Sex News Roundup, Dec 30, 2013

Sex News Roundup with Dusty Miller.

by Constance 'Dusty' Miller

Reports of sexual assault in the U.S. military have climbed almost fifty percent although officials say the rate may be steady, and the increase due to ‘heightened awareness and more willingness to come forward.’

‘A string of high-profile assaults and arrests triggered outrage in Congress and set off months of debate over how to change the military justice system. Military leaders launched a series of programs intended to beef up accountability and encourage victims to report crimes.’

‘"Given the multiple data points, we assess that this is more reporting," said Col. Alan R. Metzler, deputy director of the Pentagon's sexual assault prevention and response office. He also noted that more victims are agreeing to make official complaints, rather than simply seeking medical care without filing formal accusations.’ > Yahoo News.

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Toronto cops have released a photo of the suspect after sexual assault near Jane and Sheppard, a location known to press and public.

‘Anyone with information about the incident or the suspect is asked to contact police at 416-808-3100 or call crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477).’ > CP24.

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A San Antonio woman has been sentenced to 28 years for having sex with her three year-old son.

‘A San Antonio woman is headed to federal prison for 28 years after pleading guilty to recording herself having sex with her 3-year-old son and sending the video to a former boyfriend.’ > Chronicle.

Unbelievable. Nothing really shocks me anymore—except the sheer stupidity sometimes. Obviously some real problems between the ears there.

***

Savannah-Chatham police officers accused of sexual harassment in incidents going back to 2004.

‘New documents reveal at least 16 Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department officers have been accused of sexual harassment within the workplace.

WTOC received the complaints and they date back to 2004, the most recent one was filed this past June.

Some of these complaints were very graphic to read.  In 2008, for example, one officer was accused of making sexual advances while he was supposed to be training a female officer.

According to the complaints, the officer drove behind a church on White Bluff Road and told her he wanted to adjust her vest which led to more physical contact.’ > WOTC

Again, that’s just dumb as well as very abusive towards your fellow officers. It doesn’t say much about your attitude towards women either, and as for the general public, they’re better off without your services.

Suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

***

Sex education in schools ‘will spoilt the minds of children.’ A superior court judge in Andhra Chadesh (a state in India) has said, ‘"Introduction of sex education in high schools (adult education programme), launched in 2005-06, has only spoiled the minds of children in the impressionable age. Parents have a responsibility to bring children back on the right track."

‘Justice Narasimha Reddy, also the Chairman of the High Court Legal Services Committee, further said the collapse of the joint family system has created a sense of insecurity for children.’

‘He was speaking at a sensitisation programme for stake-holders on the "Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012".’

‘Speaking at the function, Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court, Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta, observed that though the Act was passed over a year ago, a lot needed to be done when it came to its implementation.’ > NDTV

Another nutcase, what can I say, but it’s a different culture and religion and they will take their time about making social progress of any sort. As India becomes more prosperous, pressure for social change will rise, there will be more social mobility and more education in general. It will be an interesting country to watch over the next twenty years.

***

Spain is a sex-pot hotspot, according to an international poll, beating out ‘sweaty Turks’ and ‘lazy Englishmen.’

Hah!

‘SPANISH men have been voted the world’s best lovers, according to an international poll.’

‘And to rub salt into the wounds, England came second-last last – after German men – for being ‘too lazy’ in bed.’

‘Spanish men were considered ‘natural and self-confident’ between the sheets, while Germans came last for being ‘too smelly.’’

‘The top five went – Spain, Brazil, Italy, France and Ireland.’ > The Olive Press.

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Cyber sex thrives in Greece according to survey conducted with sample of 1,600 people.

The number of people seeking “love” through the internet is increasing. The old traditional flirt has been replaced by chat rooms and social media, with the exchange of messages and photographs. This new trend has been dubbed “cyber sex.”

Recent results of a survey carried out by the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality, in which 1,600 people were polled (800 men and 800 women), has indicated that 8 out of 10 men and 7 out of 10 women are regularly visiting websites with sexual content.  Surprisingly, 6 out of 10 of those polled freely admitted to using the internet to meet sexual partners, rather than developing a stable relationship.

In addition, the survey showed that 43 percent of respondents admitted to having had a relationship with someone they met in an online chat-room. > Greek Reporter.

The fact that due to austerity, half of them are out of work might have something to do with it.

Let’s face it, going out is expensive.

***

And that’s it for another Sex News Roundup. It’s easy enough and fun to write.

Thanks for sharing.

Experimental Marketing Machine.

