Uncommon Sense Edition 2

Edition 2

Uncommon Sense Magazine (en Français):

A quarterly digest of subversive minor-adult sexuality.

Edition 2, 16 May, 2009. PDF Version

To discuss this, and other editions, see wordpress. Get involved in writing the next issue.

This issue

• Editorials - On Gieles' challenge.
• State of the movement - Online progress, B4U-Act, Academia
• News Digest - US, UK, Canada, Germany, Sweden, Jamaica, Panama, Philippines, Ghana, Japan
• Letters to the Editor - Call for letters.
• On the forums - BoyChat and GirlChat.
• This 3 months in anti-pedophilia - Yvonne van Hertum arrest, attacks on NAMbLA.
• Links and recommended reading - Notes from Another Country.

Happy reading. - The Editors.

Editorials

What can be done?

On Gieles' challenge

Minor-adult sexuality. There is no movement, lets start one.

By Newgon.com.

In his 2008 article for Koinos, Dr Frans Gieles concluded that ideology overrides the lesser power of legitimate scientific enquiry. He is undoubtedly correct. Gieles then asks us "what can be done against such ideologies?" He knows the answer, but leaves the task of establishing its "what" and "how" to another author, or at least another day.

The need for political movement

To challenge and overthrow the prevailing ideology, we need more than a logical argument from legitimate, clean-cut science or philosophy. We need something that in his lifetime, Gieles has seen live, die, succeed and fail for different communities. We need a movement; specifically - a social-political movement for minor-adult sexuality. Firstly, our article will argue that there is no movement in this area, and then go on to assert that certain people in their online communities are entertaining a movement fallacy. We will then suggest, with emphasis on past failures, and present opportunities, ways of initiating political movement as a solution to Gieles' challenge.

Owing to its speculative nature, we will not be making detailed proposals as to exactly what form a core movement for minor-adult sexuality would or should take in the long-run. Instead, we will analyse our agenda/s, past and present, with emphasis on opportunities for future co-operation and development.

Who are "we"?

To understand our character, agenda, reputation and future as a potential collective movement, we must first answer this question. In answering this question, we also learn one very important thing, namely that in social-political terms, there is no present movement.

So firstly, we must assess the organ of publication. Newgon.com, on which this magazine is published, is a website founded to campaign for the right of two or more people, disparate in age, to experience erotic rapport free from prosecution. This campaign involves a diversity of parties, approaching the topic from a number of perspectives both personal and political. Even the site's greatest detractors have capitulated to describing its founder quite plainly as a "gay man".

"Pedophiles"

But this neglects the fact that a very large number, possibly a majority of our participants were solicited from communities that are explicitly identified by themselves and if not, by others as "pedophile". If we look at Gieles' most recent publication of choice, a photography magazine with topical articles, the only (allegedly) "mainstream" commentary comes from the characteristically self-important Stephanie Dallam, vomiting the term "pedophile" into typefont as if she were already preparing to cleanse every orifice of her body after such an unsanitary exertion. Even rabid finger-pointers like Dallam are aware that the groups mentioned have given voice to those historical figures described as activist pedophiles - indeed dispassionately at the time, but more recently with a semantically incompetent, abusive fervour comparable to that of a 16th-century witch-hunting manual. We do, like-it-or-not, have society's "pedophiles" of choice among us, and we must therefore find legitimate ways of defending them. In fact, it is probably prudent to assume that this poisonous but definitive term could easily be used to describe all of us.

The fair and balanced (although by no means the consensus) definition of our agenda would describe a group of adults for:

1. The legalisation of adult-minor erotics ... and/or
2. The de-pathologisation and acceptance of adult attractions to minors.

Notable absences are minors' relationships with one another and their attractions to adults. Add to this the indispensable advocacy of young people and their eventual emancipation from the category known as children. That these are not included is by no means a denunciation of such interests, but a frank admission that these key elements are absent or exceedingly rare at present.

There is no movement

Gieles asked what can be done for a very good reason. This is perhaps the same reason that when dozens of pedophiles were banned from a user-generated "online encyclopedia", the article "Childlove Movement" was renamed, reduced dramatically in size and then correctly altered to imply that there is no such movement in this present day.

