Danish Prostitutes Offer Free Sex
to Climate Summit Delegates

Offer a response to warning by Copenhagen mayor not to "buy sex"

Posted on Adult Video News Dec 7th 2009 12:06PM by Tom Hymes


COPENHAGEN — Despite the fact that prostitution is legal and regulated in Denmark, Ritt Bjerregaard, the Lord Mayor of Copenhagen, has sent postcards to 160 hotels in the city requesting that delegates to this week’s United Nations climate summit refrain from purchasing sex. The response by the country’s sex worker association was immediate: produce a postcard, prove you’re a delegate, and you can have sex with our beautiful prostitutes for free.

"All delegates who come to Copenhagen for the world climate summit will be able to use the postcards for payment after making a request on our website," Susanne Moeller, a spokesperson for the Danish association for the defense of sex workers, said. "We do not expect many delegates (to make use of the offer), but we want to protest what we consider discrimination." Moeller added that the offer is good for the duration of the climate talks.

The city also sent letters to hotel managers asking them to take measures to prevent prostitutes from meeting clients in the establishments. The postcards, which are to be distributed to hotel guests, read "Be sustainable: Don't buy sex."

One wonders precisely what is unsustainable about purchased sex, and also how the city, in light of why the delegates are there in the first place, justifies sacrificing all of those trees cut down to make the postcards. Also, since sex is the original life-sustaining activity, shouldn't the city encourage the practice rather than the opposite? And if the country went to the trouble of legalizing prostitution, for whom did they legalize it if not visitors to the city?

Lastly, if the delegates to the summit are there to literally save the world from extinction, don't we all want them to be as physically satisfied as possible, and thus able to fully focus on the work at hand? Why is it that the city doesn't get that but the sex workers do?

The following first appeared in the November, 2009, Newsletter of Apollo Network, the original site for older gay men. It is reprinted here with the permission of its author, Ron, who operates that site with his partner Hector. It contains valuable information for Measurection members.   —Alan G—

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Making Luck Happen

Where do you put yourself, among the lucky or unlucky people? By luck we are not talking about winning the lottery or getting laid, just every day luck in life.

A Brit by the name of Richard Wiseman has studied and written (The Luck Factor) on the subject of luck, and he has found that people who say they are lucky have four similar traits. Not surprisingly, people say they are not lucky have the opposite four traits. According to Wiseman, practicing these four traits will immeasurably improve your luck. Here are the four traits of people who say they are lucky:

1. They maximize opportunities and chances. They are quick to notice, create, and act on these opportunities. (In controlled tests, people who put themselves in the lucky group found bait money on the sidewalks while those who said they were unlucky stepped over the money without seeing it.)


2. Lucky people are very intuitive and do things like meditation to improve their intuitive abilities. (Reading self help books also helps.)


3. Lucky people expect to be lucky, thus scripting themselves to be lucky. They go to work or to a party anticipating a positive outcome.


4. Lucky people have an attitude that allows them to turn bad luck into good luck.

Next time you think or say that some people have all the luck, think about making your own luck instead and practice the four above things that lucky people practice.

First, Metrosexuals; now, Metrotextuals

LONDON (Reuters) - Men have become so openly affectionate with each other using mobile technology they've taken to signing off text messages to male friends with a kiss (x), giving rise to a new generation dubbed "Metrotextuals."

New research from mobile phone firm T-Mobile reveals nearly a quarter of men (22 percent) regularly include a kiss on texts to their male mates, T-Mobile said in an emailed statement.

"Metrotextuality" is most widespread among 18-24 year old males with three quarters (75 percent) regularly sealing texts with a kiss and 48 percent admitting that the practice has become commonplace amongst their group of friends.

Nearly a quarter of this age group (23 percent) even appreciate an "x' in a text exchange from people that aren't close friends.

But it's not just younger men that have become Metrotextuals -- one in 10 men over 55 often completes a text to another male with a kiss, according to the poll.

The research also revealed there's a certain etiquette within metrotextuality. A lower case "x' is the preferred sign-off for most (52 percent) compared to 17 percent for a bolder upper case X), with one in three sharing the love in a big way with multiple lower case kisses (xxx).

Clinical psychologist, Ron Bracey, said that men have traditionally been reluctant to share their emotions with friends and tended to keep their feelings bottled up.

