The Weekend Newds 5/8/09

• Since Spencer Tunick's Irish installation will not be exhibited in that country, the work will be put on a web site beginning on June 8 and lasting four months.
• A secluded clothes-free beach in California is being threatened by illicit sexual activity solicited on Craigslist.
• "When Breastfeeders Attack" is must reading.
• A California music teacher will not be charged for allegedly possessing child porn on his work computer. Although police have provided no details, my hunch is that the images were of a naturist variety.
• A former prosecutor called the felony conviction of an Ohio man "a misuse of the computer hacking law." Richard Wolf was fired from his position at a wastewater treatment plant after a nude self-portrait was discovered on his computer, leading to an investigation which found he uploaded the images to the Adult Friend Finder in order to connect with women. Had he been buying crap on eBay, he would have probably received a slap on the wrist, but once human sexuality enters the mix, it becomes a felony. Sure the guy was wrong and stupid to use a work computer, but if being a lonely guy looking for sex is a crime, then they had better start rounding up half the country.
• An Australian woman is entering a painting of a nude man in a local art show in order to challenge a new "sensitive art policy."

  “Let’s see what they do with it,” she said of her nude entry.“If they knock that back they don’t even know what art is.”

• Tennessee State Attorney General Bob Cooper warned that a proposed "saggy pants" bill could be unconstitutional.
• 13000 people signed an online protest, forcing a British department store to stop charging customers more for oversized bras.

  The campaign on Facebook was started by Beckie Williams, 26, who wears a 30G bra, after Marks and Spencer failed to respond to her complaints about the STG2 ($A4) extra charge on bras bigger than a DD cup. The group, Busts 4 Justice, condemned the policy as "criminally unfair" and urged "busty ladies" to "join forces to end this blatant discrimination".

• New Hampshire has become the latest state calling for censorship on Craigslist.
• The Washington Post covers the teen sexting issue.

  Sexters are often "the good kids," police said, with strong grades, involved parents and no criminal history. Many send photos without grasping that they could be widely circulated or posted on the Internet in view of strangers, predators and potential colleges and employers.

• The discovery of a cache of nude photos in a Texas city hall will likely not lead to any charges against the former employee. When contacted about the self portraits the man reportedly took the news in "good humor."
• Time Out New York has a nice little article about nude artists' models, with both clothed and unclothed photographs.
• Vietnamese "nudist" body painters are pursuing their art with passion, but still face great prejudice in a country where the line between art and photography is very thin.
• A German coastal town is fighting swinger sex on a secluded nude beach.
• The AANR Word Record Skinny-Dip on July 11 is very poorly organized. Just go to this link and try getting any meaningful information. UPDATE: If you have a Facebook account, there is a group set up here.
• An article on modesty touches upon the issue of nudity in the home.
• An unemployed English woman says her ideal job would be as a "topless motivational speaker."
• Apple is rejecting a newspaper app for the iPhone due to the fact that topless "Page Three" women are included.
• The nominees for the 1st Annual Naked News Awards have been announced.
• A nude calendar with strategically placed fruit over some body parts is being planned to boost tourism in Australia.

The Daily Newds 4/7/09

• More than 40% of Australians polled believe that nudity is natural, and that more nude beaches would be a boon to tourism. Only 33% were in favor of banning nudity on beaches, and the rest were neutral on the subject.
• As a contrast to the above story, Brunswick County commissioner Marty Cooke wants to ban nude sunbathing on Bird Island in North Carolina. Apparently Cooke's impetus comes from an email complaint he received from a physician who lives on Sunset Beach, which is connected to the island by an accumulation of sand which encourages hikers. Police report about one complaint per week during season, which would be only about 16 per year between June and September. The article reports no citations issued, but occasionally an officer is sent out to patrol when complaints come in. There is also no indication if complaints are coming from the same person or persons. Cooke is quoted as saying, "I would have thought there would be some degree of decency...Obviously, these folks have no shame." It's unclear whether Cooke was referring to the complainers or the nude sunbathers.
• What is ABC News doing about the sexting phenomenon? They're fanning the flames with a "Send Your Sexting Questions" promotion which will be answered on air by their unnamed "expert".
• The sexting issue is not going away. This article warns parents about sexting dangers without actually explaining what those dangers are, other than becoming the victim of overzealous prosecutors. In Ohio, Monroe schools are planning a "Cyber-Shield" educational class for parents with children in grades 5-12, even though the school superintendent admits that her district really doesn't have a problem with sexting. Also in Ohio, four teens between the ages of 14 and 18 years of age were arrested and charged with felonies for having nude photos on their cell phones. And finally, a 14 year-old Florida high school freshman received a photo on his cell phone of a girl posing topless, was hauled into the assistant principal's office, and told he was "in deep trouble, ...in possession of child pornography and could go to jail". The kid and his mom are fighting his three day suspension and blemish on his record which could keep him from attending the college of his choice.
• On vacation in St. Lucia, pop diva Amy Winehouse was told by resort personnel that topless sunbathing was against the rules, so she bared her breasts anyway in protest.

  One guest at the Cotton Bay Village Hotel said: “Everyone was shocked by her behaviour. One minute Amy was relaxing on the beach, the next she was running around half-naked.”

The Daily Newds 4/6/09

• The naturist resort at Berry Springs in Australia's Northern Territory has proved to be so successful that Central Australia wants a piece of that tourist pie.
• Anybody who looks down at San Francisco for its permissive attitudes about sex and sexuality, should take a look at Japan's Steel Phallus festival where a ginormous pink penis is paraded through Kawasaki, while spectators of all ages suck on their penis shaped lollipops. No kidding! A photo gallery is here.
• Loretta Laroche calls teen sexting "nonsense" and calls for a return to "scare tactics" from nuns and mothers to put kids back in line. On the other side, an editorial in The Buffalo News says that the country needs to "come to grips" with how to respond, if at all.
  
