Some non-government organizations in Davao City will be observing October 5 as the day of No Prostitution.

It's a day of no prostitution that includes no pornography, phone sex, cyber sex, mail-order bride services, trafficking, strip dancing, sex tours and prostitution in massage parlors, on the streets.

The no prostitution campaign is the culminating activity of the First Mindanao Conference of Women and Children in Prostitution.

Figures from the City Health Office showed that there are 2,411 registered prostituted women in the city while an NGO cited some 4,000 prostituted women doing their freelance job.

These groups are against the government's schemes that encourage prostitution including the occupational permit and appointment cards which are issued to women to work in clubs, and other establishments.

The nutter groups also urges the city council to pass a resolution in the passage of Senate Bill 2066 or the Anti-Prostitution Bill which seeks to decriminalize the victim of prostitution and punish the perpetrator.

Jacqui Smith has unveiled the UK's new identity card.

The credit card-sized plastic cards carried a picture of a bull - in common with other European Union identity cards - as well as five stars drawn from the stars on the official flag of the EU.

The card is to be initially issued to people outside the EU renewing their permission to stay in the UK as students or on the basis of marriage.

Between 50,000 and 60,000 cards, which will initially cost £30 each, will be issued by the end of next March and ministers predict one million a year will be handed out from 2010.

The cards contain the individual's name, their photograph, the card's expiry date and details of how long they can stay in the country.

Other information includes people's date and place of birth, their gender, nationality, and whether they are entitled to benefits.

Biometric data, including copies of all of the person's fingerprints, will be stored on a special security chip.

The card will start to be issued on November 25 to foreign nationals at offices in Croydon, Glasgow, Sheffield, Liverpool, Birmingham and Cardiff.

From next year anyone working in the restricted areas in Britain's airports would need to have an ID card and it will be made generally available to British citizens from 2011. Those cards, which will be voluntary, may look different and display different information but they will enable the holder to travel without a passport around the EU.

The Conservatives reaffirmed the party's commitment to scrapping ID cards if they win the next election, likely in 2010. Shadow home secretary Dominic Grieve said: ID cards are an expensive white elephant that risk making us less - not more safe. It is high time the Government scrapped this ill-fated project.

Suspicious! He got the green light from the scanner! ...Normal people get all hostile over aggressive treatment from border operatives

The US Department of Homeland Security is testing a type of body scanner that seeks out invisible clues that a person might be harbouring criminal intent, such as raised body temperature, pulse and breathing rate.

The system, called MALINTENT, uses a raft of "non-invasive" sensors and imagers to detect such factors remotely - subjects are not hooked up to anything. It also evaluates a person's facial expression to help to gauge whether they could be planning to commit an attack or crime.

The technology, developed by the Human Factors division of Homeland Security's directorate for Science and Technology, would be used at border checkpoints, airports and special events that require security screening.

Unlike current technology which aims to detect devices such as guns or explosives, it focuses on the person who could pose the threat.

The technology, dubbed Future Attribute Screening Technology, or FAST, deploys a range of innovative physiological and behavioural technologies to pick up indications of malintent or the intent or desire to cause harm, according to the DHS.

It would take imaging and sensor technologies to observe physiological changes that might indicate intent to harm, such as skin temperature, pulse, respiration and gestures, said Amy Kudwa, a DHS spokeswoman.

She added it would be capable of distinguishing between someone with a hostile intent and a plane passenger, for example, who was merely stressed about missing a connection.

We're still very early on in this research, but it is looking very promising, John Verrico, a DHS spokesman, told New Scientist. We are running at about 78% accuracy on mal-intent detection, and 80% on deception.

If the sensors pick up anything considered alarming, analysts can decide whether to subject a person to questioning.

Hundreds of bar owners and workers in the Nepalese capital blocked traffic and vandalized vehicles Wednesday to protest new closing hours imposed by the government.

The Home Ministry earlier this month issued an order that night entertainment establishments would have to close by 11 p.m. in the Thamel area, a tourist hub and nightlife center in Katmandu. The ministry said it was 'necessary' to impose an earlier closing time in order to control growing crime in the city.

Hundreds of people working in bars, nightclubs and discotheques forced shopkeepers in the main markets to close their stores. Some protesters vandalized taxis and public vans whose owners had defied their call for a general strike.

The Organization of Nightlife Business entrepreneurs said in a statement their protests would continue until the government withdraws the new closing hours.

Clubs in the past have remained open past midnight until the early hours of the morning.

Update: Providing Jobs

29th September 2008

Prominent women rights activist Sapana Malla Pradhan today cautioned that closure of dance bars and night clubs could force a large number of women currently employed there into prostitution.

"The problems won't be solved without offering alternative jobs to women who have been eking out their living by dancing," said Pradhan who is also a CPN-UML Constituent Assembly member. "The government should provide jobs or else it will prove that the government is forcing these women into prostitution."

Speaking at a program "Questions at policy level vis-à-vis HIV and AIDS" organized by several organizations including the European Union here in Pokhara, she demanded that the government regulate such dance bars with necessary laws, instead of pulling their shutters down forcefully.

Update: Prohibiting Off Sales

29th September 2008

Nepal has also begun cracking down on the sale of alcohol and tobacco goods in the Himalayan republic, closing duty-free spirit shops at the sole international airport and confiscating bottles stowed away in passengers' luggage.