Too many, but not enough of us hide behind screen-names, fearing (quite wisely) that we would be unsupported, seen as illegitimate and mercilessly harassed if we made our identities known. Those of us who since the fall of the wider, pre-90s social movements, have taken the step - forced or otherwise of "going alone" have seen mixed fortunes ranging from psychological ragdolling, thru apathetic public ostracism, to dematerialisation. At present, unless two or three private discussion groups and a number of anonymous peer-support societies can be classed as an ongoing political movement, no such thing can be said to exist on the fronts we identified. It is perhaps more likely that through a combination of good intentions, desperation, wishful thinking and egotism, some individuals who do little more than post on single-issue bulletin boards see themselves as political activists. From this delusion, and to some extent through the warping and aggrandisement of the peer support culture, we could even conclude that a social-political movement exists; a kind of movement fallacy. This is an inconvenient concept that is to the space it begs to fill as Christopher Meloni is to Senior Detective. Appealing in some cases, sometimes convincing (if only in its perversity), but ultimately a Trojan Horse that should never be taken for real.

With that said, there is no reason at all to suggest that what already exists has no use. The provision of peer-support and information resources is exactly what we require to recruit, inform and improve morale. The "community" and its senior elements will exist as a reference point for lessons learned, acting as the speck of dust from which bigger and better things germinate. But this should not be seen to justify idly waiting for others to accept our conditions before we move onwards in union. We have to spot potential allies and identify the intermediate issues whose resolution will enlighten the public to ours and ultimately make them debatable. We need to realise that initial progress may not equate to a radical analysis of underpinning factors, and that in such a vein, we can discreetly influence other, more successful groups, perhaps without pushing any other agenda for months or even years.

Past failures

Those old enough to remember will generally agree that the old movements for sexual reform (1960s, 70s and 80s), specifically the long-dead pedophile movement, died away because of a combination of factors. Clearly, the 1980s pedophile movement failed to adequately position itself as a suitable progressive movement for that point in time. However, it is in fact doubtful that there was at that time, any scope for pedophiles or similar movements to make considerable progress. Certainly, the fact that today's elite, "pro victim" bureaucrats - at the time just another progressive movement, sided more with protectionism and antisexualism, presented our forefathers with a near-impossible feat. Add to this the inevitable anti-erotic posturing on HIV-AIDS, cynical, government-exacerbated gay schism, previously unseen generation of wealth and government funding for the emerging "victim-offender" psychiatric and prison-industrial complexes, and it is unsurprising that under such circumstances, failure was the only option.

Whilst this can only serve to highlight the importance of knowing exactly why past movements were bound to fail, we should not neglect to critically analyse our own agenda. Ironically, one legitimate source of criticism comes from the gay movement of the 1970s. In reply to Thomas O'Carroll, a well known pedophile trend-setter, Jamie Gough of the GayLeft collective asserted that "the starting point for the discussion should be a historical materialist analysis of the social oppression of children, and of its contradictions; and the perspective that this opens up for the liberation of children." O'Carroll is criticised for his naturalistic conception of childhood: "I think that this is simply the conventional view, which is at the centre of the oppression of children, that children do not and cannot know their own minds. The point here is not at all to understate the social power of adults to manipulate children. But precisely because that power is social, it has cracks in it." In this spirit, it will be advisable for future movements to emphasize the similarities between old and young as well as the differences, settling for nothing less than equal rights in what are admittedly (and by no means atypically) unequal relationships. By emphasizing inequalities and set-in-stone chronological roles, the O'Carroll's and Riegel's of this world leave themselves open to anti-oppression critiques - the very bread and butter of the new social movements they should be aiming to emulate.

Present opportunities

As already mentioned, there exist a number of well-regarded political movements that we can discreetly influence. Although they do not openly admit it, our influence will be vital to their long-term survival and development. And with power and connections of the kind we have not seen for decades, these groups are offering us a free ride, with minimal concessions in the long-run.

1. RSO Activism and the Family.

"Registered Sex Offender Activism" is a growing movement that incorporates local groups of RSOs, their families and unregistered individuals who wish to abolish any form of restriction (registry or order) that distinguishes sex offenders from other classes of criminal. Central to the legitimacy and acceptability of such groups is the fact that they do not currently ask for laws against "sexual acts" to be abolished, as they have more pressing concerns in the form of basic rights violations. Overturning these undeniably harsh laws is the primary aim of RSO groups because they represent a lesser challenge that is preliminary to the reform of laws against sexual expression.