  What is lacking in all of these commentaries and editorials is any real concern about the fact that teens are having real in-the-flesh sex, oftentimes unprotected. Parents, lawmakers and prosecutors are all up in arms about some pictures, as if eliminating any photographic evidence of sex will also suppress the reality of it all. Photos are not reality, they are only images of reality. The dangers of risky sexual activity far outweigh any of the consequences of a mere photo.
• Here's another article on the German nudist hotel, and it seems that the idea is not only taking hold, it's spreading.
  

  Mr Haferkorn hopes his hotel will attract both walkers who like to go bare and nudists who like to walk.
  
  And while the strict nudity rule only applies within the grounds of the hotel, guests keen to bare it all on their walks may not have to wait too long for permission: two villages in the Harz mountain region are reportedly looking into designating some of their walking paths as nudist routes.

The Monthly Newds Part Two 3/28/09

Still playing catch-up...

• Two naturists are covering 220 miles of the English countryside in the nude to raise awareness of a "Clothes for a Cause" drive.
• After a few weeks, Marie Osmond's nude spray tanning sessions "seemed as natural as taking your car into a drive-through car wash."
• Make sure you have a lot of spare time before you visit "World of the Nude Art Photography."
• A nude portrait of Tony Blair's wife Cherie, painted by a friend when she was just 22, has sparked a discussion about why the British are so prurient when it comes to nudity.
• A nude photo scandal surrounding Australian politician Pauline Hanson turned out to be a hoax.
• Some believe that the reputation of a Wyoming county attorney is "tainted" because he admitted to viewing photos of nude women.
• An 80 year-old woman in Maine advises people to "lighten up" over the topless coffee shop brouhaha in Vassalboro.
• Kansas resident Allen Potter is concerned "for the morality of the county" because nude dancing is drawing big crowds at The Retreat Club near El Dorado.
• to be continued...
  

The Daily Newds 2/27/09

• An 18 year-old man who streaked naked through a shopping mall says it was a "stupid move".
• The DA of Centre County, Pennsylvania, sees the latest teen sexting case as an "opportunity" to give a verbal warning to students and parents before pressing charges.

  "It's potentially against the law. It's potentially a criminal record and I want kids and parents in particular to know about it. At some point we'll take a stronger law enforcement approach after the proactive one," said (District Attorney) Madeira.

• A life drawing model at the University of Arizona finds that students are not always prepared for full frontal male nudity.

  "I had a guy come into class, and I was up on the podium in the classroom, and he looks and goes, 'Oh, a dude! Man, I don't know if I'm gonna be able to do this!' And he ended up staying in the class, and he toughed it out and manned up."

• A new Rhode Island law expands current legislation which protects a breastfeeding mother from indecent exposure prosecution. Mothers will now be allowed to breastfeed a child in any public place and permits a woman to allege a violation of her civil rights if she is interfered with.
• Bay to Breakers organizers have given in to allow floats back into the event, but also announced a zero-tolerance policy on alcohol. No word on whether or not nudity will be allowed, but police have previously stated that they will not be issuing citations for indecent exposure. It looks like there will be some compromise because organizers really just want to improve crowd behavior, asking participants to be courteous and not urinate in public places.
• Tom of West Penn Naturist group has a report online about his weekend at White Tail Resort in Virginia, and observes that there is hope for involving younger people in the naturist lifestyle.

  Saturday night was the talent show and a dance... There were about 20 youth here from JAANR, Junior American Association of Nude Recreation, http://www.aanr-east.com Their theme is "Winter in JAANRville" There were songs skits and lots of laughs. It was really a first time experience for me to see this collection of 20+ youth, not only able to get up in front of the crowd and perform, but to do it nude. Can't honestly say I could have done it at their age. It was quite an event.

• Nudity is in vogue during London Fashion Week.
• "Assume Nothing" is the title of a photo exhibition by New Zealand artist Rebecca Swan includes both clothed and nude portraits of individuals who identify as both male and female.
• An Australian resort referred to as "nudist" in this article is sold out for a full month, where 250 people will engage in anything goes sexual activity.
• Struggling moms are turning to stripping in order to make ends meet.

  "I'm telling you right now, with two kids, a $13.85 an hour job is not going to help you out with anything. I'm sorry. That might pay your rent and that might pay your gas to get back and forth to work, but it's not going to pay for groceries. It's not going to pay for anything they want. It's not going to pay for health insurance. Who wants to live like that?...I come [to the strip club], work 6, 7, 8 hour shifts and leave with more than $500."

• Kathie Lee Gifford admitted to sleeping in the nude during the fourth hour of "Today", which prompted co-host Hoda Kotb to poll the crew on how many of them also slept in the altogether. Many of them did.
• An Olive Garden restaurant is being sued by a mother claiming that she was not given a proper private place for her to pump her breasts.

  According to the suit, a female manager told Gray that she would not be able to pump in private, leaving her with the choice to pump in an office with a manager present or in a bathroom stall. The same manager expressed her disapproval of breast-feeding, calling the process "disgusting."

• 29 of the 35 members of the Geelong Harmony Chorus in Australia, ranging in age from the 20s through the 80s, have volunteered to pose nude for a fundraising calendar.
• 45 year-old Lisa Rinna is most comfortable in the nude and has posed for an upcoming issue of Playboy.

  "I don't get all the fuss our society has over people's weight...I want to encourage other women to be proud of their bodies no matter what age or size."

The Weekend Newds 2/13/09

• Columnist Jennifer Parello is approached by a harsh critic while nude in a locker room.
• A Chinese woman is flashing her lopsided breasts outside a hospital to protest her botched implants.
• A woman wearing a bikini top was booted from an Australian shopping mall because security thought she was wearing a bra.
• A divorced father of three boys writes to an advice columnist because he's concerned about the nudity they found to be "cool" on a beach vacation with their mother and her boyfriend. Instead of reassuring him that nudity on many beaches is a cultural norm, "Ellie" offers the following bad advice:

  Obviously, if you ever believe your children are being neglected or abused, you should legally object, and protect your sons in every way possible. BUT, regarding different values, your recourse depends on your keeping open good lines of communication, both with your sons and your ex.

• A British naturist club has found a new home at a public pool.