The internal revenue department issued the first notification late last week, warning shops that stock essential goods for daily use, like groceries, that they have till Nov 17 to comply with the new rules or face stiff punishment.

Earlier, liquor was available freely in shops throughout Nepal and there was no drinking age limit. Only licensed sellers can now sell alcohol. However, even they need to renew their licence for the current financial year.

Department stores will have to construct separate rooms to display their spirit and tobacco products. Ordinary shops selling essential goods will either have to acquire a licence and build a separate room for alcohol and tobacco products or return such goods to the manufacturers.

Human Rights Abuser

Home Office press release:

THINK TWICE ABOUT PAYING FOR SEX

The Home Secretary Jacqui Smith today announced her intention to work with the police and other partners to outlaw paying for sex with someone controlled for another person's gain. This is aimed at protecting vulnerable individuals, for example those who have been trafficked or exploited in some other way.

This follows a six month Government review into tackling the demand for prostitution, which explored both the legislative and non-legislative options available as well as learning from the experiences of other countries such as Sweden and Holland.

The review identified a number of measures to improve the protection of vulnerable women including criminalising those supporting the exploitation by purchasing sex from them.

The Home Secretary also announced:

• A crackdown on kerb-crawlers - removing the need to prove that a person has acted persistently. This will ensure that kerb-crawlers can be prosecuted on a first offence
• New powers to close premises associated with prostitution - allowing police to close brothels for a period of three months. At the moment, police can only close premises associated with prostitution if anti-social behaviour or Class A drugs are involved

The Home Secretary also indicated her intention to give greater powers to local people and Local Authorities to control the opening and regulation of lap-dancing clubs, through changes in legislation.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said:

The Government has a responsibility to protect those who have been groomed or trafficked into prostitution, or for those who remain involved for fear of violence from a partner or a pimp. So we will start work to outlaw paying for sex with someone forced into prostitution at another's will or controlled for another's gain.

Communities shouldn't have to put up with street prostitution. The package of measures I have announced today will help the police and local people to crack down on it.

Minister for Women and Equality Harriet Harman said:

We must protect women from being victims of human trafficking – the modern slave trade.

The trade only exists because men buy sex, so to protect women we must stop men buying sex from the victims of human trafficking.

Commenting on the potential new regulation of lap-dancing clubs, Communities Secretary Hazel Blears said:

Local people are often best placed to know the needs of their area and to find home-grown solutions.

These new measures, alongside the robust planning powers councils already have, will see communities taking ownership/control of the environment in which they live, ensuring safer, more welcoming neighbourhoods.

Communities have an important role to play in tackling the local issues that can affect their everyday lives and their neighbours' welfare.

Justice Minister Maria Eagle said:

I welcome these measures which underline the importance the Government places on ensuring the appropriate protection and safety for women involved in street prostitution and the wider community.


Notes to Editors:

1. The Sexual Offences Act 2003 introduced a package of new offences designed to tackle various forms of sexual exploitation. These included:
• Causing of inciting prostitution for gain
• Controlling prostitution for gain
• Trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation
There are however currently no specific offences to tackle those who pay or offer to pay for sex with someone who has been trafficked or exploited, unless there is sufficient evidence to prove that person knew the person selling sex did not consent to sexual intercourse. In these situations, the police and prosecutors would look at prosecution for rape. The Government's intention is to look at criminalising those who pay or offer to pay for sex with victims of these crimes in order to deter the sex buyers who fuel illegal exploitative and coercive practices, as soon as Parliamentary time allows.

2. In England and Wales, the act of purchasing sex is not a criminal offence. There are, however, offences that effectively prohibit individuals from paying for sex on the street or in a public place. The Sexual Offences Act 1985 introduced two distinct offences which can be used to prosecute those who buy sex:

• kerb crawling (where someone solicits from a motor vehicle, or within the vicinity of a motor vehicle), for the purposes of prostitution, persistently or in a manner that is likely to cause annoyance to people in the neighbourhood; or

• persistent soliciting for the purposes of prostitution (effectively kerb crawling but without a vehicle)

The Government now intends to remove the 'persistence' requirement from both offences and in the case of kerb-crawling to remove the alternative requirement of "in a manner that is likely to cause annoyance to people in the neighbourhood". The purpose is to make it possible to prosecute the kerb crawler in the first instance, increasing the deterrent to those who consider paying for sex on the street or in a public place.

3. At present, the police have no powers to close premises associated with the sexual exploitation of adults or children, unless there is sufficient evidence to warrant the use of a premise closure order or a crack house closure order. However, many premises where sexual exploitation takes place will not be associated with anti-social behaviour or the use, supply or production of Class A drugs. This means that in practice, premises that are subject to police investigations for offences relating to sexual exploitation can reopen and begin operating again quickly.

The Government now intends to introduce a new order that allows for such premises to be closed and sealed for a set period, providing an opportunity for agencies to act swiftly and decisively to prevent further exploitation and abuse from taking place. The order will prohibit entry to the premises by any individual for a period of three months.

4. The results of the recent lap dancing consultation made it clear that Local Authorities in England and Wales felt that the Licensing Act 2003 offers little or no opportunity for local communities to object to lap dancing clubs opening in their local area and has limited powers for Local Authorities to control the growth of these establishments. Difficulties arise where residents and local authorities try to use the current legislation to tackle general concerns about these clubs being situated in a particular area (for example, near schools, historic tourist areas or churches) or because of concerns about equality, public decency, obscenity and the sexual exploitation of women.