An industry still in the experimental stage.

by Dusty Miller



My buddy says this industry is still in the experimental stage.

My new short science fiction/space opera story, ‘Selena’s Escape,’ is now available for $0.99 from OmniLit.

This is my first title on OmniLit and it will be interesting to see the results of opening up a new platform.

They have distribution to iTunes but that looks like their only outlet so far other than their own store.

I was thinking about that—it’s all an integrated electronic network, with various sales platforms and aggregators talking back and forth.

So a title published from Smashwords by Author A and another title from OmniLit also published by Author A might both end up on iTunes, if the author for some reason or other chose to do that.

A title from Smashwords might end up on iTunes, and a title from OmniLit might end up on iTunes, and yet theoretically they should all end up on the same author page.

Think about some more famous names, i.e., not me.

They have had long careers, and some of their titles are no doubt from different publishing houses.

Yet they should inevitably end up on the same page.

Now, one of the selling points for independent publishing is control.

But a friend of mine put through some price changes over two months ago, using the Smashwords platform, and yet he can still see free books going out the door from where Amazon is price-matching somebody. 

He’s talking back and forth with them all the time and not getting much joy out of it.

All those distribution channels are not, or at least shouldn’t be, end to end in some kind of distribution chain.

They should all be separate and distinct entities, and while Kobo also might distribute to Chapters/Indigo, each channel would ideally be ‘one link long.’ A very short chain.

That way, it really shouldn’t take months for a given title to end up properly priced, with the correct cover, all available titles in all available stores, and all that sort of thing.

As things stand presently, for an author to have maximum control over covers and pricing, they would have to sign up for as many distribution channels as they could separately.

As an example, ‘Selena’s Escape’ has only one cover. There is no way that should ever end up with another cover, but those who update covers have to go and check every single title on every single platform or store, and then changes have to be requested back through the service provider, or aggregator, in this particular case Smashwords.

Once you have a number of titles, opening up a new distribution platform takes time. It requires effort, and you have no idea of what results might come from doing it.

There is a learning curve, and the more time you spend there, the more you should know about how it works, what its potential is, a and how to get the best out of what is basically just a kind of marketing machine. Yet I still think it’s worth making the experiment, and as a new store, I would want to be in there anyway.

I want to be in every new store. That too, will take time.

So that’s why I decided to try OmniLit.

It’s a new store, a new machine and it offers some alternative to Smashwords. You can always publish separately to Kindle, or here in Canada, sign up for Kobo, and do whatever you want to do.

***

Right now, my story ‘Poker Night’ can be read for free on the Justus Roux website’s guest writer’s page.

That was my first sale as a writer of erotic romance, and a big thumbs-up to Justus Roux for helping us out with that one.

That story will be available in January on various platforms. It’s all formatted, I have a cover and everything. 

I have another one in the works, a romantic fantasy that was a lot of fun to write.

The story is presently under submission but the odds are it will be rejected as there about a million submissions a month in this category!

I mean, you have to figure the odds.

If it takes you two years of constantly submitting and re-submitting, and you finally sell your story for twenty bucks, then you have little choice but to wonder what would happen if you had published it on your own from day one—you might have made your twenty bucks in the first three or four months and after that it’s all gravy when you consider the price of a reprint is half of what the story originally went for.  Or you can let someone publish it in exchange for mere exposure.

***

Yeah, my buddy said he was checking his prices on Sony and found a book cover from two and a half years ago, and yet according to him the last time he checked it was the right cover.

Right now, all the staff at all the big publishing platforms are swamped, that’s kind of self-evident.

I think my buddy’s about ready to give up!

He’ll get over it. He just loves to tinker.

END

Sex News Roundup.

Denial of sex amounts to cruelty.

by Dusty Miller

Man had sex with goat, confronted by his accuser in court. Sentenced to ten years. The goat will be taken home, killed, slaughtered and eaten with relish. (Mirror.)

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Man dressed up as dog had sex repeatedly with cat.

“A man who enjoyed dressing up as a dog called called Bubblegum Husky has been arrested for having regular sex with a cat…Boise Police Department spokesman Charles McClure said that the charge was 'definitely unusual', adding that his department had handled similar cases only once or twice in his eight years on the force.”

(Mirror.) Yeah, how come the Mirror gets all these stories?

***

Man released after conviction for having sex with ex-wife’s dog.

“A dad-of-three walked free from court today after being convicted of having sex with his ex-wife’s dog…A jury heard he whistled the dog to join him in the bedroom after his ex refused to have sex.”

The four year-old dog’s name was Sasha. I’m starting to see a pattern here in the Mirror’s reporting. It’s not clear whether the dog was male or female. Perhaps it would be best to avoid undue speculation, but the gentleman is obviously rich or Conservative or something to avoid a stiff time in prison.

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Retired Mountie charged with sex crimes dating back 30 years. (News 95.7.)

***

The pope has established a special commission on child abuse. Let’s hope they decide to stop it, eh?

“Cardinal O’Malley said the new sex abuse commission would be of international composition, consisting perhaps of 12 members, including lay people, members of religious orders and priests. The members will be persons with “competence in the safety of children, relations with victims, mental health, law enforcement” and other relevant subjects, he said.”  (Deacon’s Bench.)

***

Swiss tourist pleads guilty to taking pictures of sex worker, convicted of possession of obscene materials under Zambian law.

“’Your honour, I didn’t know it was illegal in Zambia because back in my home country almost every home you will find such pictures,’ claimed (the defendant.)” (Zambian Watchdog.)

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Hong Kong cops bust vice racket behind big porn website.

“A vice racket that pocketed an estimated HK$60 million a year running the city's biggest porn website has been smashed by police following the arrest of 114 people in the past three days.”

Site also apparently ran ads for prostitutes, which presumably is illegal in Hong Kong. It’s also probably rampant and the city is still a tourist destination as well as a showpiece for the government in Beijing which would like folks to believe it is becoming more capitalist when it is merely authoritarian and exploitive enough in its own way.

“At the studio in Sham Shui Po, sex workers were offered a free make-up service and costumes such as school uniforms before having photographs taken and videos made, police said.” (South China Morning Post.)

***

Denial of sex without ‘reasonable cause’ amounts to cruelty.

“ Upholding a family court order granting divorce to a city-based couple, the Bombay High Court has held that sex is the foundation of marriage and marriage without sex is an anathema. The court also observed that willful denial of sexual intercourse without reasonable cause amounts to cruelty.” (The Free Press Journal.)

Also from the same paper: man accused of sexual harassment to face all-female panel. Sounds like a fair trial and a quick execution.

And more from the Free Press Journal: Civic Hospitals Still Unsafe for Women.

“Even after 15 females – 12 lab technicians, two nurses and one patient – were assaulted in the premises of Nair and Sion Hospitals in the last two months, no strong step has been taken by the authorities to tighten up security.”

On the other hand, if you’re married and your husband shows up, rather insistent, demanding sex, you really can’t say no or you might face divorce proceedings.

***

I find the whole sex-thing rather schizophrenic.

Are things better now than they were a hundred years ago?

Let’s hope so, but now at least we can talk about such things. In the past, all this would have either been swept under the rug or sensationalized beyond all reasonable measure.

As the process of global villagization continues, we will inevitably move towards more coherent attitudes, across cultural boundaries. That's not to say that public opinion will not play a role, it is in fact the defining factor in what is and what is not illegal, immoral, or not permissible.

It would be interesting to hang around for a couple of hundred years and see how it all turns out.

I don’t make the sex news, I just report on it, ladies and gentlemen.

END

Coming Soon: Selena's Escape.

Cover design by J. Thornton.

Coming soon to an online bookstore near you is 'Selena's Escape,' by Constance 'Dusty' Miller.

Here' the blurb:

Chauncey Mifflin owns everything in sight, including her. The whole planet is corrupt. Selena has thought long and hard about escape. The only thing she's waiting for is opportunity, but a heart turned to steel and a burning desire for revenge is enough to tip the balance. A short story.

***

The story is science fiction, and I really like the cover.

Thanks, J.

It's easy enough to load that up on Kindle and Smashwords, but I've also been meaning to try out OmniLit, where I already have an account, and possibly iTunes as there seems to be provision for Canadian authors. 

The big thing there is the U.S. 30 % withholding tax. Obviously you don't want to pay that if you're not a U.S. citizen and your country has a tax treaty with the U.S.

Disclaimer: I haven't signed up for iTunes and iBooks yet so this information might change. The only real tip there is not to click 'Apple' (or rather, make sure to un-click) that distribution channel when uploading the book on Smashwords.

Other than that I like to read them again once or twice just to make sure everything's copacetic and hunky-dory and all that sort of thing.

END

Sex News Roundup.

A few members of the Dusty Miller fan club.

by Dusty Miller.

Croatia denies same-sex marriage in national referendum. My friend is philosophical about this one. She’s a lesbian, I think I told you that before. 

She also doesn’t live in Croatia. It’s not her fight. Croatia is quoted as ‘being tolerant towards homosexuality.’ Who they might be compared to is unclear from the text.

***

Georgetown, Guyana. Police officer’s assault on sex worker caught on video.

“A police officer stationed at Mahdia and accused of harassing sex workers in the Region Eight area has been reportedly captured on video assaulting one of them and the Guyana Women Miners Organization (GWMO) plans to take up the issue with the senior officers of the police force.” (Stabroek News.)

Fucking dummies spelled organization with an ‘s.’ What up with that, eh?

***

Sex workers love Affordable Health Care Act. I hope the reader will forgive me, but I will never use the term ‘Obamacare’ because I refuse to let someone else set the agenda and define the terms.

“In the all-cash, off-the-books sex industry, workers can be particularly high risk and insurance is often out of reach. Many sex workers -- a broad term that can refer to a number of services, including sexual massage, prostitution, and escort and dominatrix work -- consider themselves self-employed entrepreneurs who can't afford to purchase healthcare. But that could all change with the Affordable Care Act.” (CNN Money.)

I’ve actually read a couple of stories on this issue, which makes me something of an expert. Either that or some one with a little too much time on my hands. But the perspective is different when the trade is legal.

“The girls at the Moonlight Bunny Ranch say they support the new legislation.  Taylor Lee said; "Having this profession, we aren't exactly offered group health insurance.  It's hard because I do have a pre-existing condition so I really support Obamacare.  I'm excited." 

“Taylor Lee's pre-existing condition didn't help, but that wasn't the only reason she was denied health coverage prior to Obamacare.  Before the new law she and the other girls who work at the Moonlight Bunny Ranch said getting health insurance was impossible because carriers refused to cover them because they worked in a legal brothel. Bella Dawn said; "I switched professions and I wrote it down and they denied it because of the profession I'm in."  Caressa Kisses agrees adding; "They equate us to illegal working girls who have very high STD's and AIDS rates which we have none of the above.  We're legal, licensed prostitutes.” (MyNews4.)

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Now this is creepy. Remind me not to get too anesthetized anytime soon. Doctor found guilty of twenty-one sex assaults on patients under sedation.

“The women reported that Doodnaught kissed them, touched them inappropriately or committed other sexual acts while they were under conscious sedation — all but one during surgeries at a Toronto hospital between 2006 and 2010.” (National Post.)

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            The American Psychiatric Association will ‘correct’ its manual. Pedophilia is not an ‘orientation.’

            No, I would say it is a paraphiliac behaviour. I am not a psychiatrist, nor do I play one on TV.

“Pedophilia is not a 'sexual orientation,' and erroneous use of that phrase will be corrected soon in its new manual on mental illnesses, the American Psychiatric Association said Thursday. The APA’s statement came in response to media inquiries, including from The Washington Times, about an uproar on the Internet that the APA had designated pedophilia as a sexual orientation in its new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, known as DSM-5 or DSM-V.”

See this: they agree with me.

“Other…paraphilias are exhibitionistic disorder, fetishistic disorder, frotteuristic disorder, sexual masochism disorder, sexual sadism disorder, transvestic disorder, voyeuristic disorder and pedophilic disorder. Despite all these things being labeled a 'disorder' in DSMs for years, the actions some of them result in — for example, flashing, assault and battery, and 'peeping Tom' behavior — are all un-controversially illegal.” (Washington Times.)

Frotteurism: holy crap, and I didn’t know this until now.

***

The truth behind sex addiction. (Canadian Living.)

Here’s Wikipedia’s spin on sexual addiction. (Yeah, fuck, I wish, eh. The trouble is I have too much good sense to give in to some of these urges.) The neutrality of aforesaid article is under dispute, by the way.

(Dusty. – ed.)

(What? – Dusty.)

(Try not to forget your dignity as a Canadian Journalist. – ed.)

(Oh, right. Sorry. It's just that I haven't been boned in a while. – Dusty.)

***

Couple fined for oral sex while airborne. See, that’s one reason they should make the bathrooms bigger on planes.

“The affidavit states Martin and Stroble, 44 and 33 years old respectively at the time of the incident, were allegedly asked to stop by an attendant and did so during the drink and snack service, but later repeated the sex acts before landing.”

“One of the passengers complained to an attendant that ‘this is not the sex education I wanted to give my teenage sons,’ according to the criminal complaint.”

No, of course not. You've been putting that off for a while. Don't worry. They probably know more about it than you do. (CNN Travel.)

END