  Malcolm Boura, 56, one of the club's founders and a naturist for more than 30 years, said:"It's only a minority of people who misunderstand what naturism is about. Evidence from polls show that clearly the public in general understand.
  
  "We had one or two hiccups when we started in Mildenhall. But the council, which ran the pool at the times, was very helpful and very supportive and we had remarkably little difficulty."

• The Springfield Foundation in Ohio has requested that a painting of a nude woman by Jerry Ott be removed from the Springfield Museum of Art for their annual meeting.

  "We have a conservative donor base," explained Ted Vander Roest, the foundation's executive director. "We felt it wouldn't be to their liking.
  
  "Some of them are in their 80s."

• Students at the University of Iowa will host their first annual Nearly Naked Mile on Saturday, March 7, where runners remove layers of clothing for charity.
• Beer, floats and nudity have been banned from this year's Bay to Breakers run in San Francisco, but police said they will not issue citations for indecent exposure.
• Two Wisconsin teens face municipal citations for exchanging nude photos of themselves. Police are calling it "kids making poor choices", but the article does not state specifically what the charges are.
• That nude photo of Madonna sold for $37,500.
• Parents like this one need to start fighting back against porn charges when their kids are caught sexting.

  Brian Hunt told the Cape Cod Times that the Lawrence School students, ranging in age from 12 to 14, have "learned their lesson," and that media reports of the incident have been overblown.
  
  "They're all good kids," he said. "But they are young. A 13-year-old did what a 13-year-old did. They all knew that they weren't supposed to do it."

• The video of Salma Hayek breastfeeding another woman's baby has cast a light on the USA and its unique phobia about breastfeeding issues.

  "We've lost the concept that breastfeeding is normal and human in the United States," said (Dr. Miriam) Labbok. "In most of the world, it's [nursing someone else's baby is] as common as breastfeeding" one's own."

Best Nude Beaches in Australia

The Sydney Morning Herald published a nice article on the best nude beaches in Australia.

"They tend to put nudist beaches in the most difficult and awkward locations to get to and as far away from civilisation as possible," says Barbara Rolfe, 33, an IT test manager who took up nudism with her partner three years ago.

Rolfe frequents nude (or "clothing-optional") beaches in summer and nude swimming pool nights in winter. She says a wide variety of people share her passion for living au naturel — from lawyers to hippies to the very straight-laced.

"It attracts people from all walks of life and from all age groups," she says. "For me being a nudist is about the freedom to be able to be myself (and) to be happy with my body to the point where I don't feel I have to hide it."

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked

The Super Sunday Newds 2/1/09

• Police in Billerica, Massachusetts, are investigating a 14 year-old girl who was caught sending a nude photo of herself while in her middle school class. In Cleveland, a court-ordered survey shows that the vast majority of kids are not aware that such expressions of their own sexuality are illegal.
• "Best Undressed" is a new documentary on the Miss Nude Australia pageant.

  In a modern society of sexual equality, this competition seems out of place, sexist and sleazy. But in recent years the competition has flourished with a constant flow of young and beautiful girls, keen to compete for the prize of Miss Nude Australia. In the era of Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, seeking fame even for being naked increasingly appears normal. They enter the Pageant with all the seriousness of a fully clothed Miss Universe Title.

• A columnist recalls the "Buff Bowl" at Lake Como Nudist Resort.

  While the cheerleaders wore wispy little sashes of their team colors, the most of the players wore only sneakers and those little belts of contrasting colors with streamers attached by Velcro.
  
  That prompted the greatest quote I've heard in my sportswriting career, as a quarterback covered the basics of Buff Bowl flag football.
  
  "The only rule we have," he said, "is if you grab something and it doesn't come off in three seconds, let go."

• Trinity College in Dublin has launched an investigation into students who ran naked in the annual "Gumball Challenge" fundraising event.

  The challenge moved into the public realm as students were dared to “get naked in a phonebooth”, “get kicked out of a hotel”, “strip on any form of public transport” and “drop an open condom onto a bar”. The phonebooth outside Topshop at the top of Grafton Street saw at least five people baring all.

• A new series called "Naked" on BBC Three gives a group of five professionals "a series of challenges designed to help them get rid of inner demons and help their self-esteem at work and at home. It culminates in a dramatic naked stunt in which we find out who has gained the confidence to literally bare all.". Unfortunately online video for this series is available in the UK only.
• Are Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy nudists?
• From LA Weekly:

  Naked Creatures , curated by Ian MacKinnon, features solo and group performances of dance, music and video, where queer artists take it off and "rejoice" in the naked human body. After all, the promoters tell us,
  "underneath everything, we are all naked creatures."

• Portrait artist Dorian Vallejo is accepting commissions for "intimate life portraits" which are a "perfect Valentine's Day gift."
• Morrissey and his band have posed nude for the inside sleeve of their new single.
• A New Zealand woman took a photo of her nude toddler at the beach and entered the image into an online snapshot competition, where it as rejected because it "could be construed on the Internet as being pornographic.". Despite that insane logic, the photo won another competition sponsored by a local newspaper.

  “If I want to put my child’s back view up for view that's my business,” said Nicci...“It was something totally, totally innocent, they were wanting photos that were iconic, and what more iconic than children playing on a beach,” she said.

• A hike to Deep Creek Hot Springs in Upland, California, is scheduled for February 28.

  PLEASE NOTE: you should not sign up for this trip if nudity bothers you. There may/likely will be nude people in and around hot springs. You are welcome to bring your swimsuit or not.

• The Pawnbroker is recognized as "the first mainstream, critically acclaimed film that featured a topless scene."
• Minsky's burlesque house in New York is open again in the form of a new Broadway musical, with music by Charles Strouse.

  "In the mid-'20s, you were allowed to have nudity onstage as long as you didn't move," recounted (Bob) Martin over a pastrami sandwich at Katz's Deli on Houston Street, just a few blocks from the site of the National Winter Garden (now a Whole Foods). "There was one actress at Minsky's, Mademoiselle Fifi, who shook her breasts, and that caused a raid."

• Authorities in Appenzell Innerrhoden, a Swiss canton, have passed a law to fine freehikers.

