Necrocannibalistic vomitoriumNecrocannibalistic Vomitorium is a goregrind band from Ukraine.Their lyrical themes are often pornography, perversion and sick humor.
Members
- Yolka - Drums/Vocals
- Umka - Guitar/Vocals
- Shurshunchik - Bass
Former Members
- Svin - Drums
- Vitalik - Bass
Biography
Necrocannibalistic Vomitorium was formed in september 3 2001 in Zaporozhye, Ukraine. They wrote their first demo "ВИРТУОЗНАЯ АНАЛЛИЗАЦИЯ" in February, then the drummer Svin was expelled, Yolka took charge of drums and vocals and Umka was on vocals and guitar so they started composing new songs but they decided that the sound was too weak without a bass. They began to search for a new bassist, their friend Vitalik played for a long time, then there was when Shurshunchik responded to the announcement and he joined the band, they started composing the second demo which was called "ВОЗЬМИ МЕНЯ, ПОКА Я НЕ ОСТЫЛА" wich translates to "take me until I have not get cold" and was released in May 2003.
Discography
- ВИРТУОЗНАЯ АНАЛЛИЗАЦИЯ (Demo, 2002)
- ВОЗЬМИ МЕНЯ, ПОКА Я НЕ ОСТЫЛА (2003)
- VIRTUOZNAYA ANALLIZACIYA (2004)
External links
[http://www.vomitorium.mail333.com Necrocannibalistic Vomitorium official site]
Goregrind
Goregrind is a sub-genre of the music style grindcore, which is related to music styles such as death metal, thrash metal, and crust punk. The main features that musically distinguish goregrind from grindcore can be narrowed down to two main aspects: 1) The use of an octave shifter on the vocals, creating a unique low pitch gurgle texture, similar to the effects used in horror movies for a possessed, demonic or undead character. 2) More of a reliance on metal influence, or more specifically, in later years, on a primatively constructed aspect of the downtuned textures frequently used in Death Metal, which had, in many cases, taken the place of the crust influence on its grindcore bretheren.
Its beginnings can be placed with the band Carcass who began their career in the late 1980s. The genre has, however, changed from the original archetype offered by Carcass, who were influenced by the hardcore punk and thrash metal popular in the 1980s underground scene. Carcass used pitch shifters, medical imagery and a host of other 'visceral' associations when they originally conceived the band, a deviation from the frequently political or left wing lyrics commonly used in the hardcore and grindcore scenes. An example of their lyrics can be seen below:
"An abrasive concoction is formed in my throat,
Methylated bile, jaundiced kidneys bloat,
Tumorous stomach, coughing up gall,
The thorax infected with furuncles and boils"
The band's other lyrics were similarly awash with complicated medical terms and stomach-churning bodily functions. Until their middle period where more focus on technicality and heavy metal with a variety of other styles, changed their sound.
Goregrind bands
- Abosranie Bogom
- Amoebic Dysentery
- Anally Aborted Fetus
- Animals Killing People
- Ayer Killing Spree
- Autophagia
- Basket of Death from Japan
- Bile from Poland
- Blue Holocaust
- Carcass (on early albums)
- Catasexual Urge Motivation or CUM
- Cock And Ball Torture
- Dead Infection
- Decomposition
- Decomposing Serenity
- Destined to Fester
- Disgorge (Mexico)
- Exhumed
- Feculent Goretomb
- Flesh Grinder
- General Surgery
- Gore
- Gronibard
- Gruesome Stuff Relish
- Gut
- Gutrot
- Haemorrhage
- Impetigo
- Intestinal Disgorge
- Last Days Of Humanity
- Libido Airbag Techno-goregrind
- Lymphatic Phlegm
- Microphallus
- MonoClarific
- Necrocannibalistic vomitorium
- Neuro-Visceral Exhumation or NVE
- Paracoccidioidomicosisproctitissarcomucosis
- Regurgitate
- Rompeprop
- Sewaged
- Soldered Poon
- Squash Bowels
- Sublime Cadaveric Decomposition or SCD
- The County Medical Examiners
- Torsofuck
- Utopie
- Vomitorial Corpulence
- Wormeaten
Category:Grindcore
External links
- [http://www.razorbackrecords.com/ Razorback Records website]
- [http://www.anallyabortedfetus.tk/ Anall Aborted Fetus official website]
- [http://www.geocities.com/destined2fester/ Destined to Fester official website]
Pornography:This article is about pornography, material created with the purpose of sexual arousal. For alternate uses, see pornography (disambiguation).
pornography (disambiguation)
Pornography (from Greek πορνογραφία pornographia — literally writing about or drawings of harlots) (also informally referred to as "porn," "porno," and more recently, "pr0n") is the representation of the human body or human sexual behaviour with the goal of sexual arousal, similar to, but (according to some) distinct from, erotica.
Pornography may use any of a variety of media — written and spoken text, photos, sculpture, drawings, moving images (including animation), and sounds such as heavy breathing. Pornographic films combine moving images, spoken erotic text and/or other erotic sounds, while magazines often combine photos and written text. Novels and short stories provide written text, sometimes with illustrations. A live performance may also be called pornographic.
Terminology
In its original meaning, pornography was literally "writing about prostitutes", from the classical Greek roots πορνη and γραφειν. Πορνη started as a euphemism and literally meant '(something) sold.' It is related to the verb περνημι meaning 'to sell.' It derived from a Greek term for men who chronicled the well-known "pornai", or skilled prostitutes of ancient Greece. In more modern times, the term was adopted by social scientists to describe the work of men like Nicholas Restif and William Acton, who in the 18th and 19th centuries published treatises studying prostitution and proposing to regulate it. The term retained this meaning in the Oxford English Dictionary until 1905.
The term then came to mean writing about anything sexual, especially in a base manner, when the creation, presentation, or consumption of the material was for sexual stimulation. The term now refers to sexually related material of all kinds, both written and graphical. The term "pornography" often has negative connotations of low artistic merit, as compared to the more esteemed erotica. Euphemisms such as adult film, adult video and adult bookstore are generally preferred within the industry producing
these works (namely the Adult industry). Pornography can also be contrasted with ribaldry, which uses sexual titillation in the service of comedy. Having said that, the definition of pornography is highly subjective, with generally accepted works of art such as Michelangelo's David being considered pornographic by some people.
A distinction is sometimes made between softcore pornography and hardcore pornography. The former generally refers to materials that feature nudity, sexually suggestive scenes, and simulated sex, while hardcore or X-rated pornography contains close-ups of aroused genitalia and sexual activities including penetration. Within the industry itself, informal classification breaks down even further. The distinctions may seem trivial to many people, but the precarious legal definition and differing standards at different outlets cause producers to shoot and edit different cuts of films and to first screen those differing versions for their legal teams. The internal rating decision is primarily made by considering the exposure of an erect penis, inclusion and duration of close-up shots of genitals and penetration, types of penetration, and the presence or lack of an external ejaculation.