"However, the advent of mobile phones and social media means more communication is done non-verbally, and through this it seems men can more easily share their feelings with others -- especially their male friends," Bracey said in the statement.

Confirmed Metrotextual Nick Kirkham, aged 25, who works in insurance, said he and his friends have been sending kisses to each other for years.

"In fact, apart from my boss or a work client, there's no one I wouldn't send a kiss on text to," he said.

How to Spice Up Your Sex Life

Get a motorbike.

Seriously!!

Steve has bought himself a motorbike. And his sexy level went up a couple points. Then he bought himself some leathers. Ratcheted another couple of notches up the hotness scale (and considering he was already high up there... you can imagine how smokin' he is now!).

It's so awesome... He decided that this year he was going to do it. Get his motorbike license. I was going to do it with him, and the plan was that we were going to buy our bikes next year, and take the course. But then I saw how much coordination it takes to work all the tiddly bits on a bike. And I decided that I was perfectly content to be the bitch on the back, lol.

So off he went, bought himself a bike, got himself licensed and somehow in all that, developed a sense of I don't know what, but DAMN is it sexy!

I can actually tell when he's going for a ride. His shoulders go back, the chest comes out, the stomach sucks in, and he has an actual swagger. I'll take one look at him and say "goin' for a ride, huh?" and he'll be suprised that I know. LOL

The best part? The leather. Mmmmmmmm, nothing like the hot smell of leather on a sexy beast!! And I mean both the bike AND the man!


Dee

From Adult Video News

Tips for Traveling with 'Toys'
Article offers practical advice

LOS ANGELES — While owning pleasure items like vibrators, dildos and more aren't the taboo they once were, packing those items for a weekend getaway or extended vacation might take a little extra thought and care.

Holidays-Reviews.com, a travel-based website, recently published an article offering tips on how to pack those precious toys to avoid any hassle at the airport.

Remove the batteries: Even if your vibe or other powered item might not be that easy to turn on, as luggage shifts it could happen. How much fun will be it having to explain to security officials that the buzzing is not an incendiary device, but rather your "little friend"?

Use plastic bags: Pack your items in your luggage, but in their own sealable plastic bags or containers. That way, if your luggage is searched, you don’t have to worry about making sure you packed the toy cleaner to.

Check your vibe: Pack any pleasure items in your checked luggage. It could save you from an embarrassing situation in the security line.

Know the law: Not only are there restrictions on sexual products in some countries (Thailand has a ban on "obscene items"), but there are some rules in a couple of American states, too. When in doubt, do a quick Google check of what the laws are in the state or country you are travelling to.

For more tips and information, visit Holidays-Reviews.com.

Regular Use of Pot Inhibits Male Orgasms, Study Says

By Tom Hymes - Adult Video News

Melbourne, Australia — A new study conducted by a team at La Trobe University in Melbourne has found that regular marijuana usage can lead to decreased sexual performance in men, including an inability to orgasm.

The research team analyzed data collected as part of a 2005 telephone survey of 8,656 Australians of both genders between the ages of 16 to 64. Overall, 8.7 percent of respondents said they had gotten high in the last year, with twice as many men (11.2 percent) admitting to marijuana use as women (6.1 percent). Results are revealed that respondents under 36 were more likely to smoke marijuana than older participants.

For males who smoked weed daily, the results indicated they were four times less likely to reach orgasm. However, many of the correlations between marijuana use and sexual performance were made after accounting for factors such as age, tobacco and alcohol use, and occupation.

According to Sharon Johnson, an epidemiologist at the University of Missouri St. Louis, who also has found associations between drug use and sexual problems, the new study does not establish a cause-effect relationship between marijuana and sexual performance.

"There is a more complicated relationship out there somewhere," she said.

See the rest of the article HERE.

Utah: Online Porn Capital of America?
Harvard researcher reveals the most avid consumers of Internet pornography

By Dan Tynan, Computerworld

For most of my life I have lived in the cauldrons of sin - first New York, then California. These Bluer than Blue states are the source of most of our society's ills, or so we are constantly told.

When it comes to online smut, though, it appears I've been living in the wrong places. Thanks to Harvard researcher Ben Edelman, we now know the most avid consumers of Internet pornography live in the heartland -- the "real America," I believe someone once called it.

Edelman, a lawyer-geek who made his bones hunting down spyware and adware firms, has published a report titled "Red Light States: Who Buys Online Adult Entertainment?" (PDF) in the ponderous sounding Journal of Economic Perspectives.