  Melchior Looser, the canton’s law and police minister, said: “Ultimately, in the summer lots of kids stay in our mountains.”

• The director of the Tennessee Technology Center has resigned after he sent nude photos on a state computer.
• An Australian exchange student found life a little different in Finland.

  "Finnish people love to get personal behind close doors, Amy explained. “They love saunas… naked saunas. Talking to strangers is unacceptable. Shaking hands is not on. But jumping in a sauna full of people with no clothes on is totally normal.”

• A dance production in Cleveland entitled "Nearly Nude: Deconstructing Beauty" deals with women and body image - the media's bombardment of impossible shapes and sizes, as well as "what we do to ourselves."
• Actress Ginnifer Goodwin has strict no-nudity clauses in her contracts.

  The Walk The Line star, who plays one of a polygamist's three wives in hit U.S. show Big Love, insists fans will never see her strip for a role, and only lovers and her doctor will see her naked.
  
  And just in case co-stars and directors get carried away in steamy scenes, she has a back-up plan to keep everything covered up.
  
  She tells Los Angeles magazine, "I write things in Magic Marker all over my body - 'No way, Jose,' (and), 'Bill, stop looking at my boobs.'"

• American Idol contestant Melinda Camille told judges that she loves to dance naked in her room.
• An article in the Johns Hopkins Newsletter advises not to fear nudity, but to embrace it.

  But what if we were comfortable enough that we could deal? What if seeing one's privies was commonplace? Firstly, big dicks and voluptuous breasts would no longer be as large a deal as they are body parts. Following this, skill comes into frame. One's abilities in the sack are just as important to attraction as one's appearance, but the more comfortable we are with nudity, the more our intellect catches up to the emotional reality of this. In business terms, transparency increases competition, and competition increases the possibility that you are just as desirable as the next supplier.

• All six members of the cast of Hangin' Out are nude throughout the production.
• Richard Mason, president of government affairs for South Florida Free Beaches and the Florida Naturist Association, spoke to Broward County's Legislative Delegation and told them that nude beaches are good for Florida's economy.
• Wonkette fears that the White House is becoming a "nudist colony" under the new informal President.
• Kathleen Rooney is on tour promoting her book "Live Nude Girl" about her experience as a nude artists' model.

  I really liked it," she said. "I found it sort of addicting. I wouldn't say it was a compulsion, but I haven't done it for a year or more and I'm kind of longing for it."
  
  But what's the appeal?
  
  "Well, it's twofold: The first is, 'Holy cow, I'm naked in front of people. What a thrill!' It is exciting, but that's not the main reason. I felt I was making connections to people, and as a writer, that's really important to me. With some of the artists I met, I felt like I was really making a contribution. There is a kind of partnership between an artist and a model that's really different."

• The nude cruise industry is growing at a rapid pace.

  "People are hungry for a connection for something that is real and our cruises provide that," said Craig Stevens, creator of Source Events, a travel company based in Miami. Smith is not only surviving, his business is thriving. He is taking advantage of the 400 million dollar a year nude recreation industry. Source Events, which began booking gay cruises, is now expanding their horizons. "Women that want to create women's cruises, other people that want to do youth cruises," said Smith.

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked

Australian Library Bans Innocent Photo of Children Playing

Reaching perhaps the peak of paranoia, a library in Australia pulled a photo from an exhibition fearing scrutiny in the wake of the recent controversy over Bill Henson nudes.

A mother herself the artists says "(...) if this keeps going in the same direction, it won't be long before our children will be required to wear concealing head scarves - whilst surfing obscene pornographic websites protected by the freedom of speech.

"As an artist, photographer and protective mother of two children I believe in protecting all children, but the law is silencing the wrong people and we are heading back to the dark ages."

UPDATE: The ban has been lifted after common sense prevailed.

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked

The Daily Newds 1/20/09

• An Australian sports club has imposed a six month ban on a member for streaking.

  A member - who didn't want to give her name - said the six-month ban was "ridiculous".

• "Hanging Out" is the name of a nude musical revue in California.

  From the moment they dropped their robes our merry band of birthday suit-ers (which was also the name (Birthday Suit) of one of the 23 numbers) didn’t bat an eyelash or flash a blush as they gamely sang and danced.

• Spencer Tunick is back in Mexico City again, this time for more intimate photos of 40 subjects instead of the 20,000 people he gathered in May 2007.
• Calendar Girls in Hampshire, England, is holding a nude photo contest in anticipation of the arrival of the hit musical.
• The advice given to the mother of a three year-old who loves being naked is to invent an imaginary therapist and use bribery to get her to put on clothes.

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked

The Sunday Newds 1/18/09

• Plans for installing surveillance cameras on a nude beach in Australia have been scrapped in favor of an increased police presence to deter sexual behavior.
• An Irish woman recalls the "lady with a stick" who used unorthodox means to enforce dress codes in a church.

  My skirt had obviously risen just above my knees as I was sitting down. Our friend chastised me verbally for my immodesty in church. I tried to move away but she moved over after me and whacked my legs with her stick. My son took grave exception to this and bawled so I had to leave. I missed the whole event.

• The Birmingham Museum of Art is presenting Body Image: American Art and the Human Form through May 9, 2009.

  "The human body has been an important subject for artistic expression from prehistoric times," says Graham Boettcher, PhD, William Cary Hulsey Curator of American Art at the Birmingham Museum of Art. "The most fundamental training for any artist long consisted of the study of anatomy and life drawing."

• Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Brett Keisel would gladly trade full frontal nudity for another Super Bowl ring, no questions asked.
• Strapped Los Angeles homeowners are opening their doors to movies, commercials and porn shoots to pay the mortgage. Amazingly, according to the IRS, if the shooting lasts less than 15 days it's tax free, so the government is subsidizing porn.
• A US couple has been released from a Brazilian jail pending trial. They have been accused of sexually abusing children at a "nudist colony".
• Oscar de la Renta says that Hillary Clinton is "prudish about the type of clothes she likes to wear."
• "Art jamming" is a group painting session in Ireland where an instructor brings all the needed materials to a home or place of business so people can exercise their creativity in familiar settings. The "art jam" can be arranged for private parties, corporate events and festivals, and for "hen parties" a nude male can be provided as a subject.