In some jurisdictions the depiction of urination or defecation contributes to the conclusion that a particular image is pornographic (see e.g. Arizona Criminal Code [http://www.azleg.state.az.us/ars/13/03551.htm], 9f, 11, in combination with [http://www.azleg.state.az.us/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/ars/13/03553.htm&Title=13&DocType=ARS], A2, and for Utah [http://www.le.state.ut.us/~code/TITLE76/htm/76_06003.htm], 8h).
History
defecation
Pornography has an extensive history. Sexually suggestive and explicit artwork is as ancient as artwork of any other content; explicit photographs date to very shortly after the invention of photography; and among the earliest films are works depicting nudity and explicit sex.
Nude human beings and sexual activities are depicted in some paleolithic art (e.g. Venus Figurines); however, it is not certain that the purpose was sexual arousal, as the images may have had instead a spiritual significance. There are numerous pornographic paintings on the walls of ruined Roman buildings in Pompeii. One notable example is a brothel in which the various sexual services are advertised in murals above each door. In Pompeii you can also see phalli and testicles engraved in the sidewalks, pointing the way to the prostitution and entertainment district, to aid visitors in finding their way (see Erotic art in Pompeii). Archaeologists in Germany reported in April 2005 that they had found what they believe is a 7,200-year-old pornographic scene depicting a male figurine bending over a female figurine in a manner suggestive of sexual intercourse. The male figure has been named Adonis von Zschernitz. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/germany/article/0,2763,1451509,00.html]
Pornographic comic books known as Tijuana bibles began appearing in the U.S. in the 1920s.
1920s
In the second half of the 20th century, pornography in the United States evolved from the so-called "men's magazines" such as Playboy and Modern Man of the 1950s. These magazines featured nude or semi-nude women, sometimes apparently engaging in the act of masturbation, although their genitals or pubic hair were not actually displayed. By the late 1960s, however, these magazines, which by then included Penthouse, began to evolve into more explicit displays, eventually, by the 1990s, featuring sexual penetration, lesbianism and homosexuality, group sex, masturbation, and fetishes.
The first explicitly pornographic film with a plot that received a general theatrical release in the U.S. is generally considered to be Mona (also known as Mona the Virgin Nymph), a 59-minute 1970 feature by Bill Osco and Howard Ziehm, who went on to create the relatively high-budget hardcore/softcore (depending on the release) cult film Flesh Gordon.
The 1971 film The Boys in the Sand represented a number of pornographic "firsts." It was the first generally available gay pornographic movie. It was the first porn film to include onscreen credits for its cast and crew (albeit largely under pseudonyms). It was the first porn film to parody the title of a mainstream movie (in this case, The Boys in the Band). And it is the only X-rated pornographic film to be reviewed by The New York Times.
Technology and pornography
Mass-distributed pornography is as old as the printing press. Almost as soon as photography was invented, it was being used to produce pornographic photographs.
Video: Betamax, VHS, DVD, Next-Gen Media Formats
The movie camera has also been used for pornography throughout its history, and with the arrival of the home video cassette recorder the pornographic movie industry experienced massive growth and spawned adult stars like Ginger Lynn, Christy Canyon, and Traci Lords (later found to have been under the legal age of 18 during her tenure in the industry). One could now not only watch pornography in the comfort and privacy of one's own home, but also find greater choices available to satisfy specific fantasies and fetishes.
Coupled with the arrival of affordable consumer-level video cameras, one had the means of producing one's own content, for enjoyment or even for profit.
It has been suggested that Sony Betamax lost the format war to VHS (in becoming the general home video recording/viewing system) because the adult video industry chose VHS instead of the technically superior Sony system. Other attempts at innovation came in the form of "interactive" videos that let the user choose such variables as multiple camera angles, multiple endings (i.e "Devil in the Flesh", 1999, Private Films), and computer-only DVD content.
Erotic film producers are expected to play a major role in deciding the next DVD standard. Large outfits tend to support the high-capacity Blu-ray Disc, while small outfits generally favor the less-expensive HD-DVD. According to a 2004 Reuters article, "The multi-billion-dollar industry releases about 11,000 titles on DVD each year, giving it tremendous power to sway the battle between two groups of studios and technology companies competing to set standards for the next generation" [http://www.bizreport.com/news/8560/].
Video and computer games
Pornographic computer games have also existed almost since the start of the industry - some of the earliest were Mystique's Atari 2600 video games, including Custer's Revenge, Beat Em and Eat Em and Gigolo. The Japanese company Hacker International, which also published games under the name Super PIG, produced several pornographic titles for the Nintendo Famicom - three of these, renamed to Bubble Bath Babes, Hot Slots and Peek-A-Boo Poker, were distributed in the USA by Panesian.
These games largely disappeared from the marketplace as the industry matured and the user base broadened, due primarily to increased production cost and complexity, severely limited distribution options (most national retailers such as Wal-mart and Target won't stock games with the AO (Adults Only) rating), and potential legal issues associated in developing a game without official sanction and/or licensing from the respective console manufacturers.[http://www.xbox.com/en-US/dev/tools.htm] Recent media coverage of titles like BMX XXX, Playboy: The Mansion and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (article: [http://www.statesman.com/business/content/business/stories/10/27games.html Austin-American Satesman]) suggest a reversal towards producing and marketing adult-themed games.
In contrast to the console market, niche PC developers have continued to produce adult games with pornographic content. A Google search for "PC strip poker" conducted November 1, 2005 returned slightly over 2 million results. The Japanese market has a particular interest in pornographic Hentai games (often referred to as "H games" outside of Japan).
Photo manipulation and computer-generated pornography
A lot of pornography is digitally manipulated in sophisticated image editors such as Adobe Photoshop. This practice ranges from applying mild changes to photographs to improve the appearance of the models, such as removing skin defects, improving brightness and contrast of the photo, to extensive editing to produce photomorphs of non-existent creatures such as catgirls, or images of celebrities who may not have themselves ever consented to be filmed for pornography.
Digital manipulation requires the use of source photographs, but some pornography is produced without human actors at all. The idea of completely computer-generated pornography was conceived very early as one of the most obvious areas of application for computer graphics and 3D rendering.
However, until the late 1990s it could not be produced cost-effectively. In early 2000s it became a growing segment, as the modeling and animation software matured and rendering capabilities of computers improved. The strongest advantage of computer-generated pornography is the ability to realistically render sexual fantasies that are impossible or illegal to film in reality.
As of 2004, computer-generated pornography depicting situations involving children and sex with fictional characters such as Lara Croft is already produced on a limited scale. The October 2004 issue of Playboy featured topless pictures of the title character from the BloodRayne
videogame. [http://money.cnn.com/2004/08/25/commentary/game_over/column_gaming/]
The Internet
BloodRayne
With the arrival of the Internet, the availability of pornography increased greatly. Some of the most successful internet entrepreneurs are those who operate pornographic internet sites. As well as conventional photographic or video pornography, some sites offer an "interactive" video game-like entertainment. Due to the international character of the Internet, it provides an easy means whereby consumers, residing in countries where pornography is either entirely illegal, or at least that which does not furnish physical proof of age, can easily acquire such material from sources in another country where it is legal or remains unprosecuted. See internet pornography.