Central to the RSO movement are the families of Registered Sex Offenders, often cited as the unintended victims. However much some may dislike the nuclear family, no one is likely to lose an argument if their point of view serves its integrity.

2. Youth Rights Movement.

"Youth Rights" is another small but growing movement that is critically distinguished from child advocacy by its focus on enrichment primarily by emancipation instead of protection. Whilst historical examples include suffrage campaigns, the American movement's organisational history arguably began with the internet-based Americans for a Society Free of Age Restrictions (ASFAR), which gave birth to the now more active National Youth Rights Association (NYRA), which has a relatively large membership and conducts campaigns "in-real-life". Whilst unlike ASFAR, NYRA refuses to take a stand on the Age of Consent, discussions among the group's membership indicate that nearly all of its members are pro-reform, with abolitionists well represented and not at all ostracised.

3. Sexual Minorities.

There exist many single issue sexual minority campaigns, which have either been rejected by gay culture or have sprung up independently. These groups have failed to co-operate with others, and will need to agree on a joint ethical philosophy if they are to attain an effective mass and appear less concerned with just their own fringe interests. Such groups, although largely ignorant of the factors that conspire against all sexual minorities, will need to converge in at least some form (for example, the Dutch NVSH) to be seen as something other than individual crank lobbies. Whilst this may not initially bear fruit, it will at least form the basis for a sustainable and effective social movement, and we should where possible, be there to help unite these forces and draw up the new philosophies.

4. Anti-Psychiatry and Anti-Victimology.

Anti-Psychiatry is a movement that incorporates many individuals who suffered from the mental health industry, in conjunction with psychiatrists such as Thomas Szasz, who wish to remove so-called mental illnesses from diagnostic manuals, where they fuel big pharma, legitimise electric shock treatments, etc. One of the core ideas is the fact that the DSM empathizes social norms, in effect medicalising morality. With help, Anti-Psychiatrists will be better equipped to campaign for the removal of paraphilias including pedophilia from the DSM and perhaps make institutes like Coalinga State Hospital obsolete.

Anti-Victimology - recognised this day as a narrow stream of academic thought in opposition to the "social science policing" of Finkelhor/Russell type victimologists and the abuse-lit industry, is gaining wider acceptance, even among some feminists. Its key proponent in the area of adult-minor sexuality is Dr Bruce Rind, a Philadelphia-based psychologist and statistician who has carried out studies on long-forgotten data, using his conclusions to argue against the assumption of intrinsic harm.

Both of these spheres have the potential to be mainstreamed in the spirit of other once fringe academic arguments.

5. Libertarianism and advocates for the Smaller State.

Every establishment, it appears, has its chosen scapegoats. And for as long as this remains the case, said scapegoat groups will have a vested interest in discrediting and downsizing the political establishment. To this end, many despised social groups have chosen Libertarians and Anarchists as allies, working from the general premises of the state as at best a liberating force, thru necessary and even unnecessary evils. With an aim of reducing establishment powers, Libertarianism is an automatic ally of all the above mentioned groups. And as centre-right opposition to Labour's police-surveillance culture in the UK is showing, the relationship between minority groups and their traditional allies is by no means straightforward.

Co-operation: When and why?

Initially, our associations with other groups need not be declared. At the same time, it would be foolish to force, or more accurately fail to force the assimilation of such groups into a single body. With friendly contact and co-operation between potential allies, what integration we do need will come about naturally as a result of shared interests and new, intermediate initiatives. The only "should" for explorers of other political groups is that there should be no "shoulds" as to how the groups co-operate and integrate with one another.

What can not be doubted is that all of the groups listed above will eventually need support from others to continue their progress. For example, when sex offender law reform groups have accomplished their preliminary aims of liberalising supervision statutes and punishments, how will they survive, and what for? At said point in their development, it will be time for the RSO groups to address the underlying issues of stereotyping, scapegoating and antisexualism that have seen little (but critically, some) attention from the leaders of RSO activism. For this, the groups will need new philosophies, new members and a new consensus to expand their operations and achieve their secondary aims.

Regardless of our potential allies' main aims, by influencing them at an early stage, we not only establish common cause but increase awareness of our issues, helping to smooth structural and ideological changes. Ultimately, this will be to the benefit of our (eventual) social-political movement and the wider lobby for human freedoms.

State of the movement

There has been little offline activism since the last issue. Online, however, development of a new MAP-oriented social networking website is underway. This site aims to bring a more personal touch that tends to be lacking on the fora, and seeks to supplement the communities, providing members with the ability to profile and blog freely within the bounds of legality. Also, the flag project is still being worked on despite long delays. With these two projects, the fragmented communities will be more unified and the MAP identity strengthened.

In an important decision for activists, self-proclaimed Dutch "pedophile-hunter", Yvonne van Hertum, was convicted by a court in the Netherlands for libel. (See This 3 months in anti-pedophilia below.) However, those in the community remain under attack, as evidenced by the infiltration of popular website Boylover.net, a revelation which emerged when screencaps of the site's administrative board were circulated on an anti-pedophile site. It is to be hoped that the van Hertum conviction will serve as a useful precedent in future cases.

Meanwhile, Michael Melsheimer of B4U-Act (http://www.b4uact.org/) has struck back against notorious anti-pedophile organization Perverted Justice, using US mandatory tax reporting requirements to request information on the organization's structure and charitable status. (See BC:1162409 and BC:1165691.)

B4U-Act have themselves just issued a summary statement on their Spring 2009 Workshop - a meeting between 4 Minor-Attracted Persons (MAPs) and 17 mental health professionals, to discuss the needs and goals of MAPs entering into therapeutic relationships: GC:469588. The Editors note that B4U-Act have not, to date, adopted a public position on the question of de-pathologizing pedophilia as a 'mental disorder' or on its removal from the DSM.

Academia

File:Janssen0.jpg

Diederik Janssen presented "Sexualities—Consentualities: Cross-Cultural Aspects."

The academic community has seen a flurry of anti-victimological activity over the past few months, mostly from familiar names.

In "The Social, Political, and Legal Construction of the Concept of Child Pornography," (Journal of Homosexuality, 2009; full text) Harris Mirkin advocates for the legalization of child pornography possession on free speech grounds, refuting all of the standard arguments for its criminalization.

Another subversive paper by Spanish sexologist Agustín Malón awaits publication in Archives of Sexual Behavior. The paper, "Onanism and Child Sexual Abuse: A Comparative Study of Two Hypotheses," (full text) draws parallels between the moral panic over masturbation and the modern sexual abuse hysteria.

At the 2009 Good Sex, Bad Sex conference, which took place between the 4th and 6th of May in Budapest, academics -- including Bruce Rind and Diederik Janssen -- debated the ethics of intergenerational sex and the age-of-consent. David White's presentation, "Adult-Child Sexual Activity: Why It's Wrong & Morally Required Responses," rejected moral condemnations based on intrinsic harm, informed consent, and bonding theory. Instead, White argued that a "universal moral prohibition" of adult-child sex is justified only by the issue of secondary harm, and that the morally required response to this issue is, among other things, a realization that adult-child sexual contacts are generally harmless. Richard Yuill responded to White.

The papers of Bruce Rind and Thomas Hubbard are posted in full on the conference website. The other papers are expected to be made available in the near future.

Additionally, Ray Blanchard's suggestion that hebephilia be pathologized was met with a number of encouraging protests -- see below. In his reply, Philip Tromovitch noted that pedophilia "appears to have entered the DSM as a "mental disorder" without any scientific or rational basis."

Newgon.com

Newgon.com has recently appointed a new administrator, Pantheadoros. A number of new members have signed up for the forum - some of them, well known veterans of other boards. In May, the forum rules were changed to combat a mini-epidemic of trivia threads and duplicate accounts.

On NewgonWiki, a new logo has been developed, user rights have been standardised to sysop and a French language translation of some of our content is underway thanks to a volunteer.

Administrators resolved to be open when it comes to linking this site on other forums. Indeed, we have been sympathetically linked at picture-sharing sites and Anontalk.com - a site that hosts many debates on our issues.

Finally, daily visiting figures have stabilised in the high 300s, well above the 300-averages of last year.

News Digest

News in the last three months shows a continuing increase in the attempt to impose Western 'cultural values' on non-Western parts of the world. Unsurprisingly, it is evident that the UK is also becoming ever-more authoritarian, while the US is still struggling to protect children from themselves.

From the US - Sexting, Protectionism, SO Laws

Next on Senate agenda? 'Pedophile Protection Act'

"The leader of a pro-family organization says families across the nation need to contact their U.S. senators now to try to derail a legislative plan that already has passed the U.S. House and is being awaited by President Obama – after a Democrat confirmed it would protect "all 547 forms of sexual deviancy or 'paraphilias' listed by the American Psychiatric Association."

WND columnist Janet Porter, who also heads the Faith2Action Christian ministry, today cited S. 909, dubbed the "Pedophile Protection Act," as an extreme danger to America. [...]

The proposal, also called the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act after a Wyoming homosexual who was killed in a horrific robbery and beating in 1998, creates a special class for homosexuals and others with alternative sexual lifestyles and provides them protections against so-called "hate." [...]

Porter cited the amendment offering from Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, in committee that was very simple:

"The term sexual orientation as used in this act or any amendments to this act does not include pedophilia."

But majority Democrats refused to accept it.

Sexting

The media has maintained an interest in "sexting," prompting some criticism of child pornography laws. "Teen 'sexting': Youthful prank or sex crime?" shows little real change: “Kids will be kids, but that doesn’t make them criminals. This problem needs to be solved as a social problem, not a criminal problem,” Walters said.

Another case demonstrates the creativity of the judicial system; instead of jail time or community service, a district attorney attempted to force three girls to take a "re-education" program.

As part of the five-week, 10-hour program Mr. Skumanick recommended, girls would "[g]ain an understanding of how [their] actions were wrong," "gain an understanding of what it means to be a girl in today's society," and "[i]dentify non-traditional societal and job roles."

In later developments, the legal director for the ACLU of Pennsylvania argued that the pictures taken of the girls (two of three girls in bras and one with breasts exposed) were not child porn. (Interesting, considering Brazil's conception of child pornography.)

Girl posts nude pics, is charged with kid porn, Are lots of teens 'sexting'? Experts doubt it

Sex Offender Laws

Coalinga State Hospital

There have been several positive changes in sex offender laws, though they appear to be more concerned with finding a reasonable "line" for punishment than the effects of any changing perceptions.

The Coalinga State Hospital for "sexually violent predators" garnered some media attention in April, when Louis Theroux travelled there to produce the vacuous BBC documentary A Place for Paedophiles.

Sex offender signs are too harsh, Sex offender class action lawsuit moves forward, Judge Rules Against County Sex Offender Ordinance, High court puts limits on child-porn charges, Revamping of Ga. sex offender crackdown in limbo, Court blocks release of sex offenders due out of jail, Georgia considers changes to sex offender law, Megan's Law Doesn't Work. Now What?, Child Pornographer Must Pay $200G to Woman Photographed as Molested Child

Protectionism

"Children's" sensibilities and innocence have continued to be items of much concern. Two 5th-graders who viewed porn could face charges, a ten year old walking alone is intercepted by a police car, and an eleven-year-old girl is charged with rape.

From the UK - IWF and Illegal Cartoons

Continuing from the Virgin Killer controversies, the Internet Watch Foundation has since received "threats to their safety" and has taken measures to keep its staff safer out of fear.[1]

Internet records to be stored for a year

"Details of every email sent and website visited by people in Britain are to be stored for use by the state from tomorrow as part of what campaigners claim is a massive assault on privacy."

Simon Davies, director of Privacy International, said: "I don't think people are aware of the implications of this move. It means that everything we do online or on the phone will be known to the authorities."

In related news, a new airport database is being developed. "The database is designed to store records of every passenger entering or leaving the country, including the answers to 21 personal questions that must be provided when buying a ticket."

Put down your pens: Cartoons next on censor block

"Proposals to make it a criminal offence to possess cartoons depicting certain forms of child abuse are heading back to the House of Commons, and elsewhere in the UK and across the atlantic, it's becoming clear there is an appetite in certain quarters for a much wider clampdown on freedom of expression.

The Comic Book Alliance is fighting to keep comics protected

In the UK, debate on the cartoon law – ss49-55 of the Coroners and Justice Bill – took place a week ago. The bill, as it stands, would make it a criminal offence to possess (cartoon) pictures of children participating in sexual activities, or present whilst sexual activity took place. We did ask the Ministry for Justice whether this meant same frame, same page or even same story, but to date we have received no answer.

Shadow Minister for Justice Edward Garnier MP put forward what looked suspiciously like a wrecking amendment, proposing that the law focus on the publication or distribution of such material, rather than mere possession of it. As a QC, he is almost certainly aware that such actions may well already be covered by the Obscene Publications Act."