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked

The Daily Newds 1/10/09

• In Belmont, California, it's illegal to smoke a cigarette in your own home. Dave Warden, the former councilman who supported the ordinance, explains his position:
  

  "You can't walk around naked in your house with the blinds open, or you'll get arrested. You can't shoot a gun in your house, can't do drugs in your house, can't play loud music in your house and bother your neighbors. It's illegal."

• Massachusetts at long last has passed a breastfeeding bill, with God being the only dissenter.
  

  Gov. Deval Patrick signed a bill into law yesterday protecting nursing mothers from harassment, discrimination and prosecution for breast feeding in public. The only exception is in a church or place of worship.

• An Australian man has been placed on a sex offenders list for several instances of indecent exposure "for the protection of the public", even though there is no evidence of any sexual activity associated with his behavior.
  

  Sheriff Michael Fletcher said: “I don’t have much room for manoeuvre. The offence itself was a very strange one but not particularly serious in itself.”

• UK artist Edi Richter was given two years probation, ordered to attend a sexual offenders treatment program, required to register as a sex offender for five years, and was banned from working with children for possessing 39 "indecent" images of children out of a collection of 60,000 pictures he downloaded from the Internet. I can't find the original news story on this man, but my recollection is that the photos were originally described to be from naturist web sites.
• "Welcome to Topless Town" is the title of an editorial in the Bangor Daily News. Does anyone really believe that incessant publicity about the topless coffee shop in Maine will lessen the impact? The owner of the shop should start selling shares.
• The North County Times has a profile of Kelli Roman, the mother who started the Facebook protest.
  

  Roman said she feels that seeing pictures of breast-feeding is not detrimental to kids, as opposed to viewing nudity that is sexual in nature."Children need to see women breast-feeding," she said. "They need to see that breasts aren't for sex or to sell you things ---- especially the boys ---- but they're for nurturing and feeding your children."

• Kanye West wants to pose nude.
  

  "I definitely feel, like, in the next however many years, if I work out for two months, that I'll pose naked. I break every rule and mentality of hip-hop, of black culture, of American culture."

• The state of North Dakota is looking for new ways to make criminals out of women who take their clothes off for a living.
• More support here for the mothers protesting Facebook.
  

  The bigger issue of course is Net censorship. Trying to define obscenity is like trying to drive a nail through a bar of wet soap while wearing roller skates. Nobody wants Facebook to turn into a porn palace (except maybe the porn industry) but why it's picking on lactating moms is a complete mystery. If watching a suckling babe in arms gets you all warm and wiggly, you have bigger problems.

• Tam Leach describes her nude sauna experience in Sweden.
  

  Nakedness is not enforced but is expected; five minutes in and sitting around starkers seems almost comfortable. Fifteen minutes of heat and it's time. Warmed to the core but still not convinced, I step outside, gingerly, keeping hold of the banister. The impetus to submerge comes when I glance to the left, and realise that the steps from the men's side of the bathing house are within view. Quite detailed view, in fact. I'm naked, the old Swedish bloke over there is naked, and suddenly the water looks far more inviting.

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked

The Daily Newds 1/9/09

• A writer in the San Francisco Chronicle explains how Facebook's banning of breastfeeding photos has backfired.

  What should we make of Facebook's harsh stance, which may as well have been well-intentioned? Even good intentions backfire: Facebook has fallen a victim to the Streisand effect - an emerging phenomenon on the Internet, where an attempt to suppress the dissemination of information on the Internet only makes it more widespread. The reasons that made Facebook decide to enforce rules that do not exist in real life are less clear. In many countries, actual venues could be fined for asking breastfeeding mums to cover up; why should the virtual space be any different?
  
  Facebook's purist efforts are likely to have opposite consequences: If the photos of nursing mothers, scattered throughout the whole site, were previously hard to find, now they have all been arranged in one place, with many links to other Web sites. Thus, if Facebook was concerned about those who complained about so many sightings of breastfeeding in the virtual space, then such concerns have certainly not been addressed.

• An editorial on TheDestinLog.com explains that a community can have a topless bar and still be family friendly.
• If you plan on taking public transit in Portland on Saturday between 3 and 5 PM, be prepared to take off your pants.
• An artist is preparing a nude portrait of cooking show cutie Rachael Ray using paprika miked with oils.
• The annual Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas has become a "full-blown mainstream media event".

  To use words such as “most respected” and “most recognized” when describing a trade-show business convention is acceptable when it comes to the Consumer Electronics Show winding up its 42nd anniversary here in Las Vegas this weekend. But the adult entertainment industry says the same about itself because it has grown into a staggeringly massive, annual $12 billion-plus business, and on Saturday, just like the Oscars and the Emmys, gold statuettes will be handed out in more than 100 sex categories to the industry’s top stars and producers! Yes, X-rated entertainment has gone completely mainstream, and flesh fans themselves will be able to sit in on the provocative power parade of pulchritude at the Grammys of the Adult World co-hosted by Jenna Haze and Belladonna.

• The Lexington Art League's annual Nude exhibit has a few surprises this year. In a related story, six art professors share their views on teaching students about the human figure.
• An Australian in Indonesia compares the recent rise of the "morality police" in both countries.

  And in a world like this, let any law — in Australia or Indonesia — that threatens such tolerance to appease small–mindedness or potential voters be fought, on the beaches and everywhere else.

• Ohio Governor Strickland has signed a law increasing penalties for anyone found guilty of "surreptitiously video taping, filming, photographing or recording a minor in a state of nudity." Child pornography is despicable, but this law is certain to be misinterpreted. Don't - repeat - DON'T take nude photos of your kids to be developed at the local drug store, no matter where you live.
• The mother of a 16 year-old boy found a nude 15 year-old girl in his bedroom and called the police, who issued her a trespass citation and took her home. If the boy invited the girl in, how is this trespassing? And why call the police in the first place?

