

 

Santorum is the man who in the past few days has made comments in the national media to the effect that sex is not for pleasure, but for procreation. He considers sex special to the purpose of procreation. His position is sex is not for fun.

 

Santorum is a man who proclaimed loudly that Obama was intruding on religious rights with his health plan. What about personal rights? In reality, Santorum is the pot calling the kettle black. He has now entered the bedroom, yours and mine, and is authoritatively speaking to our sexual lives.

 

Louis says .....Get out of my bedroom! 

 

Santorum should remember also the words of the Declaration of Independence that people "...are entitled by their Creator...to the pursuit of happiness." Yours happiness. My happiness. Not Santorum's.

 

 

CHINESE WOMEN REBEL

It is a toilet revolution.

 

There are many public toilets positioned in China's cities. They are used big time. Their need exceeds their availability. Keep in mind that the public toilet of today was the street of yesterday. Fifty years ago public toilets did not exist. Streets were the direct recipients of body wastes.

 

The problem is especially acute as it concerns women. Men and women have separate public toilet facilities. However, there are not enough toilets for women. They are always waiting in line to go. Whereas, the men's facilities have no waiting lines.

 

The problem is not confined to China alone. It is world wide. American women generally wait in line at a public event, wheres the men suffer no such problem.

 

The differnece involves the clothes worn by each sex. 

 

A man walks into the men's room and goes right up to a urinal. He pulls his zipper down, takes out his male member and urinates. When he is finished, he shakes it and then returns it into his  pants. He zips his fly and the process is complete. He generally leaves the facility without washing his hands since he has only handled his private part.

 

It is more cumbersome for women. They start out behind the eight ball. They are involved with many more clothes than the men. Women are required to pull a piece of attire up and then their undies down. They then must sit. Generally a moment is taken to make sure the unit is clean by covering it with toilet paper. Having finished her business, the woman wipes and then returns her clothing to its original position. This routine is followed by the washing of her hands.

 

More steps require more time. This accounts for the long waiting lines in front of a women's public toilet.

 

Chinese women decided they would take it no more. They have demanded additional public facilities for the women. The Chinese government sets the ratio of men's  toilets to women's toilets. Prior to this revolution, it was 1:1. The women have minimally won. The government promises the ratio will be adjusted to 1:1.5.

 

The ladies are still not happy. Not enough, they say.

 

Chinese city women have organized. It is called Occupy Men's Toilets. I suspect the name is a take off on our Occupy Wall Street.

 

The female rebelliousness is presently twofold. The women block the doorway to the male side of a public toilet for ten minutes at a time. This is so the ladies can make use of the men's facility to shorten their waiting time. The women are also demonstrating. There have been demonstrations/marches. The women loudly chant as they demonstrate and march.....We want to pee! It is repeated over and over.

 

So far the government is acquiescing. The ladies are being given free reign. However things are getting testy. Tempers flare on occasion. The police are now involved. At this stage, only to observe.

 

I find it interesting that the women are being afforded the right to protest. I recall many years ago when students took to a Chinese square to complain. The government called out the tanks. No tanks this time. At least not yet. The Chinese government has enough other problems with which to deal. This is a new China. The government appears not to want to rile the ladies further.

 

I suspect that the new 1:15 ratio will soon move to 1:2. The problem is real and the ladies have every right to be made happy.

KISSING

 

Kissing.

 

A pleasant pass time. Quite enjoyable.

 

Anything so popular and good is not without its detractors. There were persons and institutions that attempted to ban kissing.

 

At the beginning of civilization, men would sniff and smell each other. People were identified by their body odors.

 

At some point in time, the heads slipped during the smelling process and lips touched. Kissing was born.

 

Early kissing continued to be part of the identification process. Romantic kissing did not come into existence till around 1,000 B.C. India was its birth place.

 

The first identification of kissing as a romantic sense of expression was contained in a poem. The poem was written by an Indian poet, Mahabharta. He wrote "...she set her mouth to my mouth and made a noise that produced pleasure in me."

 

Alexander the Great conquered the known world at his time. Kissing was known in certain of the middle east countries he conquered as romantic in nature. Alexander and his men enjoyed the experience so much that they introduced kissing through out Europe.

 

By the time of Julius Ceasar, Romans had become big time kissers. Romans of Ceasar's time have been described as "kissing fools." The Romans especially enjoyed "soul kissing." The soul kissing of Ceasar's time is the French kissing of today.

 

Emperor Tiberius did not like kissing. Leprosy was a problem during his reign. He believed kissing caused the transfer of leprosy from one person to another. Tiberius banned kissing.

 

The ban was ineffective. The people enjoyed kissing too much.

 

The biggest romantic kissing killjoys were the Christians. Sex has always had an evil connotation of sorts in the Catholic Church. Pope Clement V in 1312 decreed sensuous kissing a mortal sin. "...kissing done with intent to fornicate is...a mortal sin."

 

From Pope Clement V forward, the Catholic Church sought to ban romantic kissing. Just as some Christians of today would ban pleasurable sex.

Of course, the ban did not fly with the people. Interestingly, the missionaries to the New World are credited with the spread of kissing here. It is humorous to learn that the early missionaries were responsible for spreading kissing, as well as the word of God. For what ever reason, they encouraged those they sought to convert to indulge in it.

 

There is a corollary between yesterday and today. Just as early law makers and the Catholic Church failed to effectively ban kissing, today's politicians and Catholic Church will fail similarly with regard to pleasurable sex. 

 

PYTHONS ARE A COMING

 

The title is intended to be read to the music of Shrimp Boats' opening line.....Shrimp boats are a coming, their sails are in sight.

 

Pythons are a first class for real problem in Florida. Interestingly, I have commented on this problem in recent years on my radio and Internet shows.