Judges rap police over raid on paedo expert (Jim Bates), Are there women paedophiles?, Scotland: New law to unmask child sex offenders, Child abuse images 'getting worse', BT blocks up to 40,000 child porn pages per day, Electronic tags on sex offenders now likely, Sex crime 'lie detector' pilot could prompt wider use, Google removes picture of naked child from Street View, Scotland drops plans to legalise teenage oral sex, Home Office clueless over its own anti-child porn measures, Harriet Harman under attack over bid to water down child pornography law

From Canada - SO Registry

Sex-Offender Registry Not Solved One Crime: Police

"Canada's national sex-offender registry, created almost five years ago to enable police to track offenders after they leave jail, has not been responsible for solving a single sex crime, police say. A House of Commons committee heard yesterday that the database -- which keeps tabs on where offenders live and what they look like -- is failing to live up to expectations because it does not contain enough names or enough pertinent information to make a difference in investigating new crimes."

Does the Sex Offender Registry Offend Justice?

"Our society is full of advocates: advocates for the poor, advocates for the homeless, advocates for minorities. But where are the advocates for the sex offenders?

That’s a question that Dustin Shiers, a 20-year-old Saskatoon resident, may be asking himself right now. He was sentenced to a year in prison after downloading and sharing child pornography, and he is now waiting for a decision on whether his name will be added to a registry for sex offenders. Shiers was evaluated by a psychologist and scored very low on various intellectual tests, which is one factor that might convince the judge to leave him off the registry. But I’d like to take a slightly different approach.

Last summer, at a philosophy conference, I attended a lecture on this issue by University of Alabama psychology professor Christopher Robinson. Among other things, he argued that the sex offender registry represents an arbitrary, double punishment of sex criminals and is applicable to too many offenses. For example, depending on the area, “sex offenders” can also include those guilty of streaking, burglary, surveillance, and kidnapping. Also, the fact that we register sex offenders but not, say, murderers, doesn’t make much sense. It might be explained by the strange taboo in society regarding sex, but that doesn’t make it any less irrational."

Manitoba has become the first province in Canada to make it mandatory that anyone who suspects child pornography online, in books, photographs and other audio and visual material must immediately report it.[2]

Child porn addicts live in shadows, Offender: People should be able to view child porn

From Germany - CP crackdowns

Major German online companies agree to block child porn websites

"German internet providers have grudgingly agreed to block websites containing child pornography. Critics say their deal with the government won't make much of a difference. [...] Notably absent in the agreement are 1&1, Freenet and other internet providers who service the remaining 25 percent of the German market. They say they do not want to take the risk of breaching the telecommunications secrecy law by blocking child pornography sites. They also argue that they only provide the technical capacity to distribute information and are not responsible for content that flows through their networks.

Limiting access to information is a sensitive subject in Germany because of its Nazi past and East German Communist rule, but von der Leyen said protecting children was the priority.

"The vulnerability and dignity of children is more important than mass communication," the family minister said. [...]

"The new rules mean gaining access to child pornography will become more difficult, but it won't stop material from being published," says Otto Vollmers, who represents FSM, a German industry organization that advocates voluntary self-control of the internet. "Making access technically more difficult can actually arouse greater interest.""

Germany breaks up child porn ring, German Cops Raid Home of Wikileaks and Tor Volunteer

From Sweden

Swedish national library reported for child porn

"The Swedish national library will on Monday afternoon be reported to the police for the possession and distribution of child pornography.

The existence of the National Library's collection of child pornography emerged after a visit by the writer Valentin Bart in November 2008. Bart, who spent a year working in a pornographic book shop in central Stockholm in the 1970s, told The Local that he wanted to see if the law which requires the library to archive a copy of everything printed in Sweden, also applied to child pornography. He found that not only did the library hold large quantities of pornography, featuring children as young as 10-years-old, but access to the material was straightforward.

"All I did was sign up to check out books and send a letter explaining my reasons for wanting to view the material. Anyone could have done the same thing," Bart told The Local.

The large collection at the library was built up in the years between 1971, when the possession, distribution and display of child pornography was legalized in Sweden, and 1980, when the law was repealed. [...]

"One can also say, that we all know what a child's body looks like naked and we all know what sex is. Do we really need to view the pictures to learn about this," Holmberg added.

Valentin Bart also pointed out the sensitive issue of the National Library - which is called 'Kungliga Biblioteket' or 'Royal Library' in Swedish - holding material that directly challenges the work of ECPAT - an international charity working against the exploitation of children, and whose patron is Queen Silvia.