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked

The Daily Newds 1/8/09

• Although unsuccessful in securing an official nude beach for Queensland, Anita Grigg of the Free Beaches Association has been named one of the top ten newsmakers for Noosa, Australia.
• Using Barack Obama as a canvas is the wish of New Zealand body painter Joanne Gair.
• Sir Ian McKellen will not be doing the Full Monty in the public television version of King Lear.
• An unofficial nude beach in New Zealand is coming under scrutiny over reports of overt gay sexual behavior.
• Two more signs of support for breastfeeding mothers who are protesting Facebook.
  
  Susan Nielsen:

  Facebook's policy is defensible from a business standpoint. The site wants to limit nudity and doesn't want to get into value judgments about tastefulness. (And let's face it: Of the many challenges facing new moms, the ability to post personal photos doesn't crack the top 50.)
  
  Yet after contacting several Oregon women who've joined the group or are passionate about breastfeeding, I see the value of this online protest. As they explained, online activism can be powerful -- as long it spurs real-world action rather than replaces it.

  Lori Colan, M.D.:

  As long as formula feeding remains the cultural norm, mothers and babies will continue to have higher risks of these maladies. Others have likened breastfeeding to going to the bathroom — something to be done in private, but I would counter that the normal act of an infant taking milk is not disgusting or immoral, or something to be hidden. Babies need to eat, and mothers need to feed them, wherever they are together.

  Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked

The Daily Newds 1/7/09

• The photographer who took the photos of the skier caught upside down with his genitals exposed on a ski lift has been suspended from his job.
• Police in Gahanna, Ohio, have decided not to press felony charges against high school students who exchanged nude photos with their cell phones.
• Another columnist comes out in support of the breastfeeding mothers protesting Facebook's anti-nudity policy.

  The American Academy of Pediatrics agrees that breastfeeding is the healthiest alternative for newborns. If a photograph encourages it, we should support the photo. And any nursing mom can tell you that her sore boobs are off limits for those with a "prurient interest in sex." That's more than can be said for "facebook's hottest bikini babes."

• If you are in the Boston area you can check out The Naked Comedy Showcase tonight at ImprovBoston in Cambridge.
• The Orillia Museum of Art in Canada is hosting Fully Exposed: Celebrating the Nude.

  The good work engages the viewer, challenges him or her to be an active participant, to enter into an intimate conversation, to assess and interpret the emotion and thought aroused by the figure. Ultimately, the image touches something deeper, taking the viewer a bit further into the process of understanding our human condition.

• The LA Times article Oscar in the Nude is causing some subscribers to cancel the newspaper.
• Is a painted body really nude?

  I always wonder about the silliness of censorship, how our society is at times so proudly sensitive and yet so base and vulgar at the same time. It occurs to me just now that perhaps both exist not in spite of each other but because of each other.

• The town planning board in Vassalboro, Maine, has approved an application for a topless coffee shop.

  Despite complaints and objections, town officials said there was nothing they could do to stop Donald Crabtree from opening the shop. No Vassalboro town ordinance prohibits such a business, and if residents formed a committee, drew up such an ordinance and the town approved it, Crabtree's business still would be grandfathered in, unaffected.

• Dr. Richard Wagner is a sex therapist and an admitted pornographer.

  Admittedly, porn is a thorny issue in our sex-negative culture. Lots of people are hostile to the notion that there could actually be something uplifting and life affirming about the depiction, in any medium, of sexual behaviors. Lots of people believe that even nudity, let alone full-blown sex, is bad and that it corrupts the consumer, especially if the consumer is young and impressionable. I don’t happen to share that view.

• Some new perspectives have emerged regarding the attempt to ban women from sunbathing topfree on Australia beaches.

  Wollongong’s Danielle Hefferman said she personally did not have an issue with women exposing their breasts on beaches.
  
  “I think it would be good if they had more designated topless or nudist beaches,” she said.
  
  Mrs Hefferman said her children might stare at a woman who was sunbathing topless for a while, and might make a comment, but the novelty would wear off quickly.
  
  She said she could not recall seeing any topless bathers at beaches in Wollongong.
  
  Sydney’s David Howse said he did not think it was a big deal.
  
  “If people are offended by it, they can walk off,” he said.

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked

The Daily Newds 1/6/09

• Why is the Australian topless beach controversy only about women?

  “Once being topless is accepted as lawful the next question will be why can’t women go totally nude on a public beach and I don’t think Australians want to go down that pathway.”

• Breastfeeding moms protesting Facebook's anti-nudity policy are getting support from Laura Berman.

  Until we begin accepting the female body as more than a sexual object and the breast as more than just a sexual toy, mothers and babies will miss out on this special bonding process. Yes, breasts are sexy, and yes, they look amazing in low-cut dresses. However, they also have a much more beautiful purpose ... so let mothers fulfill it!

• An Australian article on life drawing classes, showing a nude model in a photograph, states that the classes are for "everybody" from ages seven and up.
• Which way to East Vassalboro? You can't get there from here! Actually, the Maine town has now been put on the map by virtue of it's consideration to grant a business permit to a topless coffee shop.
• "Experts" are warning parents not to put holiday snapshots of their children (clothed or unclothed) on the Internet to keep them from ending up in a child porn collection. Does anybody really understand what child pornography really is?
• The Whispering Pines Nudist Resort has been sold but will remain clothes-free.
• Massachusetts is one of only three states in the country without a law protecting breastfeeding mothers, but at long last a bill is on the table.
• Check out the Naturist Living Show podcast sponsored by Bare Oaks Family Naturist Park.

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked

The Daily Newds 12/31/08

• Lily Allen has to be the celebrity who is most comfortable with topfreedom.
• Helen Rittelmeyer has a nice appreciation of Bettie Page.

  The battle between permissiveness and modesty has become mechanical, but while the rest of us were dancing like we've danced before, Bettie Page was asking why the human body had to be treated like a totem, either of liberation or shame. She never became trapped in the sick symbiosis between exhibitionist and voyeur — one relishing the frisson of the forbidden, the other eager to subvert it, each dependent on the other. Like her, we should all give thanks that creation grants us the gifts of beauty and sex — and the wisdom to know the difference.