The low cost of copying and delivering digital data boosted the formation of private circles of people swapping pornography. With the advent of peer-to-peer file sharing applications such as Kazaa, pornography swapping has reached new heights. Free pornography became available en masse from other users and is no longer restricted to private groups. Large amounts of free pornography on the Internet is also distributed for marketing purposes to encourage subscriptions to paid content.
Since the late 90's, "porn from the masses for the masses" seems to have become another new trend. Cheap digital cameras, increasingly powerful and user-friendly software, and easy access to pornographic source material have made it possible for individuals to produce and share home-made or home-altered porn for next to no cost. This is most notable in the evolution of 3D rendered porn and the 'enhancement' of existing material (photographs/videos) by blending celebrities into them.
On the Internet, pornography is often referred to as pr0n which is misspelled p0rn — porn written with zero, a common style in a so called leet speak. One theory on the origins of this spelling is that it was devised to fool spam filters which blocked emails with the word "porn" from coming through to the recipient. However, since leet speak has performed similar mutations on a number of words, including those unlikely to feature in unsolicited commercial e-mails (0wned, r00t, n00b, d00d), it is likely that any transformation of "porn" to "pr0n" for spamming purposes is at best an independent invention.
According to Google, 68 million searches including some variation of the word "porn" occur every day.
Legal status
The legal status of pornography varies widely. Most countries allow at least some form of pornography. In some countries, softcore pornography is considered tame enough to be sold in general stores or to be shown on TV. Hardcore pornography, on the other hand, is usually regulated. Child pornography is illegal in almost all countries, and most countries have restrictions on pornography involving violence or animals.
Some people, including pornography producer Larry Flynt and the famous writer Salman Rushdie, have argued that pornography is vital to freedom and that a free and civilized society should be judged by its willingness to accept pornography.
Most countries attempt to restrict minors' access to hardcore materials, limiting availability to adult bookstores, mail-order, via television channels that parents can restrict, among other means. There is usually an age limit for entrance, or the materials are displayed partly covered or not displayed at all. More generally, disseminating pornography to a minor is often illegal. Many of these efforts have been rendered moot by the wide availability of Internet pornography.
There are recurring urban legends of snuff movies, in which murders are filmed for pornographic purposes. Extensive work by law enforcement officials to ascertain the truth of these rumors have been unable to find any such works.
- Australia: Regulation has increased somewhat under the Howard government, but remains reasonably widely available. See censorship in Australia. Pornographic material may be bought and hired in Northern Territory and ACT, and may not contain violence, paedophilia or demeaning portrayals. The various States have different Laws on pornography, but the edited highlights are that there are numerous Adult Shops in each State and Territory, all of which can sell or rent X-Rated Material. Technically it is illegal to sell X-Rated material in Queensland, but it is not illegal to possess X-Rated material.
- Austria: "Youth-imperiling" materials or those which violate human dignity may not be displayed or sold to persons under 18 years of age. Nudity is not assumed as such material.
- Canada: Laws vary from province to province, however sale to persons under 18 (varies by province) is generally prohibited. Most materials are sold in adult stores, despite no specific law controlling the distribution.
- Colombia: Child pornography prohibited under new constitution. Marketing is very strictly regulated. Most materials are sold on the black market. Bogota has at least 300 places where pornography (hardcore) may be legally obtained.
- Denmark: Ban on pornographic literature was lifted in 1966. In 1969 Denmark was the first country in the world to legalise (hardcore) pornography.
- France: Extremely violent or graphic pornography is considered X-rated, may be shown only in specific theaters, and may not be displayed to minors. Incurs special taxes on revenue (33% for X-rated movies, 50% for pornographic online services). The rating system is controversial; for instance, in 2000, the sexually explicit and violent Baise-moi was initially rated as only "restricted" by the French government, but this classification was overturned by the Conseil d'État ruling on a lawsuit brought by associations supporting Christian and family values.
- Germany: Child pornography is forbidden, where law defines a child to be a person up to the age of 14. Hard pornography (violence and animal related) may not be produced or distributed; possession is allowed. Hardcore pornography is restricted to buyers of 18 years or older. If a store is accessible to minors, the material must not be on display and may only be sold discreetly and by request. Special parental privilege to show hardcore pornography to their children for educational purposes. The law defines pornography to be hardcore pornography, thus anything else is not restricted.
- Greece: Softcore magazines, calendars, and decks of cards are sold openly at roadside kiosks and tourist shops. Extreme or graphic pornography is generally restricted to adults or X-rated.[Nowadays most kiosks in Athens exhibit hardcore magazines and DVDs. Selling them is as shameful as selling condoms.]
- Hong Kong: Illegal if sold or shown to children under 18 of age.
- Hungary: Illegal if sold or shown to children under 18 of age. Display of genitals on cover of magazine is prohibited unless obscured.
- Ireland: Illegal until the mid-1990s.
- Indonesia : Illegal, however enforcement is extremely lax.
- Japan: Until the mid-1990s display of genitals prohibited, but no taboo regarding sex and violence. Portrayal of sexual activity by teenagers is not strongly regulated. Until recently, Japanese law prohibited the display or depiction of pubic hair, whether in pornographic material or not. Japanese editions of men's magazines such as Playboy had to have any visible signs of pubic hair airbrushed out. This prohibition may explain some visual characteristics of many manga or anime where pubic hair is absent from nude pictures. Anime and other pornography are available for all people of all ages with little restriction.
- Malaysia: Illegal, however enforcement is extremely lax.
- Mexico: Illegal if sold or shown to children under 18 or age, yet enforcement is lax.
- Netherlands: Very liberal laws. Sold openly at normal newsstands. Material involving animals recently declared illegal due to new animal-welfare laws.
- Norway: Hardcore material has for long been illegal de jure, but legal in practice, that is, illegal to produce, distribute and sell, but legal to possess. One may e.g. acquire it abroad, on the internet, or via satellite TV. There are also some illegal porn shops, especially in the larger cities. To satisfy legal requirements, editors of erotic magazines, domestic TV channels and cable TV have obscured sexual organs in activity using black rectangles etc. After the Supreme Court on 7 December 2005 unanimously acquitted a former magazine editor for publishing unobscured hardcore pornography in 2002, however, it is understood that printed hardcore pornography is no longer illegal, and it is expected that pornographic magazines will be introduced in general stores. It is not yet clear if the Supreme Court decision will affect film or TV. (NB! It is still illegal to depict illegal sexual activities, i.e. involving children, animals, necrophilia, rape, violence or the use of force.) [http://www.dagbladet.no/kultur/2005/12/07/451567.html], [http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/article1174004.ece], [http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/kultur/5301377.html]
- Russia: Production and distribution explicitly prohibited, but State Duma has repeatedly failed to pass laws regulating pornographic materials, leaving status of most material unclear. De jure all pornography is allowed (including child porn), but de facto there are some limitations on where it can be sold, and zoophilia and child pornography are de facto prohibited. Openly sold erotic magazines usually do not display nipples and pubic area on covers. Most material is filmed in Saint-Petersburg where the law defines pornography as materials including rape, bestiality, necrophilia or child pornography, making all other subject matters legal erotica.