 

The problem is there are tens of thousands of them. No other way to describe how many. They are pro Santorum. Pythons do not use condoms nor practice birth control. The experts advise they cannot be eliminated. There is no known way to eradicate pythons anywhere in the world.

 

Not too encouraging.

 

Where did these pythons come from? Two ways generally. The first were pet owners who could no longer manage the snake pet in their homes. They dumped their python somewhere in the Everglades. The other is Hurricane Andrew. The 1992 disaster. Wiped out Homestead. As it destroyed much in its path, the winds picked up pet pythons and spread them into the Everglades and elsewhere.

 

Then reproduction commenced.

 

The pythons are moving southward from the Everglades. They are already in the northern keys. It is just a question of time till they are as far south as Key West.

 

Pythons are pretty big. Some up to 23 feet long. Can weigh as much as 200 pounds. They first squeeze their prey to stun or kill. Then swallow them. Animals as big as bobcats and white tailed deer.

 

A recent study indicated that animals and birds in the Everglades have been dinner for the python establishment. Animals such as marsh rabbits, raccoons, opossums, alligators, white tail deer, and bobcats. Birds such as wading birds, ibis, rails, and herons.

 

The same study also reflected that the pythons are moving out of the Everglades. One place they are migrating into is the keys. Key Largo has already experienced the python invasion.

 

To put the problem in better perspective, reference is made to certain statistical findings. The study included a sightings report. Sightings made in 2003 and then again in 2011. During those 8 years, raccoon sightings were down 99.3 %, opossums 98.9 %, white tailed deer 94.1 %, and bobcats 87.5 %. The numbers speak for themselves.

 

The problem recently received attention at the federal level. Last week, Florida Senator Bill Nelson proposed a law banning the importation and exportation of all python species.

 

The State of Florida has worked on the problem, also. State law requires any one keeping a python to (1) obtain a permit to so do and (2) implant a microchip in certain pythons.

 

Pythons are on the march. Today, the Everglades to Key Largo. Tomorrow, the middle and lower keys. I suspect that unless something dramatic is done, the Key West area will experience the python problem in the next 5-10 years.

 

No one wants a python in their back yard.

 

Be aware there is a problem and that it is one of growing magnitude.

SHARIA LAW APPLIED IN PENNSYLVANIA

 

I have warned of Sharia law before. In writing and on my Internet show. The message has always been the same: Beware!

 

Sharia law is Islamic law. It is the law that controls and directs the lives of Muslims. Sharia law is based on Mohammed's words. His words are set forth in the Quaran which is the Muslim bible.

 

Muslims are departing the Middle East and north Africa in droves. They are immigrating to European nations and the United States primarily. When they settle in the United States, for example, they are unwilling to be governed by the civil and criminal laws of their new country. They want to be governed by their owns laws. Those set forth in the Quaran. Civilly and criminally. The Muslims/Islamics claim this their right under the United States Constitution which requires freedom of religion.

 

Interesting, isn't it, that the Muslims/Islamics do not wish to be governed by the laws of the United States, and yet invoke our country's most basic law, the Constitution, in support of their claim.

 

Another way of viewing the situation is that these people want the benefits provided by the United states, but do not wish to be bound by those laws which make the benefits possible.

 

Keep in mind that Sharia law calls for the stoning to death of a married woman who commits adultery, the cutting off of a thief's hand, permits a husband to divorce by merely saying to his wife three times I divorce you, does not provide the wife a similar benefit, requires wives who wish to divorce to go to court and trial, prohibits women from driving, does not give women the right to vote, requires women to dress in long loose robes with their faces entirely covered except for the eyes, and more.

 

Few Americans are concerned with the problem. They either do not understand or erroneously believe it could not happen here.

 

I am one of the few who is concerned.

 

Now for an example of Sharia law being applied in a United States court.

 

The place is Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. The time last Halloween. The event the annual Halloween parade.

 

Ernie Perce is an atheist and activist. Though both of these factors have nothing to do with the bottom line of this column.

 

Perce and a friend were marching as zombies in the parade. Perce a zombie of Mohammed. His friend a zombie of the Pope. If they were making a statement, they were exercising their right of free speech.

 

Talaag Elbayomy was watching the parade. He is a Muslim. He attacked Perce.

 

Elbayomy was arrested for assault and whatever.

 

The Judge was a Judge Martin. Judge Martin is an Iraqi war veteran. He served the United States in that conflict. Judge Martin since the war has converted to Islam.

 

Judge Martin threw the case against Elbayomy out. He invoked Sharia law in so doing. He said Elbayomy was obligated to attack Perce because of his culture and religion. Any one who mocks or makes fun of Mohammed is subject to such attack per Islamic teachings.

 

Judge Martin in effect found that Perce, the man assaulted, was the perpetrator of the event and Elbayomy, the one committing the assault, the innocent victim. Judge Martin basically said that Sharia law trumped the Pennsylvania criminal law. The Judge even found a constitutional ground to justify his position. He said in effect that the First Amendment does not permit people to provoke other people. A new one to me.

 

I warned this would happen. I believe it is the third time it has occurred in some United States court.

 

Judge Martin should have recused himself. That means refuse to hear the case and have it assigned to another judge. Judge Martin had an obvious conflict of interest. His religion precluded him from rendering a fair and unbiased decision.

 

Judge Martin may also have abused his judicial obligations under the Constitution and laws of Pennsyvania, as well as the Constitution of the United States.

 

My position has remained the same since beginning to write and discuss the subject. If a person does not want to be governed by our laws, go home! Plain and simple. Different rules for different folks will not work. We all must live under and abide the same set of laws. Otherwise, chaos.