The Government now intends to give greater powers to Local Authorities and local communities to control the opening and regulation of lap dancing clubs and will do this in consultation with stakeholders through legislation as soon as Parliamentary time allows.

The state government of Queensland, Australia, has unveiled plans for an advocacy service that could include extolling the positive side of prostitution.

The $333,000 a year program would include free or discounted safe-sex products for prostitutes and sexual health education programs for the sex workers, the Brisbane Courier-Mail reported.

The Prostitution Licensing Authority, the government's sex industry regulator, is pushing for Premier Anna Bligh's government to also include community advocacy for prostitutes in the program: The service should contribute to a more balanced and positive view of sex workers in the general community, assisting to overcome the stigma attached to prostitution.

Don't fuck with Jacqui Smith ...she's 'controlled' by Gordon Brown

Kerb-crawling and soliciting for prostitutes on the streets are to be outlawed as part of a mean minded tightening of the law, the home secretary, Jacqui Smith, announced.

Smith outlined a three-point plan at the Labour conference that will:

• Remove the requirement that only persistent kerb crawlers and men who solicit on the street can be prosecuted. An alternative requirement for kerb-crawlers - that they act in a manner that is likely to cause annoyance to people in the neighbourhood - is also to be removed. The changes will mean that kerb-crawlers and men soliciting sex on the street can be prosecuted after a first offence.
• Give new powers to councils and the police to close down brothels for at least three months if prostitutes are being run by a pimp or have been trafficked. At the moment, police can only close brothels if there is anti-social behaviour and if Class-A drugs are involved.
• Change the law so that men can be prosecuted if they pay for sex with women who are exploited - controlled for another person's gain, as Smith said. Currently, police can only pursue a prosecution if they can prove that the women did not consent to sex, which means they have to compile evidence of rape.

The home secretary also announced that communities will be given more say in lap-dancing clubs opening in their areas.

Smith announced the new measures on prostitution after a six-month government review into prostitution that focused on how Sweden and the Netherlands deal with the problem.

We will do more to tackle the blight of street prostitution, Smith told the Labour conference in Manchester. At the moment only persistent kerb-crawling is outlawed. In my book, once around the block is once too many - and so we'll make kerb-crawling punishable as a first offence.

The government will also toughen the law to prosecute men who pay for sex with women who are run by a pimp or who have been trafficked. Harriet Harman, Labour's deputy leader who is also equality minister, said: We must protect women from being victims of human trafficking - the modern slave trade. The trade only exists because men buy sex, so to protect women we must stop men buying sex from the victims of human trafficking.

Based on article from theargus.co.uk

 A Government source later confirmed that legislation will be introduced in the next Parliamentary session, which starts in November, with a view to changing the licensing rules by the middle of next year.

It is not yet known whether lap dancing clubs will in future be placed in the same category as sex establishments such as sex shops and adult cinemas, or whether a new category will be created for them. It is also unclear whether existing clubs will be forced to reapply for new licenses when the reforms come into effect.

The Government source told The Argus full details would be determined shortly but stressed the aim of the legislation would be to “make it much more difficult” for new lap dancing clubs to open.

Off with their dicks!

It seems that Labour will compromise over their mean minded intentions to criminalise people who buy sex. They will now limit this to the rare cases of buying sex from those coerced into providing it (Hopefully with leniency should customers be unaware of the coercion)

It would be fascinating to know how this apparent change of heart came about. Up until now, all Government ministers involved have been positively salivating over the thought of locking up men who pay for sex.

Earlier in September Gordon Brown was very positive about both agreeing with the policy to lock up men buying sex and also supporting Harriet to implement the policy.

On 4th of September Number 10 issued the following press briefing:

Asked if the Prime Minister backed Harriet Harman in her crusade to make paying for sex illegal, the PMS replied that Harriet Harman was a Government Minister and as such had the Prime Minister’s backing.

Asked to clarify if the Prime Minister was backing Harriet Harman in her job as Minister responsible for such matters or the view that prostitution should be legalised, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had full support for Harriet Harman.

Asked if the Prime Minister thought that there should be a law banning the purchase of sex, the PMS referred journalists to the relevant department on that question.

Asked if the Prime Minister thought it was socially and morally acceptable to buy sex, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister did not think this.

South Korean police said they have seized beds and bathtubs weighing a total of 100 tons during a crackdown on prostitution in the capital Seoul.

They said the items and others were confiscated and destroyed during raids on dozens of massage parlours and brothels in the city's eastern district of Jangan.

A massage parlour owner committed suicide in protest at the crackdown which began on July 28, but police vowed to step up their campaign against prostitution, which is illegal in South Korea.

On Wednesday police set up a 270-member special unit to tackle the crime in Seoul.

Miniskirts distracting?... Surely not

Uganda's ethics and integrity minister says miniskirts should be banned - because women wearing them distract drivers and cause traffic accidents.

Nsaba Buturo told journalists in Kampala that wearing a miniskirt was like walking naked in the streets: What's wrong with a miniskirt? You can cause an accident because some of our people are weak mentally.

Wearing a miniskirt should be regarded as indecent, which would be punishable under Ugandan law, Buturo said.

The BBC's Joshua Mmali in Kampala, the capital, said journalists found the minister's comments extremely funny.

Men who buy sex from women who have been coerced into prostitution or trafficked for sexual exploitation would be prosecuted under proposals to be announced by the Home Secretary.

It would be an offence in England and Wales to pay for sex if the woman was being controlled by a pimp, had been coerced into the sex trade or was trafficked into Britain for sexual exploitation. Last year Jacqui Smith said: We recognise that there is considerable support for us to do more to tackle the demand for prostitution and to prevent the trafficking of people for sexual exploitation.

Gordon Brown recently indicated his determination to legislate in this area, when his spokesman said that he believed it was wrong for men to pay for sex.

The Home Secretary will make clear that the measure will not affect sole traders or women selling sex of their own free will. The move represents a compromise solution to demands from some senior members of the Government to criminalise the purchase of all sex. Police were concerned about the practicalities of a law banning any payment for sex.

Exact details of the new offence and the penalties to be imposed are yet to be worked out. Ministers believe that the measure will act as a deterrent to international human trafficking.

Operation Pentameter 2, a six-month police campaign, has shown the extent of the sex trade industry but uncovered little in the way of trafficking that it was targeting.

Update: Fascinating

21st September, thanks to Donald

Off with their dicks!

It would be fascinating to know how this apparent change of heart came about. Up until now, all Government ministers involved have been positively salivating over the thought of locking up men who pay for sex.

Earlier in September Gordon Brown was very positive about both agreeing with the policy to lock up men buying sex and also supporting Harriet to implement the policy.

On 4th of September Number 10 issued the following press briefing:

Asked if the Prime Minister backed Harriet Harman in her crusade to make paying for sex illegal, the PMS replied that Harriet Harman was a Government Minister and as such had the Prime Minister’s backing.

Asked to clarify if the Prime Minister was backing Harriet Harman in her job as Minister responsible for such matters or the view that prostitution should be legalised, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had full support for Harriet Harman.

Asked if the Prime Minister thought that there should be a law banning the purchase of sex, the PMS referred journalists to the relevant department on that question.

Asked if the Prime Minister thought it was socially and morally acceptable to buy sex, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister did not think this.

Prostitutes in Italy who have been ordered to stop wearing skimpy clothing while they tout for business in broad daylight plan to dress as nuns instead.

By donning nuns' black and white habits street walkers hope to make the tough new legislation so confusing that it becomes unworkable.

Thousands of women, many of them from Eastern Europe and South America, sell themselves for sex on the side of major roads leading in and out of Italy's main cities, where brothels and red light districts are banned.

But they face a crackdown from the centre-right government of Silvio Berlusconi, as well as individual city councils such as Rome, Milan and Florence.

The mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno, unveiled a decree this week which will ban the capital's thousands of street prostitutes from wearing unseemly and indecent clothing, saying the sight of barely clothed young women distracted male motorists and caused accidents.

Even the way in which sex workers stand is under scrutiny - the decree bans the women from adopting poses or behaviour or wearing clothing that unequivocally manifest the intention to solicit or practise the activity of prostitution.

Sex worker welfare groups have called the decree absurd and have pledged to challenge it in any way they can.

We'll dress as nuns so that the police will arrest scantily dressed girls outside discos or other women with their cleavage on show, said Pia Covre, of the Committee for the Rights of Prostitutes.

In Florence, for example, the mayor has forbidden girls from walking up and down and we are thinking of going around on bicycles instead. Meanwhile police in Rome have issued more than 100 prostitutes and 40 of their clients with spot fines of 200 euros (£158) since the new decree was introduced on Tuesday.

The sex workers were mostly from Romania, Colombia and Brazil. Many of the women have refused to pay the fines, which the mayor has said could increase to 500 euros by next month.

The Rome decree came after the Italian government last week agreed to outlaw prostitution in public places, recommending prison terms of up to 15 days and fines of 200 to 13,000 euros for prostitutes and their clients.

The mayor said his order would be valid until January 31, 2009, when the parliament is expected to adopt the government's proposed law.

The proposed law does not ban prostitution altogether because it does not outlaw sex work as a private business.

It’s hard to find a decent peeler on Toronto's Yonge Street these days. There are only three strip clubs, one porn cinema and a handful of sex accessory shops now.

But in the 1970s, Yonge was the dirtiest street in Canada. Body-rub parlours, porno vendors, cinemas and clubs lined the strip south of Bloor. There was music on the street. Tourists visited Yonge for the atmosphere and not the Eaton Centre.

Valerie Scott worked in the body-rub parlours on Yonge during the ’70s: There wasn’t a lot of violence, hardly any. I never even came across any at all, all the times I worked in the massage parlours. I think because we worked together, there were always two or three or four of us working in a place. And it was just nice to hang out with the other women in between clients.

The first body-rub parlour opened in the spring of 1971. They grew in tandem with the Yonge Street Mall, an annual festival held between 1971 and 1973.

Parts of Yonge from Gerrard to Queen were closed to traffic and vendors moved into the street. The sex industry thrived on the increase in street business the mall provided. The body rub parlours also filled an economic niche on the street and kept Yonge going, taking advantage of real estate that other businesses didn’t want.