- Singapore: Illegal, including softcore publications such as Playboy.
- Sweden: Material involving animals is de-facto legal but subject to animal-welfare laws. May be viewed beginning at age 18, no age limits for magazines.
- Switzerland: Legal, subject to exceptions: sale or display to persons under 16 or to non-consenting audiences is punishable by a fine or up to three years imprisonment. The same penalty is applicable for the possession, sale, import, etc. of child pornography, bestiality, excretions or violent acts. There is an exception for pornography with cultural or scientific merits. See [http://www.admin.ch/ch/d/sr/311_0/a197.html Article 197] of the Penal Code.
- United Kingdom: Hardcore material was illegal until 1999, when trade-barrier difficulties with regards to European Community membership ensured the relatively free movement of such goods for personal importation only. R18-rated videos are only available in licensed sex shops, but hardcore pornographic magazines are available in newsagents in some places. Purely textual pornography has not been prosecuted since the Inside Linda Lovelace trial of 1976. The Home Office plans to introduce legislation to ban violent pornography.
- United States: Hardcore material is legal at the Federal level unless it meets the Miller test of obscenity, which is rare. Prosecution for and tolerance of pornography varies widely from state to state and city to city. Certain materials/acts have been self-regulated out of mainstream porn. Pornographic materials may not be made available to persons under 18 years of age or 21 in some jurisdictions. Some attempts at restricting pornography on the Internet have been struck down by the courts; see: Internet pornography.
The potential ability to create realistic images using computer graphics or digital manipulation has led to some debates of legality. For instance, the Supreme Court of the United States struck down in 2002 the Child Pornography Prevention Act of 1996 that prohibited, among other things, simulated child pornography. The court ruled that it violated the First Amendment to ban material depicting fictional illegal conduct when no such conduct had been involved in production. However, in the UK, the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 reached entirely the opposite conclusion, that if an image creates a convincing enough impression, it becomes an indecent pseudo-photograph of a child and is equally prosecutable under the law as an actual photograph.
The Internet has also caused problems with the enforcement of age limits regarding performers. In most countries, women and men under the age of 18 are not allowed to appear in porn films, but in several European countries the age limit is 16, and in the UK it is legal for women as young as 16 to appear topless in mainstream newspapers and magazines. This material often ends up on the Internet and viewed by people in countries where this constitutes child pornography, creating challenges for lawmakers wishing to restrict access to such material.
Anti-pornography movement
Main article: Anti-pornography movement
Opposition to pornography generally comes from one of two sources: religion or feminism. Religious conservatives frequently decry pornography as immoral. They tend to believe that God has reserved sexual intercourse for a man and a woman within the confines of marriage, and that both the production and use of pornography contribute to immoral behavior in society. Feminist critics generally consider pornography demeaning to women. They believe that depictions of sexuality for erotic purposes are degrading to their subjects, and contribute to the male-centered objectification of women.
Critics from both groups have sometimes expressed belief in the existence of "pornography addiction", a phenomenon whose scientific validity has been questioned.
Pornography and sex crimes
It has long been theorized that there may be a link between pornography, particularly violent pornography, and an increase in sex crime. This theory has relatively little empirical support and indeed Japan, which is noted for violent pornography, has the lowest reported sex crime rate in the industrialized world, which has led some researchers to speculate that an opposite relationship may in fact exist; that wide availability of pornography may reduce crimes by giving potential offenders a socially accepted way of regulating their own sexuality. Conversely, some argue that reported sex crime rates are low in Japan because the culture is such that victims of sex crime are less likely to report it (e.g. chikan [http://www.belsona-strategic.com/hisandhers_subway.htm]).
Japanese study
Milton Diamond and Ayako Uchiyama write in "Pornography, Rape and Sex Crimes in Japan" (International Journal of Law and Psychiatry 22(1): 1-22. 1999) [http://www.hawaii.edu/PCSS/online_artcls/pornography/prngrphy_rape_jp.html]:
: Our findings regarding sex crimes, murder and assault are in keeping with what is also known about general crime rates in Japan regarding burglary, theft and such. Japan has the lowest number of reported rape cases and the highest percentage of arrests and convictions in reported cases of any developed nation. Indeed Japan is known as one of the safest developed countries for women in the world (Clifford, 1980). (...)
: Despite the absence of evidence, the myth persists that an abundance of sexual explicit material invariably leads to an abundance of sexual activity and eventually rape (e.g., Liebert, Neale, & Davison, 1973). Indeed, the data we report and review suggest the opposite. Christensen (1990) argues that to prove that available pornography leads to sex crimes one must at least find a positive temporal correlation between the two. The absence of any positive correlation in our findings, and from results elsewhere, between an increase in available pornography and the incidence of rape or other sex crime, is prima facie evidence that no link exists. But objectivity requires that an additional question be asked: "Does pornography use and availability prevent or reduce sex crime?" Both questions lead to hypotheses that have, over prolonged periods, been tested in Denmark, Sweden, West Germany and now in Japan. Indeed it appears from our data from Japan, as it was evident to Kutchinsky (1994), from research in Europe and Scandinavia, that a large increase in available sexually explicit materials, over many years, has not been correlated with an increase in rape or other sexual crimes. Instead, in Japan a marked decrease in sexual crimes has occurred.
That hypothesis is challenged by a recent increase in sex crimes in Japan which, however, parallels an increase in all crimes. Also, there have been substantial movements to support victims of rape through laws and public education. Nevertheless, some in Japan have blamed the increase on violent pornography and indeed, some sex offenders report having been inspired by themes in commonly available pornography. The counter argument is, of course, that some sex offenders will likely use any defense they can to lower their culpability.
Pornographic conventions
Pornographic work contains a number of conventions. Although pornography targeted at heterosexual males often includes interaction between females, interaction between males is taboo. In hardcore materials, a male generally ejaculates outside his partner's body, in full view: the so-called "money shot". Penises are almost always shown fully erect (except where prohibited, e.g. in legal United Kingdom magazines). The choice of position is naturally geared to giving the viewer the fullest view of the woman, making the reverse cowgirl position, and the man holding the woman in a "dog-and-lamp-post" position among the most popular. Fellatio scenes usually involve the woman looking into the camera or at the man, for similar reasons. Especially in American or Japanese porn, women tend to be unrealistically vocal and loud during hardcore scenes.
In the "cheaper" magazines the copy accompanying the text is often derogatory to the female subjects: references to sluts, slags and whores abound.
These conventions apply to mainstream pornography. Homosexual and BDSM-related pornography, for example, often operate under different rules.