For his report Edelman analyzed subscriber data from an unnamed "top 10 seller of online adult entertainment," broken down by ZIP codes, demographic data, and the speeds of users' Internet connections.

One key finding: The biggest consumers of online adult entertainment live in the great state of Utah. An average of 5.47 people per 1000 broadband subscribers pay for porn in Orrin Hatch's home state. (Utah also leads in porn consumption among the general population and dial-up users, in case you're wondering.)

It must have been all those Osmonds Gone Wild videos that sent them over the edge.

Close behind Utah with just over five porn subscribers per thousand is Sarah Palin's Alaska. California and New York, on the other hand, average between 2.4 and 2.9 subscriptions per 1000 broadband users, smack dab in the middle of the pack. Overall, eight of Edelman's top 10 porn-consuming states voted for McCain last fall, while six of the least smut-crazed states went for Obama.

It appears the Red states are also the Red Light states.

- MORE -

Sex Toy Sales Rise in Struggling Economy
Retailers report increases of 7 to 13 percent

By Steph Coxe - Adult Video News

MINNEAPOLIS - After the terrorist strikes of Sept. 11, 2001, shocked the world, retailers of adult products reported an upswing in sales of "bedroom aids." That didn't surprise marriage and family therapists, sexuality counselors or sex workers, who believe that in hard times people naturally gravitate toward intimate pleasure as a coping mechanism.

Now, with the economy taking a full-fledged nose-dive, sex-toy retailers are reporting revenue increases of from 7 to 13 percent, both in the brick-and-mortar realm and online.

The trend seems to be worldwide, but it also seems to be limited to novelties. Sellers of adult videos both online and offline have reported sales decreases of as much as 50 percent during the past year - mostly due to a glut of material on the market and content piracy - but the trend in sex toys seems to be going the other way.

Consumers "don't feel like they're getting a bit of smut," Robyn Goodman, chief of American operations for British retail chain and website Myla, told the New York Times. "They feel like they are acquiring a very boudoir-style, high-end luxury."

Goodman said some of Myla's customers shamelessly have parted with as much as $250 for a particularly kinky toy, despite a reversal of their personal fortunes.

Both Jennifer Pritchett of Smitten Kitten and Colleen Bertino of Fantasy Gifts - two local Minneapolis adult boutiques - said their sales were up, as well: Pritchett's rose by 13 percent and Bertino's by 7 percent, both in the final quarter of 2008.

"People are staying in more, and they're thinking that maybe they should be getting better at what they're doing," Bertino told the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune.

"Sex is good for you, and I think that newly refocused energy devoted to personal health and relationships has accounted for our success in the last few months," Pritchett added.

"The Dow may have taken a nose dive, but our sales have only increased," Josie Morales, a partner in nine-month-old e-tailer Their Toys, told the New York Times. The site's revenues have increased by about 10 percent since launch, she added.

Analena Graham, owner of luxury adult boutique Dascha, told the Times, "Sex will always sell. You might tell yourself, ‘I can do without that $400 sweater, but I would still like to have that rechargeable vibrator.'"

Added Babeland co-founder Claire Cavanah, "When your world is lurching sideways, it's good to go home to a nice bed - and a little intimacy."

Publish Date: 2009-02-02 09:40:44

Where was this course when I was in engineering school?

Computer geeks learn to flirt

BERLIN (Reuters) – Even the most quirky of computer nerds can learn to flirt with finesse thanks to a new "flirting course" being offered to budding IT engineers at Potsdam University south of Berlin.

The 440 students enrolled in the master's degree course will learn how to write flirtatious text messages and emails, impress people at parties and cope with rejection.

Philip von Senftleben, an author and radio presenter who will teach the course, summed up his job as teaching how to "get someone else's heart beating fast while yours stays calm."

The course, which starts next Monday, is part of the social skills section of the IT course and is designed to ease entry into the world of work. Students also learn body language, public-speaking, stress management and presentation skills.

"We want to prepare our students with the social skills needed to succeed both in their private life and their work life," said Hans-Joachim Allgaier, a spokesman for the institute at Potsdam University where the course is being offered.

Fri Jan 9, 1:24 pm ET - Writing by Anna Brooke; Editing by Nick Vinocur - via Yahoo! News