• University of Salford students have stripped for a fundraising calendar.
• A Wisconsin state appeals court has ruled that a person who is voluntarily nude in the presence of another still has privacy rights which protect against being secretly photographed.
• British Naturism is fighting a local council which is planning to close a nudist beach.

  "They are saying other people and families can't use the beach, but that is nonsense. It is a clothes-optional beach. We found that statement very offensive and, in particular, naturist families found it extremely offensive. We are not getting anywhere with them."

• The New South Wales government in Australia says that the call to ban topfree sunbathing will not be heeded. Labor MP Paul Gibson, a supporter of the ban, said that topless women made people "uncomfortable". "If you're on the beach do you want somebody with big knockers next to you when you're there with the kids," he said.
• Former Mrs. Paul McCartney Heather Mills is being sued by a former nanny who claims that she was forced to do "unsavory" work, such as giving a spray-paint tan to a nude Mills, and (gasp) blow-drying her hair before normal business hours.
• 130 naturists have gathered in New Zealand for their 57th annual festival. June Campbell-Tong, of Whitby, has been a passionate supporter of nudity for 45 years. "It's beautiful, it's wonderful," she said. "I can't wait to come out here it's a stress release. People can come here and forget the outside world." Here is the link to the story with uncensored video.

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked

The Daily Newds 12/27/08

Catching up after a very busy holiday season...

• A Seattle columnist is "all for nudity", but...

  ...there's the morality issue. Is it in any way possible to justify nude bicycling on the basis of morality? The most adept philosopher would be hard pressed to make this argument. After all, is it morally acceptable for a physical specimen replete with rippling muscles and firm curves to flaunt his or her charms to the remainder of us who may be challenged in the same areas? I don't think so, nor do I think that those who thoughtlessly parade their physical perfection would think so if they gave it a little thought. Have a little consideration is all I ask. Leave the imperfect among us some pride at the end of the day.

• A New Zealand man has been sentenced to four months in jail for taking off his clothes on National Nude Day.
• Here's a video link to the annual UC-Berkeley student library streak.
• Here's a brief history of nude dancing and the First Amendment.
• One Australian man is trying to make a difference in getting Little Congwong declared an official free beach.

  "Naturists are a good, honest crowd," he said. "Nobody hides anything. I've never come across the bad behaviour or rudeness that you sometimes get on clothed beaches. We love nature and the freedom of just being yourself."

• NPR has a short audio link to a story about one of the Nude Pumpkin Runners who will have to do community service, six months probation and pay $27 in court costs for streaking in public. A blogger on the Denver Post website says that the runners are getting what they deserve.
• A writer is distressed over nudity in locker rooms.

  ...all the skinny people are back from their work-out and strutting their naked thin bodies around the changing room. That seems to be the latest thing. Take off all your clothes and, irrespective of who's behind you, bend down to put on the knickers and shove your bottom in somebody else's face, often mine.

• Here's a photo gallery of celebrities who have taken it all off for PETA.
• A nude portrait of a breast cancer survivor will go on display in The Louvre.
• The staff of Amazon.com reportedly resisted a call for them to drop trou for mass mooning photo.
• Amy Winehouse has been added to the list of celebrities who enjoy topfreedom.
• Naked Rambler Stephen Gough is going back to jail for another 12 months.
• Women are protesting Facebook's decision to ban images of breastfeeding.

  "What about a baby breast-feeding is obscene? Especially in comparison to MANY other pictures posted all over Facebook that really are obscene?'' the event organizers asked on their Web site, called "Hey Facebook, breast-feeding is not obscene!''

• More stories on the Facebook censorship can be found here, and here.
• Marisa Tomei talks about her role in The Wrestler where she plays a stripper.
• The staff at a UK store stripped off for a Christmas card to raise money for Alzheimer's research.
• Two Louisiana elementary school children were suspended from school for viewing a nude photo on a school computer. The Superintendent compared the incident to fights, guns, knives and drugs.
• The Chicago bar which gained notoriety with a nude painting of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is now planning a nude portrait of embattled Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich.
• Naturists are saying that there are fewer places to go bare in Orange County.

  "There are fewer places than there used to be," said longtime naturist leader and Huntington Beach resident Allen Baylis, an attorney who is leading the San Onofre State Beach fight. "Because of the prejudice and marginalization we've long suffered, we've kept losing ground."

• A children's charity has turned down the funds raised by doctors who posed for a nude calendar.
• Fifteen artists' models stripped down in front of the Paris cultural affairs bureau to protest a ban on tipping for their services.
• SCNA (Southern California Naturist Association) is rallying supporters for the right to be nude.

  Members have begun a sly campaign to raise awareness among local business owners of their numbers and purchasing power. Armed with fistfuls of $2 bills, naturists use the questions generated by the unusual currency as an opportunity to explain their mission and demonstrate that for a troubled economy, there is profit in numbers.
  
  “We’re trying to say if there were more people down at the beach they’d be buying more hamburgers,” Wilkinson says.
  
  So far, says Ricc Bieber, an activist who has worked to maintain nudist beaches since 1976, “practically everyone has been really positive. They understand the economic consequences.”

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked

The Sunday Newds 11/23/08

• A dance concert at Macalester College in Minnesota features nudity.

  "I started with nudity as the subject matter itself rather than the effect of some other concept, because I was-and continue to be-interested in it as a social experiment," (Emily) Gastineau said. "It's been very specific to the context of Macalester, because in some places a naked dance would be totally unremarkable and in others it just wouldn't be done, but we're somewhere in the middle."

• A couple of radio hosts did their show in the nude in honor of Australian Nudist Federation's National Nude Week.
• The Chicago Tribune features two stories on nude recreation here and here.