Pornography by region
Main article: Pornography by region
The production and distribution of pornography are economic activities of some importance. The exact size of the economy of pornography and the influence that it plays in political circles are matters of controversy.
Sub-genres of pornography
Main article: List of pornographic sub-genres
In general, softcore refers to pornography that does not depict penetration or extreme fetish acts, and hardcore refers to pornography that depicts penetration and/or extreme fetish acts.
The main genres of pornography sold are:
- Amateur pornography
- Bondage pornography
- Big-Breasts pornography
- Fetish pornography
- Gay pornography
- Lesbian pornography
- Non-nude pornography
- Orgy pornography
- Race-oriented pornography, (e.g. Asian, black, Latino, interracial)
- Shemale pornography
- Teen pornography
- Voyeur pornography, (e.g. hidden camera pornography, "upskirt" pornography)
Media
See also
- Erotic art
- Erotica
- Glamour photography
- List of erotic authors
- List of gay pornographic magazines
- List of men's magazines
- List of porn stars
- List of pornographic book publishers
- List of pornographic film studios
- List of pornographic magazines
- List of pornography industry personalities
- Pornographic actor
- Pornographic movie
- Sex in advertising
- Sex worker
External links and sources
News
- [http://www.guardian.co.uk/germany/article/0,2763,1451509,00.html "Archaeologist finds 'oldest porn statue'"] by Krysia Diver, The Guardian, April 4, 2005
- Berkowitz, Ben: [http://www.bizreport.com/news/8560/ Porn Business Driving DVD Technology], Reuters, 2004.
- [http://www.wired.com/news/games/0,2101,63678,00.html?tw=wn_story_related Sim Sex Not So Scintillating] Wired Magazine, June 7, 2004 --Includes a detailed summary of Hentai games and discusses their lack of success in the United States
Advocacy
- [http://www.nostatusquo.com/ACLU/dworkin/PornAList.html Andrea's Dworkin book Pornography: Men Possessing Women] The feminist classic on pornography
- [http://www.oneangrygirl.net/antiporn.html Anti-Porn resource Center] big list of anti-pornography advocacy resources
- [http://talkintrash.com/playboy/PB.toc.html Feminist analysis of playboy] by Linnea Smith
- [http://www.oneangrygirl.net/pornmyths.html Porn Myths]: anti-porn advocacy page of feminist t-shirt designer "one angry girl"
- [http://www.catwinternational.org/ Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW)] - big list of resources on the sex industry (primarily focused on prostitution)
- [http://www.mincava.umn.edu/documents/arpornography/arpornography.html Pornography and Sexual Violence] by Robert Jensen
- Diana Russell's [http://www.dianarussell.com/porntoc.html Pornography As a Cause of Rape] from Diana Russell's book.
Government
- [http://www.porn-report.com/ Attorney General's Commission on Pornography Final Report.] July 1986 U.S. Department of Justice, Washington D.C. 20530.
- Kutchinsky, Berl, Professor of Criminology: [http://www.fanny-hill.net/html/o1a_danish_pornography_laws.htm The first law that legalized pornography] (Denmark)
Sociology
- Beck, Marianna Ph.D., "[http://www.libidomag.com/nakedbrunch/europorn01.html The Roots of Western Pornography]", [http://www.libidomag.com/nakedbrunch/europorn02.html part 2], history of pornography in the West.
- Diamond, M. and Uchiyama, A: [http://www.hawaii.edu/PCSS/online_artcls/pornography/prngrphy_rape_jp.html Pornography, Rape and Sex Crimes in Japan], International Journal of Law and Psychiatry 22(1): 1-22 (1999). Reports that a significant increase in the availability of pornography in Japan was accompanied by a decrease in sex crimes, in accordance with similar findings in other countries.
- Morality in Media [http://www.obscenitycrimes.org/news/Porn-Crime-Link-RWP.cfm paper] with a number of sources that purports to show that there is a link between violent crime and pornography.
- [http://www.science.uva.nl/~seop/entries/pornography-censorship/index.html#1 Article:Pornography and Censorship in: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]
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Category:Sexual arts
Category:Sexology
Category:Erotic entertainment
ja:ポルノ
September 3September 3 is the 246th day of the year (247th in leap years). There are 119 days remaining.
Events
- 36 BC - In the battle of Naulochus, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, admiral of Octavian, defeats Sextus Pompeius, son of Pompey, thus ending Pompeian resistance to the Second Triumvirate.
- 301 - San Marino, one of the smallest nations in the world and the world's oldest republic still in existence, is founded by Saint Marinus.
- 590 - St. Gregory I becomes Pope.
- 1189 - Richard I of England is crowned in Westminster.
- 1260 - The Mamluks defeat the Mongols at the Battle of Ain Jalut in Palestine, marking their first decisive defeat and the point of maximum expansion of the Mongol Empire.
- 1650 - Third English Civil War: Battle of Dunbar (1650)
- 1651 - Third English Civil War: Battle of Worcester - Charles II of England is defeated in the last main battle of the war.
- 1777 - Cooch's Bridge - Skirmish of American Revolutionary war in New Castle County, Delaware where the Flag of the United States was flown in battle for the first time.
- 1783 - American Revolutionary War ends: Treaty of Paris - A treaty between the United States and the Kingdom of Great Britain is signed in Paris, ending the war.
- 1798 - Weeklong battle of St. George's Caye begun between Spanish and British off the coast of Belize.
- 1826 - The USS Vincennes commanded by William Finch, leaves New York City to become first United States warship to circumnavigate globe.
- 1838 - Dressed in a sailor's uniform and carrying identification papers provided by a Free Black seaman, future abolitionist Frederick Douglass boards a train in Maryland on his way to freedom from slavery.
- 1855 - Indian Wars: In Nebraska, 700 soldiers under American General William Harney avenge the Grattan Massacre by attacking a Sioux village, killing 100 men, women, and children.
- 1861 - American Civil War: Confederate General Leonidas Polk invades neutral Kentucky, prompting the state legislature to ask for Union assistance.
- 1874 - The congress of the state of México elevates Naucalpan to the category of Villa, with the title of "Villa de Juárez".
- 1878 - Over 640 die when the crowded pleasure boat Princess Alice collides with the Bywell Castle in the River Thames.
- 1895 - The first professional American football game is played, in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, between the Latrobe YMCA and the Jeannette Athletic Club. (Latrobe won the contest 12-0).
- 1902 - Popular author Sarah Orne Jewett is thrown out of a carriage, virtually ending her writing career.
- 1914 - Papacy of Giacomo della Chiesa began. He becomes pope Benedict XV.
- 1935 - Sir Malcolm Campbell reaches 304.331 miles per hour on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, becoming the first person to drive an automobile over 300 mph
- 1939 - World War II: France, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia declare war on Germany.
- 1942 - Uprising of the Jewish ghetto in Lakhva occurs.
- 1943 - World War II: Mainland Italy is invaded by Allied forces for the first time in the war.
- 1943 - The Allies sign the armistice with Italy in Cassibile.
- 1951 - The first long-running American television soap opera, Search for Tomorrow, airs its first episode on the CBS network.
- 1954 - The last new episode of The Lone Ranger is aired on radio after 2,956 episodes over a period of 21 years.
- 1954 - The People's Liberation Army begin shelling the ROC-controlled islands of Quemoy
- 1958 - In Greece, police start shaving the hair of youths called "teddy boys" to the skin.
- 1966 - The last new episode of the television series The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet airs.
- 1967 - The last telecast of the television game show What's My Line? airs on CBS after a 17 year run.
- 1967 - Nguyen Van Thieu is elected President of South Vietnam.
- 1967 - Dagen H in Sweden: traffic changes from driving on the left to driving on the right
- 1977 - Sadaharu Oh hits his 756th career homerun in the Japanese Central League, passing Hank Aaron to become the world leader for most HRs in a professional baseball league.
- 1971 - Qatar regains independence from the United Kingdom.
- 1976 - Viking program: The Viking 2 spacecraft lands at Utopia Planitia on Mars and takes the first close-up, color photos of the planet's surface.
- 1991 - In Hamlet, North Carolina, a grease fire breaks out at the Imperial Foods chicken processing plant, killing 25 people.
- 1994 - Sino-Soviet Split: Russia and the People's Republic of China agree to de-target their nuclear weapons against each other.
- 1997 - Arizona Governor Fife Symington is convicted for various crimes tied to his real estate business, effectively forcing him out of office.
- 1997 - A Vietnamese Airlines Tupolev TU-134 crashes on approach into Phnom Penh airport, killing 64.
- 2004 - The Beslan school massacre results in the deaths of approximately 344 teachers and children.
- 2005 - American Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist dies.
Births
- 1034 - Emperor Go-Sanjo of Japan (d. 1073)
- 1499 - Diane de Poitiers, mistress of Henri II of France (d. 1566)
- 1568 - Adriano Banchieri, Italian composer (d. 1634)
- 1675 - Paul Dudley, Attorney-General of Massachusetts (d. 1751)
- 1693 - Charles Radclyffe, British politician (d. 1746)
- 1695 - Pietro Locatelli, Italian composer (d. 1764)
- 1710 - Abraham Trembley, Swiss naturalist (d. 1784)
- 1724 - Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester, British soldier and Governor of Quebec (d. 1808)
- 1781 - Eugène de Beauharnais, son of Napoleon's wife, Josephine (d. 1824)
- 1810 - Paul Kane, Canadian painter (d. 1871)
- 1849 - Sarah Orne Jewett, American writer (d. 1909)
- 1869 - Fritz Pregl, Austrian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1930)
- 1875 - Ferdinand Porsche, German automotive engineer (d. 1951)
- 1887 - Frank Christian, American musician (d. 1973)
- 1899 - Frank Macfarlane Burnet, Australian biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1985)
- 1900 - Maurice Dobb, economist (d. 1976)
- 1900 - Urho Kekkonen, eighth President of Finland (d. 1986)
- 1905 - Carl David Anderson, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1991)
- 1907 - Loren Eiseley, American anthropologist (d. 1977)
- 1908 - Lev Semenovich Pontryagin, Russian mathematician (d. 1988)
- 1910 - Kitty Carlisle, American actress and television personality
- 1913 - Alan Ladd, American actor (d. 1964)
- 1914 - Dixy Lee Ray, Governor of Washington State (d. 1994)
- 1916 - Eddie Stanky, baseball player (d. 1999)
- 1918 - Helen Wagner, American actress
- 1921 - Thurston Dart, English harpsichordist and conductor (d. 1971)
- 1923 - Mort Walker, American cartoonist
- 1928 - Gaston Thorn, President of the European Commission
- 1929 - Irene Papas, Greek actress
- 1930 - Cherry Wilder, New Zealand author (d. 2002)
- 1931 - Dick Motta, American basketball coach
- 1933 - Tompall Glaser, American singer
- 1938 - Eileen Brennan, American actress
- 1938 - Caryl Churchill, English playwright
- 1938 - Ryoji Noyori, Japanese chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1940 - Eduardo Galeano, Uruguayan journalist
- 1941 - Sergei Dovlatov, Russian writer (d. 1990)
- 1942 - Al Jardine, American musician (the Beach Boys)
- 1943 - Valerie Perrine, American actress
- 1947 - Kjell Magne Bondevik Prime Minister of Norway
- 1949 - Patriarch Peter VII of Alexandria (d. 2004)
- 1955 - Steve Jones, English musician (Sex Pistols)
- 1959 - Merritt Butrick, American actor (d. 1989)
- 1963 - Amber Lynn, American actress
- 1964 - Adam Curry, Internet entrepreneur
- 1965 - Charlie Sheen, American actor
- 1969 - John Fugelsang, American actor
- 1969 - Dominic West, British actor
- 1976 - Vivek Oberoi, Indian actor
- 1977 - Olof Mellberg, Swedish footballer
- 1980 - Jason McCaslin, Canadian bassist (Sum41)
- 1982 - Fearne Cotton, British television presenter
- 1982 - Andrew McMahon, American singer and songwriter
- 1985 - Scott Carson, English footballer
- 1986 - Shaun White, American snowboarder and skateboarder
Deaths
- 1402 - Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan (b. 1351)
- 1420 - Robert Stewart, 1st Duke of Albany, regent of Scotland
- 1592 - Robert Greene, English writer (b. 1558)
- 1634 - Edward Coke, English colonial entrepreneur and jurist (d. 1634)
- 1653 - Claudius Salmasius, French classical scholar (b. 1588)
- 1658 - Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England (b. 1599)
- 1662 - William Lenthall, English politician (b. 1591)
- 1720 - Henri de Massue, Marquis de Ruvigny, 1st Viscount Galway, French soldier and diplomat (b. 1648)
- 1729 - Jean Hardouin, French scholar (b. 1646)
- 1766 - Archibald Bower, Scottish historian (b. 1686)
- 1808 - John Montgomery, American delegate to the Continental Congress (b. 1722)
- 1857 - John McLoughlin, Canadian trapper (b. 1784)
- 1860 - Aleksey Khomyakov, Russian poet (b. 1804)
- 1883 - Ivan Turgenev, Russian author (b. 1818)
- 1893 - James Harrison, Scottish-born inventor (b. 1816)
- 1903 - Joseph Skipsey, British poet (b. 1832)
- 1914 - Albéric Magnard, French composer (b. 1865)
- 1948 - Edvard Beneš, President of Czechoslovakia (b. 1884)
- 1962 - e. e. cummings, American poet (b. 1894)
- 1964 - Stewart Holbrook, American author (b. 1893)
- 1967 - James Dunn, American actor (b. 1905)
- 1969 - Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam president (b. 1890)
- 1970 - Vince Lombardi, American football coach (b. 1913)
- 1974 - Harry Partch, American composer (b. 1901)
- 1980 - Duncan Renaldo, American actor (b. 1904)
- 1981 - Alec Waugh, English writer (b. 1898)
- 1991 - Frank Capra, American film director (b. 1897)
- 1994 - James T. Aubrey, American television executive (b. 1918)
- 2001 - Pauline Kael, American film critic (b. 1919)
- 2001 - Thuy Trang, American actress (b. 1973)
- 2003 - Paul Jennings Hill, American anti-abortion murderer (b. 1954)
- 2005 - Richard S.R. Fitter, British ornithologist and botanist (b. 1913)
- 2005 - William Rehnquist, Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1924)
Holidays
Regarded as an "Egyptian" day, i.e. bad luck.
