soarsaintlouis: February 2016

Porn stars protest condom rule: New safety regulations — including “eye protection” — proposed for adult films

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Today, porn performers, including Nina Hartley, Joanna Angel, April Flores, Lily Cade and jessica drake, along with numerous others, gathered in Oakland, California, to protest proposed regulations by the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (Cal OSHA) which would require the use of condoms and “eye protection” during the course of their work. The new regulations would become effective July 1 of this year. While it’s unclear exactly what type of eye protection would be mandated, industry publication Xbiz write, “Draft regulations amending the existing § 5193 suggest that adult performers might be required to wear goggles to avoid ocular infections and dental dams for oral sex.”

As the Los Angeles Daily News summarized the issue: “The dispute over safety standards is part of a long debate about condom use between AIDS Healthcare Foundation and the adult film industry. In 2012, AHF supported and saw passage of Measure B, a Los Angeles County law that makes condoms mandatory on all adult film shoots, saying that performers deserve to be protected while working. But the organization is also working to get a statewide measure on next year’s ballot to strengthen mandates under Cal/OSHA.”

Drake, who testified at the hearing, told Vice News, “As a woman, as a feminist, as a human being, I resent the implications that the government can mandate such an intimate decision.”

The $3 trillion elephant in the presidential campaign : News:

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Remember the heated discussions about health care in the Republican debates? No, you don’t, because they were arguing about things like fantasy football. In fact, all we heard about health care was, “Repeal Obamacare!”

We get it, being a member of The Repeal Obamacare Club is a prerequisite for running for president on the GOP ticket, as is having no plan with which to replace it.

Jeb Bush promotes tax credits for individuals to purchase “affordable” and “portable” plans. We hope Bush thinks “affordable” means less than 10 percent of annual income, but given that he wants to retain the same insurance industry whose bureaucracy now consumes 30 percent of every health care dollar, it’s unlikely.

Ben Carson supports health savings accounts, a great idea for healthy and wealthy individuals, but a terrible idea for everyone else who would be more deeply trapped in increasingly expensive plans. It’s a particularly bad idea for women, whose annual cost of care typically is $1,000 more than it is for men.

Ted Cruz crows, “Repeal every blasted word of Obamacare.” With what? All the problems Obamacare addressed? Crisis treatment in ERs instead of prudent prevention? Denials for pre-existing conditions? Denials for people with the audacity to get sick and actually use their insurance? Annual and lifetime caps?