It filled a vacumn. The stores were there, it was the centre of the city. Landlords were pretty desperate because they couldn’t get serious retailers to go there, says Ron Soskolne, Toronto’s chief planner in the ‘70s.

The increase in people attracted by the mall, however, meant an increase in crime. Some businesses complained they were losing money just as the parlours were flourishing. The mall became a financial liability for the city and was shut down in the summer of 1973. The parlours, however, remained. In just four years, there were more than 100 of them.

The party ended in 1977. On July 28, four men lured 12-year-old Emanuel Jaques, who worked on Yonge shining shoes, into an apartment above Charlie’s Angels, a body-rub parlour across from the just-opened Eaton Centre. Jaques was restrained and sexually assaulted over 12 hours, then strangled and drowned. The murder shocked the public and provided the city and local businesses with a moral martyr to rally behind. Many of the sex businesses threw in the towel rather than endure the legal shitstorm. Some were closed down by the bawdy-house law, which gives authorities the legal right to close down any place in which prostitution occurs. Whether or not prostitution was indeed happening was beside the point. None of the businesses could afford to fight both the government and the public. At the time of Jaques’ murder, there were 40 parlours on Yonge. By November there were four and in December the last one closed its doors.

The body-run era was over.

By the early 80s, Scott found herself dancing at the Zanzibar. The Zanzibar was a happening place. That place was packed on the weekends. Even during the week it was busy in the evenings and they had good quality shows. This is before table and lap dancing. It was far more burlesque. You didn’t have anything on the stage like showers or poles. The stage was nice, it was a good hardwood stage. Good for dancing.

The strip clubs continued to do well, but Yonge Street decayed in the 80s.

After nearly 15 years of planning, Toronto Life Square finally opened last year. Yonge has become an epileptic’s nightmare. Neon signs advertising the latest cell phone plans flash electric kool-aid over newly erected condos. It’s a 21st century circus, with a size that fits for anyone with cash to spend.

The sex industry is still there, but it’s only a shadow of its former self. The Zanzibar, the Brass Rail and Remington’s are the only strip clubs left. A porn cinema commands a second-floor perch on the east side of Yonge. Only a few sex shops remain.

The new research by the Poppy Project, Big Brothel, a survey of the off-street sex industry in Lodon, has generated shock and headlines that sex can be purchased in London for as little as £15 and highlighted the fact that sex without condoms is available.

However, closer inspection of the data reveals that only 2% of brothels contacted by phone by researchers offer sex without condoms. This leaves a very impressive 98% of establishments insisting on condom use. Many brothels charge for the amount of time a customer spends with a sex worker and the £15 fee quoted does not specify whether or not this is for a 10- or 15-minute appointment. Certainly, according to the research, the average fee is more than £60, with some charging up to £250 for sex. The survey found no concrete evidence of girls under 18 working in brothels – the average age was 21.

...

Evidence from the recent police and Home Office joint operation – Pentameter Two – a comprehensive and intelligence-led sweep of brothels across the land, netted only double figures of suspected trafficking victims. Denis MacShane has quoted a figure of 25,000 trafficked women and children in this country. Where are the others? Either the police are doing a lousy job at flushing them out or more likely, they're not here in the numbers quoted.

...Read full article

I'm a sex worker – don't take away my livelihood

See also article from guardian.co.uk by Lara

The 'Big Brothel' report paints women in my industry as victims. Some may be – but to generalise is patronising and offensive.

I work from a flat on which I pay the mortgage – I do not have any landlord to worry about. I charge £150 per hour and I get enough enquiries to enable me to choose my own working hours. In a typical day I drop my children off at school at 9am, return home, shower and get changed into my alter-ego, Lara (we never use our own names). I then might have an hour's appointment at 11am and another at 1pm, leaving me with a break of an hour in between to shower and refresh myself. I then fetch myself a late lunch and am at the school again to collect my children at 3:30pm. It works. I never see more than two clients a day; most days I see only one; on other days none at all. Yet in just three hours' work I can earn the same as I used to earn in a week working at the office.

My clients are on the whole middle-aged businessmen. I have never been treated with anything less than respect by any one of them. I have not been physically or sexually abused by any of them. Of course I have my security systems in place should anything go wrong, but so far nothing has. My children have their mother now, and not just on a part-time basis. I have time with them to enjoy their childhoods, without any of us suffering financially. I am not making big bucks – but I am earning a little more money to boot.

...Read full article

Every time you travel by road in Britain, your car will be tracked by the police. How many more freedoms will we sacrifice in the name of security?

The police ANPR database, which the Guardian today reveals will retain information from 50 million road journeys a day for five years, is a system that was never sanctioned or debated in parliament and which threatens the freedom of movement, assembly and protest.

Presented simply as a tool to fight crime and terror by the police, it will become one of the cornerstones of the surveillance state, and will give the police far too much power to track, in real time, the movement of people who may be bound for legitimate demonstrations and protest rallies.

Linked with the government's proposals to seize all our communications data to be announced in the Queen's speech this autumn, this move signifies a profound change in our society and an irreversible transfer of power from free individuals to the state.

...Read full article

A Spanish politician's public description of how he lost his virginity in a brothel has angered his female counterparts, who accused him of encouraging prostitution.

Miguel Angel Revilla, head of the government of the northern region of Cantabria, told a television interviewer earlier this week that he had paid the first time he had sex at the age of 18.