- RC Saints - Pope Gregory I, Saint Marinus
also see September 3 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Qatar - Independence Day (from Great Britain, 1971)
- San Marino - Foundation (301) by Saint Marinus
- Taiwan / Republic of China - Armed Forces Day
External links
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/3 BBC: On This Day]
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September 2 - September 4 - August 3 - October 3 – more historical anniversaries
ko:9월 3일
ms:3 September
ja:9月3日
simple:September 3
th:3 กันยายน
Zaporozhye
Zaporizhia (, Zaporizhzhia; , Zaporozh'ye) is a city in south-eastern Ukraine, the capital of Zaporizhia Oblast. It lies on the banks of the Dnieper river.
Zaporizhia has 900,000 inhabitants (2004).
It is an important industrial center of Ukraine, particularly a home for:
- famous hydroelectric power plant earlier known as "DnieproGES";
- ZAZ, the country's main car manufacturing company;
- "Motor-Sitch" design-bureau and production company, the world-famous airplane engine manufacturer.
History
The Khortytsia Island in the middle of modern Zaporizhia was one of the historic locations for the Zaporizhian Sich - the main fortress capital of the Cossack state (the Zaporozhian Host) and the Cossack Hetmanate republic.
Category:Cities in Ukraine
February
February is the second month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. It is the shortest Gregorian month and the only month with the length of 28 or 29 days. The month has 29 days in leap years, when the year number is divisible by four (except for years that are divisible by 100 and not by 400). In other years the month has 28 days.
February begins, astronomically speaking, with the sun in the constellation of Capricornus and ends with the sun in the constellation of Aquarius.
Astrologically speaking, February begins with the sun in the sign of Aquarius and ends in the sign of Pisces.
February was named for the Roman god Februus, the god of purification. January and February were the last two months to be added to the Roman calendar, since the Romans originally considered winter a monthless period. This change was made by Numa Pompilius about 700 BC in order to bring the calendar in line with a standard lunar year. Numa's Februarius contained 29 days (30 in a leap year). Augustus is alleged to have removed one day from February and added it to August, (renamed from Sextilis to honor himself), so that Julius Caesar's July would not contain more days. However there is little historical evidence to support this claim.
July
February was nominally the last month of the Roman calendar, as the year originally began in March. At certain intervals Roman priests inserted an intercalary month, Mercedonius, after February to realign the year with the seasons.
Historical names for February include the Anglo-Saxon terms Solmoneth (mud month) and Kale-monath (named for cabbage) as well as Charlemagne's designation Hornung. In old Japanese calendar, the month is called Kisaragi (如月, 絹更月 or 衣更月). It is sometimes also called Mumetsuki (梅見月) or Konometsuki (木目月). In Finnish, the month is called helmikuu, meaning "month of the pearl".
"February" is pronounced without the first r, as "Febuary", by many speakers. This is probably dissimilation, or an analogical change influenced by "January".
See also
- Historical anniversaries
External links
- [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_160.html The Straight Dope: How come February has only 28 days?]
Category:Months
ko:2월
ms:Februari
ja:2月
simple:February
th:กุมภาพันธ์
May
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May is the fifth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days.
May begins (astrologically) with the sun in the sign of Taurus and ends in the sign of Gemini. Astronomically speaking, the sun begins in the constellation of Aries and ends in the constellation of Taurus.
The month may have been named for the Greek goddess Maia, who was identified with the Roman goddess of fertility, Bona Dea, whose festival was held in May.
In old Japanese calendar, the month is called Satsuki (皐月). It is also a common name for females. In Japan, there is the so-called May sickness, a kind of sickness where new students or workers start to be tired of their new schoolwork or jobs. It is due to a Japanese custom that all schoolyears and fiscal years start on April 1st.
April
In Finnish, the month is called toukokuu, meaning "month of sowing". In Slovene, it is called veliki traven, which means the month of high grass.
Events in May
- In the pagan wheel of the year May begins on Bealtaine in the northern hemisphere and Samhain in the southern hemisphere.
- In the Irish calendar May 1 is Beltane (Bealtaine), the first day of Summer, and a public holiday is held on the first Monday in May.
- In many countries, May Day is May 1. This is celebrated as Labor Day in many countries.
- In the United Kingdom, May Day is May 1, but a public holiday is held on the first Monday in May.
- Eastern Christianity celebrates Easter on a Sunday between April 4 and May 8.
- In Western Europe May 8 is VE Day. In Eastern Europe it is celebrated in May 9.
- In the European Union May 9 is Europe Day
- In Kentucky, United States, the Kentucky Derby is held on the first Saturday in May.
- In the US, Canada, Brazil and Australia, Mother's Day is the second Sunday in May.
- In Canada, Victoria Day is observed on the Monday on or before May 24. In Quebec, it is known as Patriots' Day (Journée nationale des patriotes).
- In the US, Memorial Day, a public holiday, is on May 31, but observed on the last Monday in May.
- In Argentina, the May Revolution (or Revolución de Mayo), a national holiday, is on May 25.
- No Pants Day is celebrated the first Friday in May.
- World Fair Trade Day is celebrated on the second Saturday in May.
- On 12 May, International Nurses Day is celebrated.
- Towel Day is celebrated in May in tribute to Douglas Adams, author of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
- In the American film industry, the first week of May-- that is, between the 2th and the 8th-- marks the beginning of the summer movie season.
- On the full moon of May, Vesak is celebrated in many southeast Asian countries, It comemorates the birth, enlightenment, and death of Siddhartha Gautama.
Trivia
- Within any calendar year, no other month begins on the same day of the week as May.
- May's flower is the lily of the valley.
- May's birthstone is the emerald.
- No President of the United States has ever died in May, and May is the only month with this property.
See also
- Historical anniversaries
External links
-
Category:Months
ko:5월
ms:Mei
ja:5月
simple:May
th:พฤษภาคม
Richard Riorden
Richard J. Riordan (born May 1, 1930) is a Republican politician from California, who had served as the California Secretary for Education from 2003–2005 and as Mayor of Los Angeles from 1993–2001. Riordan ran for Governor of California unsuccessfully in 2002. A Catholic, he is married to Nancy Daly Riordan and has three daughters from his first marriage.