  Some people who haven't tried nudity say, "I wouldn't want to see that person naked on the beach." I overcame that attitude. Most people are flawed, but nudists don't care what size or shape bodies come in, so the experience equalizes fat and skinny, old and young, gorgeous and not so gorgeous. Everyone's just there to have fun, to tan, to chat or to relax. Since I could forgive them their supposed flaws, I forgave myself my own. My confidence blossomed in all areas of my life. My appreciation of people for all their differences expanded.

• An Illinois man was cleared on 5 counts of creating child pornography.

  The former manager of the Discover More! Store at the Children's Discovery Museum in Normal was charged because of photos of five naked boys he took at a 2006 birthday party for his son at his home.
  
  While Shoemaker admitted in court that taking the photos was inappropriate, he denied directing the boys. He also said didn't think the six photos were lewd, just young boys displaying locker room-type behavior.
  
  The appellate court agreed, saying in its ruling "the photos ... appear to be examples of nudity without lewdness and not child pornography."

• An article in the Cape Cod Times equates nude sunbathing and streaking with public masturbation and sexual intercourse as problems being faced by local police.
• More nude calendar stories here and here.
• Body painting is part of the Taboo Naughty but Nice Sex Show, but artists and models claim it's less about sex than it is about art.

  "You're a canvas for someone's art and we get the pleasure of wearing someone's art," said the professional model.
  
  "We don't want to walk around and say, 'Hey, we're naked.' We want people to look at how well these people can do their job."

• Three nightclubs at the nudist community Cap d'Agde in France have been destroyed by fire, and investigators suspect arson resulting from mounting tensions between traditional nudists (naturists) and those who want to live a swingers lifestyle (échangistes).

  “We don’t want to put the échangiste places out of business,” said Gilles Beaumont, a naturist and regular at Cap d’Agde. “It’s true that we don’t like being mixed up with the swingers. But we respect other people and their right to behave as they please.”

• A couple is suing McDonald's because they left a cell phone with nude photos of the woman at an Arkansas restaurant, and the images ended up on the Internet.
• Lawsuits have been filed in Seattle against a school district over nude photos of cheerleaders distributed by cell phone.

  Both lawsuits, filed Monday in King County Superior Court, accuse school administrators of violating the girls' due process rights, needlessly sharing the photos with other school staff members and failing to promptly report the matter to police as possible child pornography.

• Naturist activist and attorney Allen Baylis will be lecturing at California Polytechnic State University on "Recreational Nudity - With Impunity".

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked

The Weekend Newds 11/21/08

• Did you know that Spencer Tunick did a nude photo shoot in a Brooklyn bar on election night?
• The daughter of an English cricket legend has organized a nude calendar to raise money for breast cancer.

  "We were all nervous about going completely nude. But it's brought us closer and we're so glad we've done it.
  
  We just hope the money raised will help."

• Should the government restrict pornography? Yes and No.
• In Las Vegas, women apparently cannot enter some topless bars unless accompanied by a male. A writer wonders how that can be legal.
• The whole world will be laughing hysterically if the Janet Jackson nipplegate episode is actually heard by the United States Supreme Court.
• Speaking of nipples, American Apparel's new ad campaign features some.
• Six figurines lampooning Disney's seven dwarfs have been banned from a New Zealand gallery because of their sexually graphic positions. Sleazy, Gropey, Horny, Randy, Rumpy, Grabby and Dick?
• The 15 year-old Ohio teen facing a felony for sending a nude photo of herself to classmates unexpectedly revealed that she received similar photos in return, prompting prosecutor Ken Oswalt to open an inquiry into bringing new charges against some boys.

  He said after the hearing the girl might not understand that a depiction of a male juvenile without a shirt does not qualify as child pornography..."This is serious stuff," he said. "I'm not out there telling (students) one thing and then not backing it up."

  With this statement Oswalt proves that this entire fiasco is all about him covering his own ass. What higher office are you running for, Ken? It's not about the children, it's about the prosecutor maintaining his credibility. How can a child who does not even understand the meaning or pornography be charged with a felony?
  
  The good news is that the judge has left it open for the girl to have the case dismissed if she adheres to certain conditions, a way out that the overzealous prosecutor was apparently unwilling to offer.
• Moorehead State University is holding its second annual Nearly Naked Mile charity run.
• A Cambridge student who is under attack for appearing topless in a magazine is getting a lot of support from her peers.

  Natalie Szarek, women's officer at the Cambridge Union debating society, said: "We totally support her choice to do this photo. It's entirely up to her what she does and we would never tell an individual what they can or cannot do with their body."It's inconceivable that any action could be taken against her and we would certainly support her in that case."think the whole thing has been blown out of proportion - she has done nothing illegal."

• A Catholic priest who was arrested for jogging nude around a Colorado high school track has been put on probation and required to register as a sex offender for at least 10 years, even though there was no sexual act associated with his run. The priest will appeal.
• What thoughts are running around inside the head of a nude artists' model?
• An editorial in a Pennsylvania newspaper makes the following statement: "Taking, sending and possessing nude pictures of anyone 18 and younger is a felony". If that is true, then all parents with nude photo of their child on a rug or in the bath must burn the images immediately.
• Students at Northern Michigan University celebrate the first big snowfall of the season by running nude around a courtyard.

  The Brule Run is also just one of many organized streaking events held on college campuses around the United States.At Dartmouth College, students celebrate an annual swim across the Connecticut River by running back to the starting point in the nude. Students at Tufts University in Massachusetts celebrate the end of the fall semester by streaking around the residential quad, and at Hamilton College in New York they actually have a varsity streaking team.

• A man in his sixties stripped naked in a public shower when a small group of children ages 5 to 11 were present.

  ...as a result of complaints by parents, a report of the incident and the relevant CCTV footage were forwarded by Newtownabbey Council to local PSNI officers.Mr. Hollis also raised the matter with Councillor Jackie Mann, who this week called for an end to communal changing areas at the Valley..."This was a nasty incident and I hope the kids who were present weren't too upset by it." Councillor Mann went on to criticise Council officials for not acting sooner in reporting the matter to police.

• Australian naturists presented a petition with 1000 signatures demanding for the government to establish a nude beach.
• A woman stripped down in various New York locations in order to study the reactions of people. Video here.

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked