- Above image: Stephanie Vovas’ shoot for the third issue of Treats! Magazine. Features designs by Valentino, Hugo Boss, Burberry, YSL, Gucci, Samantha Wills, Agent Provocateur, and Hanky Panky.
More: Diora Baird by Stephanie Vovas for Treats! Magazine #3 (Touchpuppet)
- Sad news: Hollie Stevens has passed away. A beautiful, lovely, warm, thoughtful and giving person, she was deeply loved and admired by everyone who knew her. Her bright light in this world will be deeply, sadly missed. Artist, iconoclast and porn performer Hollie Stevens had fiercely fought breast cancer, though in mid-June received the news that her cancer had become terminal.
RIP Hollie Stevens (Jiz Lee’s Twitter)
UPDATE: Here’s the Hollie Stevens obituary (SF Weekly)
- Porn is going way too far with their insane filesharing lawsuits – again. EFF: “They don’t really care who they’re targeting; they don’t really care whether people have actually infringed their clients’ copyrights or not.”
Innocents caught up in porn piracy suits (Technolog on msnbc.com, thanks Zack!)
- Bad, naughty Cisco. Cisco pushed a firmware update to routers that took away user control, forced users through their anti-porn, anti-filesharing cloud controls – and silently removed a significant and important section of users’ privacy Terms.
Freeing your router from Cisco’s anti-porn, pro-copyright cloud service (Ars Technica)
- Yay! Discounted tours to Kink.com are now available for purchase through the San Francisco Gate’s Daily Deals website. The promotion comes a month after the studio was dropped by online discounter Groupon.com.
Kink.com Tour Bargains Available at SFGate.com (XBIZ)
- A ballot measure proposing that porn actors in Los Angeles County wear condoms during filming will be put to voters in November’s election
Porn condom use to be put to Los Angeles voters (BBC)
- As ‘Magic Mike’ gyrates into theaters, TIME sneaks a look at some of their favorite cinematic ecdysiasts – starting with Natalie Wood as Gypsy Rose Lee. Includes videos.
Top 10 Memorable Movie Strippers (TIME)
- When Marie Rowley gives public lectures about the history of prostitution in Las Vegas from 1905-1955, senior citizen groups are some of her biggest—and most enthusiastic—audiences.
Looking at the history of prostitution in Las Vegas (Las Vegas Weekly, via Charlie Glickman)
- The FDA this week approved the first over-the-counter home use HIV test kit; OraQuick will be available in stores this October. The OraQuick test, by OraSure Technologies, uses a mouth swab and gives results in 20 to 40 minutes.
Rapid H.I.V. Home Test Wins Federal Approval (NYT)
- The federal Canadian government took aim Wednesday at Canada’s sex industry, announcing strict new rules that will prevent temporary foreign workers from entering the country legally to work in the sex industry.
Exotic dancers, sex industry targeted in new immigration rules (Canada.com)
- Many of you will remember I was the first to interview Jennie Ketcham (former porn star Penny Flame) for the SF Chronicle when she quit porn. Now she’s releasing a book on her experience, though I have to admit I’m concerned about the “sex addiction” angle she’s taking, and the ability for the discussion of her decision to remain framed as a sex-positive one in wider media channels.
Ex-Porn Star Speaks Out About Sex Addiction In Porn (Buzzfeed)
- Dr. Drew has long been the bane of sex educators for his incorrect, judgmental and harmful statements and assertions about sex acts such as anal sex. For this, we’ve never cited him or had anything to do with him (and I declined invitations to go on his show). Now those suspicions have been validated as Dr. Drew has now been caught in an investigation revealing that the Dr.’s advice and endorsement was bought by pharmaceutical companies. This is bad, though I worry what else he was on the take to lie about.
Feds Say Dr. Drew Was Paid By Glaxo To Talk Up Antidepressant (Forbes)
Even though it was supposed to be desperate and a bit funny, I’ll always be partial to Jamie Lee Curtis’ striptease act in True Lies. It’s a shame it’s not on the list. That woman was sexy.
I look forward to these links you put together, Miss Violet. :)
LOVE the HIV test news! WHEEEE!!!!! :D
That Vegas history link is great, I’d love to read more like and about that.