From Jamaica, Panama, Philippines, Ghana, Japan - Imperialism

Westernized Legislation

An imperialistic trend has been on the rise, with increased pressure on less hysterical countries (mostly in the global south) to enact more extreme legislation. A new bill in Jamaica would not only criminalize child pornography, but "anything that advocates using children for sexual activities," including audio recordings.

Panama has recently come under criticism as well: Sexual crimes against children

"Only 50 percent of Panamanians will tell the authorities that a minor has been sexually exploited by an adult according to a joint study of the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the International Program for the Eradication of Children Labor.

The report also showed that only 20 percent of the population will do anything in the case of a commercial sexual transaction, which demonstrates a lack of social conscience among Panamanians.

The study was conducted in seven different countries in Latin America: Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic and Panama.

It demonstrated that the main reason for the proliferation of sexually exploited minors is poverty, lack of education and family values.

One of the most shocking findings is that the number of people denouncing criminals who commit sexual crimes against children has diminished over the last four years."

Bill vs 'hentai' close to becoming law (Philippines), Japan under pressure to clamp down on child pornography

Westernized Media

Countries in the global south are beginning to report events in a similar manner to the west:

KIDS' 'SEX PARTY' CRASHED - 8 naked primary students caught starting freaky act (Jamaica)

"Eight Westmoreland kids, aged 10 and under, were recently prevented from being involved in an orgy when they were caught by a resident.

THE WEEKEND STAR first heard rumours of the tale, but checks with the police proved it was more than just that.

Inspector Cassius Lennox of the Area One police admitted knowing of the episode. "It's not like they are criminals but they are definitely some rude kids. We wouldn't have a police report for that but it did happen," he said. "It was a group of young kids too, none passed 10 ... . Five of them were nine and the others were 10."

Reports are that the incident occurred almost two weeks ago and involved eight primary-school children (four boys and four girls), who planned a secret rendezvous to have sex. [...] The police said the kids were questioned and it was found that they had been planning the event for quite some time.

But that's not all, they were pretty much prepared to embark on their sexual plans as the boys all had condoms in their pockets and one of the girls was found with a pornographic magazine.

The kids are reported to have said that they were going to try the things they had seen in the magazine.

Inspector Lennox told THE WEEKEND STAR that the kids' parents were alerted and urged to seek counselling for them.

"You could tell the parents were ashamed, they even tried to scold them right there but we intervened," he said."

Beware: Pedophiles All Over

"The number of defilement cases in Ghana appears to be increasing, with a reported incident of forced sexual intercourse with a minor appearing almost daily in the media. Experts say the rampant cases of defilement across the country could pass as pedophilia, when assessed which is being disguised as defilement. The Acting Chief Psychiatrist of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital, Dr. Akwasi Osei told Public Agenda that although pedophilia is against the law in Ghana, it is not treated as such; instead it is treated as defilement.

If we really realize that some of these people are actually pedophiles, then the first point of call should be somebody requiring psychiatric treatment, Dr. Osei emphasized."

Letters to the Editor

Apart from private feedback, a few congratulations and a reassuringly fantastical and dyslexic "I seek to unterly[sic] destroy you" comment, we have received no letters of interest after our first issue. The upside of this for our readers is that any considered reply is likely to be published.

It really doesn't matter what you think of the content of Uncommon Sense, whether you agree or disagree with it or whether you wish for it to change in some way. We want to hear from you, and will publish a thorough and polite reply to every letter.

Contact us via email at ncat at hushmail dot com.

On the forums

BoyChat

• "Researchers" advocate pathologizing hebephilia by Richard Kramer.

"Abstract: The term pedophilia denotes the erotic preference for prepubescent children. The term hebephilia has been proposed to denote the erotic preference for pubescent children (roughly, ages 11 or 12–14), but it has not become widely used. The present study sought to validate the concept of hebephilia by examining the agreement between self-reported sexual interests and objectively recorded penile responses in the laboratory. The participants were 881 men who were referred for clinical assessment because of paraphilic, criminal, or otherwise problematic sexual behavior. Within-group comparisons showed that men who verbally reported maximum sexual attraction to pubescent children had greater penile responses to depictions of pubescent children than to depictions of younger or older persons. Between-groups comparisons showed that penile responding distinguished such men from those who reported maximum attraction to prepubescent children and from those who reported maximum attraction to fully grown persons. These results indicated that hebephilia exists as a discriminable erotic age-preference. The authors recommend various ways in which the DSM might be altered to accommodate the present findings. One possibility would be to replace the diagnosis of Pedophilia with Pedohebephilia and allow the clinician to specify one of three subtypes: Sexually Attracted to Children Younger than 11 (Pedophilic Type), Sexually Attracted to Children Age 11–14 (Hebephilic Type), or Sexually Attracted to Both (Pedohebephilic Type). We further recommend that the DSM-V encourage users to record the typical age of children who most attract the patient sexually as well as the gender of children who most attract the patient sexually."