Female members of the regional parliament from the opposition conservative Popular Party were outraged. As the head of the regional government, he should be an example for the young people of Cantabria, they said in a communique.

Revilla retorted:  There are major problems which need to be addressed now, not what a poor 18-year-old did who is now 65, adding: 99% of Spanish men did it back then.

Hundreds of disco workers protested in Kathmandu on Monday against a government crackdown on "nude dancing".

Police have raided scores of discos, nightclubs and dance bars in the past two weeks and detained 1,500 people saying many were running bars where "nude dances" were performed, not allowed by law in the Hindu majority society.

There are hundreds of such night spots in the Kathmandu valley, although the country has no specific law to regulate them.

A Maoist-led government which took power in August has already ordered the bars should be closed an hour before midnight.

Bar and disco operators are protesting the move would jeopardize their business and render 80,000 people jobless.

Police official Sarbendra Khanal said those dancing nude in bars as well as their clients would be charged under the public offence act. If found guilty they could be sentenced to up to one year in jail and fined $400.

Amsterdam's infamous red-light district is to be recreated in central London's National Gallery.

Visitors will peep through windows and doorways at mannequins dressed as prostitutes in the installation.

The Hoerengracht, by US artists Ed and Nancy Kienholz, will open in November next year.

A gallery spokesman said it would "shed light" on its collection of Dutch 17th Century masters. These will include Jan Steen's Interior of an Inn, a bawdy pub scene, and de Hooch's Musical Party in a Courtyard.

The gallery's head of education, Colin Wiggins, said: Visitors will be able to walk into the installation, which is like a succession of streets.

Wiggins said the gallery would not warn children against entering the installation: If you look at the National Gallery as a whole, there are more things to warn against.

Tissue Sir? A good job you brought your own porn The Qantas selection is bollox

Qantas has shelved plans to offer live internet access on its A380 planes from next month as American Airlines comes under fire from nutters and flight attendants for allowing passengers to surf porn websites.

Qantas will instead offer only a limited selection of what it calls cached internet content and access to web-based email and chat services.

A Qantas spokeswoman said the internet plans had been paired back due to logistical and regulatory issues encountered by its connectivity provider, OnAir. The airline said the full internet service was now scheduled to be available later in 2009.

The lack of a full internet service will most likely disappoint many passengers who will have to make do with a limited selection of cached internet content. Qantas has refused to give further details of what content will be included - other than qantas.com - or how much the service would cost.

Laptop power sockets will be provided for every passenger. USB ports, also built into every seat, will potentially allow passengers to access multimedia content from music players and portable hard drives through the seat-back screens.

An anti-pornography bill which is before the Indonesian Parliament may hurt tourism on the island of Bali, some officials have claimed.

The bill, currently in draft form in the House of Representatives, defines pornography as acts that incite sexual desire.

The repressive legislation defines pornography as sexual materials in the form of drawings, sketches, illustrations, photographs, text, sound, moving pictures, animation, cartoons, poetry, conversations or any other form of communicative messages.

But some say the legislation could go as far as jailing people for kissing in public.

Experts see the bill as contentious, because traditional dress in Bali and the sparse clothing and swimwear worn by tourists, could be viewed as pornographic under the legislation.

The island's tourism will clearly suffer should the house pass the bill, said Ngurah Wijaya, head of the Bali Tourism Board.

Bagus Sudibya, a tourism expert, acknowledged the moral stance behind the bill's inception, but warned against hidden agendas in the process to pass it into law. Bagus said the bill should focus on defining explicit pornography designed to arouse sexual desire or exploit women, and not condemn artwork depicting nudity: Many of Bali's trademark attractions are in close connection with its arts, which occasionally depicts women in the nude.

Last Friday, an Indonesian Islamic party, the Prosperous Justice Party said the anti-pornography bill could be a Ramadan present" for Muslims.

The draft bill has been before the Parliament for three years and there is speculation that it may be passed in a few weeks.

The UK police are to expand a car surveillance operation that will allow them to record and store details of millions of daily journeys for up to five years, the Guardian has learned.

A national network of roadside cameras will be able to "read" 50m licence plates a day, enabling officers to reconstruct the journeys of motorists.

Police have been encouraged to fully and strategically exploit the database, which is already recording the whereabouts of 10 million drivers a day, during investigations ranging from counter-terrorism to low-level crime.

But it has raised concerns from civil rights campaigners, who question whether the details should be kept for so long, and want clearer guidance on who might have access to the material.

The project relies on automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras to pinpoint the precise time and location of all vehicles on the road. Senior officers had promised the data would be stored for two years. But responding to inquiries under the Freedom of Information Act, the Home Office has admitted the data is now being kept for five years.

Thousands of CCTV cameras across the country have been converted to read ANPR data, capturing people's movements in cars on motorways, main roads, airports and town centres. Local authorities have since adapted their own CCTV systems to capture licence plates on behalf of police, massively expanding the network of available cameras. Mobile cameras have been installed in patrol cars and unmarked vehicles parked by the side of roads. Police helicopters have been equipped with infrared cameras that can read licence plates from 610 metres (2,000ft).

In four months' time, when a nationwide network of cameras is fully operational, the National ANPR Data Centre in Hendon, north London, will record up to 50m licence plates a day.

Officers can access the database to find uninsured cars, locate illegal "duplicate" licence plates and track the movements of criminals. The Acpo adds that the database will deter criminals through increased likelihood of detection.

The director of Privacy International, Simon Davies, said last night the database would give police extraordinary powers of surveillance. This would never be allowed in any other democratic country. This is possibly one of the most valuable reserves of data imaginable.

Ms MuslimExWife... You will go home with NOTHING!

Islamic 'law' has been officially adopted in Britain, with sharia courts given powers to rule on Muslim civil cases.

The government has quietly sanctioned the powers for sharia judges to rule on cases ranging from divorce and financial disputes to those involving domestic violence.

Rulings issued by a network of five sharia courts are enforceable with the full power of the judicial system, through the county courts or High Court.

Previously, the rulings of sharia courts in Britain could not be enforced, and depended on voluntary compliance among Muslims.

It has now emerged that sharia courts with these powers have been set up in London, Birmingham, Bradford and Manchester with the network’s headquarters in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. Two more courts are being planned for Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Sheikh Faiz-ul-Aqtab Siddiqi, whose Muslim Arbitration Tribunal runs the courts, said he had taken advantage of a clause in the Arbitration Act 1996. Under the act, the sharia courts are classified as arbitration tribunals. The rulings of arbitration tribunals are binding in law, provided that both parties in the dispute agree to give it the power to rule on their case.

Siddiqi said: We realised that under the Arbitration Act we can make rulings which can be enforced by county and high courts. The act allows disputes to be resolved using alternatives like tribunals. This method is called alternative dispute resolution, which for Muslims is what the sharia courts are.

Jewish Beth Din courts operate under the same provision in the Arbitration Act and resolv civil cases, ranging from divorce to business disputes. They have existed in Britain for more than 100 years, and previously operated under a precursor to the act.

Dominic Grieve, the shadow home secretary, said: If it is true that these tribunals are passing binding decisions in the areas of family and criminal law, I would like to know which courts are enforcing them because I would consider such action unlawful. British law is absolute and must remain so.

Douglas Murray, the director of the Centre for Social Cohesion, said: I think it’s appalling. I don’t think arbitration that is done by sharia should ever be endorsed or enforced by the British state.”

There are concerns that women who agree to go to tribunal courts are getting worse deals because Islamic law favours men.

Siddiqi said that in a recent inheritance dispute handled by the court in Nuneaton, the estate of a Midlands man was divided between three daughters and two sons. The judges on the panel gave the sons twice as much as the daughters, in accordance with sharia. Had the family gone to a normal British court, the daughters would have got equal amounts.

In the six cases of domestic violence, Siddiqi said the judges ordered the husbands to take anger management classes and mentoring from community elders. There was no further punishment. In each case, the women subsequently withdrew the complaints they had lodged with the police and the police stopped their investigations.

Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi's Cabinet has approved a bill to make street prostitution a crime.

Currently, prostitution is legal in Italy but brothels and exploitation are not.

Thursday's measure would outlaw prostitution in public places like streets and parks. If the bill is approved by Parliament, prostitutes and clients will face up to 15 days in jail and fines of up to US$4,228 (€3,000), news reports said.

Minister of Equal Opportunities Mara Carfagna says she hopes the measure will deal a blow to prostitution rackets.

Italy outlawed brothels 50 years ago but roadside prostitution has been tolerated, with prostitutes, many of them foreigners, commonly seen on the edges of Italy's major cities.

Tissue Sir?

American Airlines flight attendants are urging the world's largest carrier to filter its in-flight Internet service to block access to pornography and other web sites the workers said were inappropriate.

Union leaders discussed the issue with management without making a formal request to bar specific sites, said David Roscow, a spokesman for the Association of Professional Flight Attendants.

We've heard a lot of complaints from flight attendants and passengers about travelers pulling up objectionable Web pages, said Roscow, who didn't cite any examples.

The vast majority of travelers use good judgment in what they look at, American spokesman Tim Smith said: Customers viewing inappropriate material on board a flight is not a new scenario for our crews, who have always managed this issue with great success.

American offers Internet access for $12.95 on 15 Boeing Co. 767-200 jets that make 25 daily flights between New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and Los Angeles or San Francisco, and between New York and Miami.

The program is in a 3-6-month trial period, Smith said. When American reviews usage and feedback, we will obviously assess this concern as well, including the number of actual incidents reported and any other related issues.

Council staff have been ordered to stop and quiz any adults found walking in Telford Town Park without a child.

Anyone who wants to go to the park but is not accompanied by at least one youngster will have to explain why they are there.

Telford campaigners battling to retain full public access to the park today branded the policy draconian and authoritarian madness but the council defended the policy, claiming it had a responsibility to protect the vulnerable.

The policy came to light after two environmental campaigners dressed as penguins were thrown out of the park last month when caught handing out leaflets on climate change.

Telford & Wrekin Council said Rachel Whittaker and Neil Donaldson of the Wrekin Stop War pressure group were ejected because they had not undergone Criminal Records Bureau checks or risk assessments before entering the park.

David Ottley, Telford & Wrekin’s sports and oppression manager, said in a letter seen by the Shropshire Star: Our Town Park staff approach adults that are not associated with any children in the Town Park and request the reason for them being there. In particular, this applies to those areas where children or more vulnerable groups gather, such as play facilities and the entrances to play areas. This is a child safety precautionary measure which members of staff will continue to undertake as and when necessary.

