Change.org campaign regarding death-rapper Necro

Dear Friends:

I've been alerted to a vile song by so-called "death-rapper" Necro (a.k.a. Ron Braunstein). Purportedly Necro is know for his exceptionally explicit lyrics, and raps about murder by torture, Charles Manson, and devil worship. Adding to this list, Necro has released a song entitled "Human Trafficking King is White Slavery II." Tragically there is also a video so graphic and reprehensible that I will not include a link, but here are some of the lyrics:

"Woman need to be loved, injected with needles and drugs
subjected to torture and kidnapped they need to succumb
it's proven, I feed em dog food, they prefer human
make 'em savagely beat each other bloody for my amusement
It's all fun and games, I keep 'em handcuffed in chains
sexually make 'em do the most disgusting things
starve 'em to cannibals, make 'em eat each others brains
changed and deranged, stores begin to seem like nothings strange
while retarded acquaintances get fist f*cked and raped
covered in lighter fluid, lit up and engulfed in flames
sound proof walls guarantee to muffle your screams
squirm on a shit stained mattress in a puddle of pee"

Necro is scheduled to play at The Palladium in Worcester, MA on May 21-22. In response, our good friends at The Barnaba Institute have launched a Change.org campaign and are seeking are supporters to sign a petition to The Palladium asking that Necro be prohibited performing this song--which does not raise awareness about sex trafficking and sexual violence but rather glorifies it. Please sign and spread the word.

To join the petition go to:
http://www.change.org/petitions/view/insist_that_the_palladium_prohibit_necro_from_playing_human_trafficking_song

Abolition!

Lisa

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Playboy 'readers' get 3-D centerfold in June issue

Dear Friends:

Hello! I hope you all have been doing well and are continuing in your efforts to combat sexual trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of women. I'm sorry you haven't heard from me lately, but I've been traveling a lot the past few weeks.

Now that I'm back, I thought you'd find the article below of interest. Note Playboy's newest gimmick to grab attention and to lure in "young" men. Why are they going 3-D in the June issue? Because the free pornography on available on the Internet has cut deeply into their profits, and so Playboy executives are working relentlessly to regain market share. Part of that strategy is roping in a younger audience who they hope will become brand loyal to Playboy.

What I find particularly sad about this article is the notion that a pornography magazine provides something enduring or lasting -- as opposed to the fleeting images of Internet pornography. In truth, all pornography is a vacuous wasteland. As anyone who has lost a loved one will tell you, a picture is a sorry substitute for the presence of the real person, for the touch and warmth of authentic human relationships. If real relationship are like a rich banquet, then consuming pornography is like eating out of a toxic waste dump -- even if you are wearing 3-D glasses.

Abolition!

Lisa


Playboy 'readers' get 3-D centerfold in June issue
By DON BABWIN, Associated Press Writer Don Babwin, Associated Press Writer

CHICAGO – Playboy readers who can only imagine what it would look like if a centerfold jumped right off the page are getting new specs to help them see into Hef's world.

The magazine's June edition hits newsstands Friday equipped with 3-D glasses. Now the toy that has kids dodging dragons, meatballs and tall blue aliens at the movies will help adults focus on what is, at first glance, a very blurry Playmate of the Year.

"What would people most like to see in 3-D?" asked Playboy founder Hugh Hefner. "Probably a naked lady."

Hefner makes no secret of hoping to capitalize on the popularity of 3-D movies such as "Avatar" and "How to Train Your Dragon," even as he makes no secret of not quite getting what all the fuss is about.

"I'm not a huge enthusiast of 3-D," he said in a telephone interview. "I leave real life to go to the movies and 2-D is fine with me."

If the thought of grown men sitting back in their recliners with a pair of 3-D glasses doesn't quite say "Playboy," it should be noted that a few months ago the magazine put Marge Simpson — yes, the blue-haired animated mother of Bart — on the cover and in a two-page centerfold.

"In today's print environment you have to create newsstand events," said the editorial director of the Chicago-based magazine, Jimmy Jellinek. "Marge Simpson was one of those."

Playboy certainly must do something to get more people, especially younger people, to buy a magazine that has seen circulation plummet from 3.15 million in 2006 to 1.5 million today.

Jellinek said he hopes the issue featuring centerfold Hope Dworaczyk in 3-D also reminds people that for all the infatuation with the Internet, there is nothing quite like having a magazine in your hands.

"People want things that last and have meaning," he said.

The thought hadn't occurred to Hefner. But, now that you mention it:

"This particular picture is one example of how books and magazines are different (than computer images)," he said. "You can hold it in your hands, save them, and as Dad used to, put them under the mattress."

Hefner notes there also are plenty of good old-fashioned 2-D pictures of Dworaczyk — the 51st Playmate of the Year, for those counting at home.

3-D may be all the rage, but Hefner said he first thought of using it when he launched his magazine in the 1950s.

"I actually signed a photographer to shoot two nude women in 3-D in Chicago," he said. But he scrapped the idea when he discovered how expensive it would be to include the glasses.

This time around, HBO is helping out. HBO wanted a creative way to promote its show "True Blood," and having Playboy include 3-D glasses with the show's name on them seemed a good way to do it, said Playboy spokeswoman Theresa Hennessey.

So, do the glasses work? Well, it does kind of look like Dworaczyk is handing you the wine glass she's holding. And she says the photograph makes everything a little, well, bigger.

"It's kind of like it says on the rearview mirror," Dworaczyk joked. "Things may appear larger."

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