Critical responses from professionals and BC included.

• Sexual abuse of children... pandemic proportions.. by Newshound.

Part of a response by Enochian:

"Half of all American parents beat their children at least twice a week. In all US states, parents enjoy legal immunity for assaulting their children, with the standard for physical abuse being either "serious injury" or "deadly force." In 21 states, schools can beat children with boards, with teachers enjoying total legal immunity even when children are beaten black and blue. 80% of American children have been the victims of legal parental assault by the time they're 18.

Where's the outrage there?."

GirlChat

• Allies by headwind:

"Defenses of childhood sexuality and pedophilia hide in the damndest places. Take, for instance, French feminist thought. The stuff is often very obscure or abstract. But here and there is a dim light... Beauvoir slept with students and signed a petition calling for the abolition of the age of consent; Foucault was going to write a book on childhood sexuality and signed that same petition; leading up to the general strike in 1968 in France, Reich's La Lutte Sexuelle des Jeuenes (Sexual Struggle of the Youth) was widely read.

Or in leftist thought - Trotsky argued that the Russian Revolution could be judged by the freedom of youth. In Summerhill, the libertarian school in England, A.S. Neill wrote that he would have given teens birth control if it hadn't been for the fact that the government would have shut the school down. Anarchists and Trotskyists in the United States have written here and there a tiny bit in defense of teen (but not so much child) sexuality. Hell, there's even a report out by Human Rights Watch which accepts nearly every stupid assumption about sex offenders but argues that current punishments are unethical.

(...)

I also realize that much of the above is not immediately useful and has already been discussed by others. True, we must develop broad tactics. But how does knowing this help? The handful of people on this forum are powerless; all we can do for now is subsist."

This 3 months in anti-pedophilia

"Stop these predatory criminals!"

"But my career must go on! Hail ze pedojaagster!"

Perverted Justice could almost be described as a sympathiser now. Why else would they choose to celebrate Alice Day by increasing teh number of evil peedos on the internet by a handsome figure in a stage-managed mass-expose? As with so many of these sites, direct links to Wikisposure are discouraged. In summary, some people's prurient "outrage" knows no bounds.

NAMbLA false flagging

In March, NAMbLA were accused by the New York Post and MSNBC of putting a $10,000 bounty on the head of Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. This followed an anonymous posting on usenet, made by someone claiming to represent NAMbLA, whilst advertising "$10,000 to shoot Andrew Cuomo in the face!". Apparently unaware or ignorant of the fact that such claims are made frequently, and in similar mocking-tones on newsgroups, where NAMbLA is the butt of numerous jokes, American authorities used this threat as the launchpad for a criminal investigation, inspiring gutter press journalists to defame a virtually defunct and cash-strapped organisation that would have been able to sue against such claims if it had $10,000 at its disposal. [3][4][5][6]

But it's all for the children, of course.

Yvonne van Hertum sentenced

A court of appeals upheld the conviction of notorious Dutch "pedophile hunter" Yvonne van Hertum in May. The court converted her previous sentence of 60 hours community service to two-months jail time, plus two months of probation. Van Hertum had libelously accused a man of erotic chats with a minor, posting his name and photo to her website. She plans to appeal. [7][8][9]

Lunsford Foundation closes

The Jessica Marie Lunsford Foundation closed in April following reports that Mark Lunsford was spending foundation funds unethically. [10]

Links and recommended reading

• Notes from another Country - Excellent e.book on the current situation, with an interesting application of psychoanalysis.

• Somebodythinkofthechildren - Moral panic and internet censorship in Australia.
• Comic Book Alliance - A group in the UK, opposed to the Coroners and Justice Bill.
• SOLResearch - Burns' research on Sex Offender Laws and their victims.