Former childcare social worker John Evans said: It is authoritarian madness which can only be based on ignorance. It appears that the council wants to use child protection as a cover for anything they don’t like taking place in the park, like the campaign against global warming by those two people who were handing out leaflets. It is absurd, it is insulting and what’s more it is dangerous as it panics people about the dangers their children face.

Councillor Denis Allen, cabinet member for community services, said: Our staff are asked to approach adults without children in areas where children gather such as play areas, using their own judgement and discretion.

Comment: Telford Bulldozer through their Park Policy

11th September 2008, thanks to David

According to someone who lives in the area:

This is a little deeper than you know. The Telford Town Park was recently almost built over under first a labour administration and under the first few months of this Conservative administration. A gentlemen  went out into the park to leaflet people to let them know what was going on. He led a campaign that was politically embarrassing to the council and its authorities and they confiscated the leaflets and stopped him handing them out.

He demanded an apology and an explanation.

When the council were pressed for a reason why they took this action, after many, many attempts to get a reply, the officers came up with this "policy" as the reason. It's junk made up after the fact to justify what was in effect an attempt to silence somebody who didn't agree with their development plans.

Now the same guy raised and won a parish referendum. It made enough fuss and garnered enough support, with others, to cause the council to rethink the policy. Though the Park is not certain to be saved in its entirety the position is now much more secure.

When the two environmental protesters came into the Park dressed as Penguins, the council were stuck with their recently made up policy and enforced it. So earning themselves a rebuke from the Home Office as well.

New laws will be introduced in a crackdown on hundreds of prostitutes who work in Victoria's unlicensed brothels.

Prosecutors will no longer have to prove sex took place to be able to close down an illegal brothel. Showing a sexual service was offered or advertised will be enough to get a conviction.

The imminent blitz on illegal brothels has already been approved by Consumer Affairs Minister Tony Robinson who expects the Prostitution Control Act amendments to be introduced next month.

He is also keen to control Victoria's sex entertainment industry. Robinson has ordered CAV to review operations of all sexually explicit entertainment venues that serve alcohol. He is considering a new category of licence for such clubs so owners and operators can be subject to stringent probity checks.

The CAV review will also look at the possibility of banning those venues from serving alcohol. Robinson said alcohol was already banned in legal brothels and it made sense to look at extending that ban to table-top dancing clubs.

Some people drink to forget, but scientists have found that anyone who binge drinks is more likely to forget only the worst experiences of being drunk – which is why alcohol is such an addictive drug.

Alcohol has been found to affect memory in a selective manner. Drinking makes it easier to remember the good things about a party but harder to recall the bad things that happen after having too much.

Studies into the memories of people engaged in heavy drinking have shown that it is the inability to remember the worst excesses of a night out – while remembering the happy things that led up to them – is one of the main causes of repeated binge drinking.

The effects of alcohol on mood are known contributors to its use and abuse. It is less known how its effects on memory and inhibitory control add to alcohol being and addictive drug, said Professor Theodora Duka of Sussex University: Material acquired in an intoxicated state is less effectively retrieved in a sober state. Thus people who abuse alcohol forget the consequences of intoxication during periods of abstinence.

Alcohol facilitates memories for emotional events experienced before intoxication – mostly positive – and impairs memories for emotional events experienced after intoxication – often negative – biasing memory to positive effects of alcohol, and support [for] further drinking.

Memory tests on volunteers who were shown emotion-laden images before, during and after a bout of drinking found there was a clear degradation in memory as the alcohol began to build up in their bodies.

Further studies found alcohol also increases the risk of making wrong judgements and impulsive decisions, especially in women. This is another reason why drinking can increase the risk of further bingeing by affecting the brain's control process, Professor Duka said.

I am involved work-wise with 'Prisoners/Custodies' at a major Court. Over the last 2 months, I am seeing people being arrested at the Airport for bringing goods back that, in the past, you
may have been 'OK' with! Well, you might want to re-think if your bringing back items such as....

• Cigarettes - If your over your allowance by a small/fair bit, you will now be ARRESTED!
• Souveneir Knives - Any type really. UK is knife crazy at the moment - ARRESTED!
• Knuckledusters - Might only be for novelty purposes - ARRESTED!
• Stun Gun/Zappers - DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT! You WILL go to JAIL!
• Even items such as quantities of Fake Watches or Football Tops have caused our 'Boyz In Blue' to dish out Warrants of Arrest!
• As for Copy DVD's and the likes - you will get Nicked!
• Fake Clothing seems ok if not in any great quantities. But a wad of Man United tops
  will get you huckled for sure. The Sponsors/Club will always prosecute.

Now, before some of you rush to reply with 'nothing happened to me when I was searched' and all that...take it from me. I KNOW what's going down! My Court is full of suitcases with people getting arrested and going straight to the Cop Shop for an appearance at the Court the next day!

Now, if you don't have a major criminal record, you will likely get a fine. One guy got a £500 fine for bringing back one of those wee dagger/knives! It was safely in his stored luggage - doesn't matter - Arrested!

If you DO have a wee bit of a criminal past - you will likely get 3 months in Jail! And for your Zapper/Stun Guns, you will likely go to Trial for a heftier sentence!