Pre-political life
Riordan, an Irish-American, was born in Flushing, New York and attended Princeton University, earning a degree in Philosophy. He then served in the Korean War, and earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Michigan in 1956. Shortly thereafter received an inheritance from his father. He invested the money in four firms—Control Data Corporation, Litton Industries, Haloid (predecessor of Xerox), and Syntex—and within a few years had converted an $80,000 investment into almost $500,000.
He moved to Los Angeles to begin work as an attorney for the downtown law firm of O'Melveny & Myers, but spent the next several years moving from firm to firm while honing his skills as a venture capitalist. Among his successes were the first company to produce low-cost cassette tapes, as well as a $650,000 investment in Convergent Technologies which soared to $19.9 million when it was acquired by Unisys in 1985.
In the mid-1980s he formed the own venture capital firm of Riordan, Lewis & Haden with a J. Christopher Lewis, a former professional tennis player, and former Los Angeles Rams quarterback Pat Haden. In addition to venture projects, Riordan was also involved in several leveraged buyouts of supermarket chains and, most notably, toy manufacturer Mattel in 1984.
Mayor
When Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley announced his retirement, Riordan's interest turned to the 1993 mayoral election. It was to be a pivotal election for several reasons. Bradley had served in office for five terms, so the winner would be the first new face in two decades. During this time Los Angeles had became a major world city, but had also witnessed a dramatic rise in crime, especially gang violence, traffic, and other problems damaging the region's quality of life. The booming economy of the last three decades had fizzled. Racial tensions had a risen with the LAPD under Chief Daryl Gates under sharp criticism for his tactics, and when a Korean-American store owner, Soon Ja Du, was sentenced only to probation after she had shot 13-year old Latasha Harlins over a bottle of orange juice. Overshadowing and overarching all were the 1992 Los Angeles riots, which followed the acquittal of four LAPD officers accused of beating African-American motorist Rodney King.
Riordan and Mike Woo, City Councilman for Hollywood, emerged as the leading candidates in a fierce and bitter race. Although municipal elections in California were non-partisan, the news media observed that Republican Riordan and Democrat Woo contrasted starkly. Riordan campaigned as a businessman "tough enough to turn LA around." He promised to crack down on crime, stating that "from a safe city, all else follows," by hiring 3000 additional police officers, and to shore up the city's finances and business environment by reducing regulation and contracting private firms to operate LAX. Riordan spent several million dollars on his campaign out of his own pocket. Woo's campaign criticized the police and attacked Riordan as too wealthy and too white to understand the issues of concern to the ordinary Angeleno.
On election day, Riordan won a decisive victory, 54%-46%, becoming the first Republican mayor in over thirty years. Many of his proposals were blocked by the heavily Democratic City Council or proved simply unfeasible in reality; for example, the police academy did not have enough classroom space and instructors to train as many new police officers as Riordan had initially promised. Nevertheless, he was seen as successful. He streamlined certain business regulations and established "one-stop" centers around the city for functions such as permit applications. He feuded with Gates' successor, former Philadelphia police commissioner Willie Williams, but oversaw a general decline in crime. (In 1997, Riordan replaced Williams with LAPD veteran Bernard Parks.) In 1997, he was reelected in a landslide.
Riordan's tenure was marked by a controversy over the massive cost overruns occurring during the construction of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Red Line subway, a project close to his heart. At the same time, a theretofore little-known group called the Bus Riders Union (an innocuously named group founded by a husband-and-wife team of socialist revolutionaries, and not a true grassroots organization like New York's Straphangers Campaign) sued the city--on the basis of racial discrimination--over diversion of funds from buses to Red Line construction, and managed to force it into a ten-year consent decree in 1996 that eviscerated MTA funding for the construction of subway and light rail projects. Riordan has publicly lamented signing the consent decree and counts it as the biggest mistake of his mayoral tenure.
Riordan tackled the problem of governing the sprawling city by spearheading the creation of neighborhood-based councils, to provide community organizations a way to participate in governance. He paid special attention to improving the state of the Los Angeles Unified School District; while he had no direct jurisdiction over that body, he campaigned heavily for reform-oriented candidates. He further invested his own personal money into California's school system, spending nearly $50 million for new classroom furnishings, including computers. Indeed, while mayor, Riordan was noted for his refusal to accept the job's salary, instead living comfortably off his wealth. In 1999 he backed a City Charter reform that curtailed the ability of members of the City Council to block reforms.
Riordan was succeeded in 2001 by James K. Hahn after being term-limited out of office. In the mayoral primary election that year, Riordan had endorsed his advisor and friend Steve Soboroff. Soboroff came in third in the nonpartisan race, and Hahn and former California State Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa advanced to the runoff. In the runoff election, Hahn defeated Villaraigosa, whom Riordan endorsed for the second round of balloting. Villaraigosa would go on to beat Hahn in a 2005 rematch for Mayor.
2002 gubernatorial race
In 2002, Riordan, a moderate Republican called a "Republican In Name Only" by some, decided to seek the governorship. He was opposed in the Republican primary election by conservative businessman Bill Simon and former California Secretary of State Bill Jones. Although he lead early in the race by over 30 percentage points, he eventually lost to Simon by several points.
One controversial aspect of his loss was the fact that Governor Gray Davis, a Democrat, ran advertisements against Riordan, claiming that Riordan was not conservative enough to be a Republican — essentially helping the Simon campaign. It is very rare for a candidate to try to influence the other party's primary in such a manner; however, Davis felt that he had a much better chance against the conservative Simon than the moderate Riordan, and that the move was worth the risk. Riordan lost the primary, and Davis went on to defeat Simon in the general election by a close margin.
California Secretary for Education
When Davis was removed by the 2003 California recall, there was speculation that Riordan might run for his office. However, after friend and fellow moderate Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger announced his intention to run, Riordan decided against running himself. He endorsed Schwarzenegger, and, following his victory, served on his transition team, and was appointed to the cabinet as Secretary for Education. Riordan left the position on June 30 2005.
Not known for his eloquence, Riordan became the center of a media circus, due to a remark made July 1 2004 to a 6-year-old girl in Santa Monica. During a children's library event, a girl asked Riordan if he knew what her name, Isis, meant. Riordan responded, "it means stupid, dirty girl," laughed with several others in the crowd, and then asked her what it really meant. She then replied, "It means 'Egyptian goddess'," to which Riordan stated, "That's neat." He later explained it as a failed attempt at humor. Although Governor Schwarzenegger continues to support him, Riordan's resignation has been demanded by State Assemblyman Mervyn M. Dymally, citizens' rights groups, and civil rights groups, including the NAACP and LULAC. The NAACP, however, rescinded their insistence after learning that the girl was white.
External links
- [http://www.ose.ca.gov/bios/riordan.html Official Biography from the California Office of the Secretary for Education]
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References
- Taub, Daniel. "[http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m5072/is_n26_v19/ai_19706203 Riordan made his fortune backing start-up ventures]," Los Angeles Business Journal, June 30, 1997
- Wood, Daniel B. "[http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0805/p01s03-uspo.html Riordan: 'Goofy' or a Mr. Fixit?]," Christian Science Monitor, August 5, 2003
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