UK Nutter News

The founder of the Swindon Feminist Network has whinged at a new directory of the town's sex workers.

The McCoy's Guide to Adult Services in South West England plus South Wales is the latest title from George McCoy, who has written at least 11 similar books and gives a rating out of five for each service, including costs and the occasional photograph.

The book includes listings for 21 working girls, three dominatrixes and a massage parlour in the town.

Albertine Davies, founder of the Swindon Feminist Network blasted McCoy for effectively marketing the work of the town's sex workers.

Whatever anyone says, no one chooses to go into sex work, she said. People sometimes say that it is the woman's choice and that should be respected and everything is ok, but it's not. Many people are driven to it out of desperation in the circumstances they are in. So called 'high-class' escorts who earn a lot of money are exceptionally rare.

I've read that many people who end up in that line of work are also victims of childhood abuse. It's also a tragic result of our benefits system that people are driven to sell themselves in order to earn some money.

It also has great ramifications for the rest of society, since people who are willing to buy sex are de-valuing people to the value of consumable goods.

Anybody who makes money out of something like this is no better than a pimp.

George McCoy said:

Most of the people who are opposed to the sex industry and sex work are feminist lesbians with a holier-than-thou prudish attitude towards the industry. I don't deal with street prostitutes. The ladies I include are well-respected for their unique services and private venues and they all are in a job they want to be in and enjoy.

For many it's far more preferable to working at a check-out in a supermarket, for example. They can earn more, they can choose their own hours which also means that it's easier to arrange childcare. It's much easier to work evenings and arrange for a friend to look after the children than it is doing a day job.

A scene showing a partially-clothed couple kissing on the altar of a Catholic church has been removed from a music video after priests complained.

DJ Wilkinson's video Half Light directed by Aoife McArdle was shot at various locations in Belfast.

A scene filmed in the Good Shepherd Church on the Ormeau Road was edited out of the video. The church authorities said:

The behaviour in the video was a desecration of the church and caused most grievous distress to the parish priest.

If viewed by the parishioners it would cause severe hurt and distress to the wider parish community.

For these reasons, to protect the church and its parishioners, the Diocese of Down and Connor immediately brought these concerns to the attention of the distributors and creators of the material.

The phrase Oh, my God should not be said before the watershed because viewers may find it offensive, a BBC presenter has spewed.

Sian Williams, who hosts the BBC One discussion programme Sunday Morning Live , said she found such language inappropriate .

Asked by Radio Times what compelled her to switch off a television or radio programme, Williams replied:

Swearing. I'm quite old-fashioned in that respect. I don't like people to use inappropriate language before the watershed -- particularly the phrase 'oh, my God' because it can offend.

Students at Glasgow University are threatening to boycott a nightclub after its repeated use of what they call: sexist, despicable advertising.

One member of the university's feminist society (GU FemSoc) told The Huffington Post UK the advert, used by Supermax to promote its night at the Berkeley Suite club, was not surprising, given the club's history. Nadia Alnassa, former president of FemSoc, said:

Supermax have done it yet again - this time they've gone for a naked woman's torso with a face painted on it, I think she's supposed to be a sex doll.

I think it's despicable, but at the same time we were expecting it, since their message last time was basically that they didn't care about misogyny, as long as it boosted their sales.

Not only is the female body objectified and sexualised by using a naked female torso as a canvas for the promotion of their dull club night, but then by giving it a face [Supermax] make it into some sort of 'independent' being or person, giving the sexualised flesh the agency and identity they're denying the woman herself.

Laura Dover, co-president of the GU feminist society, told HuffPost UK:

I would also like to organise a boycott of the Berkeley Suite, though to be honest I'm not sure a lot of our members would attend their club night as it is!

US campaigners are a little 'disheartened' by the fact that porn is incrediblypopular. The organisation published an article on its PornHarms website from which the following is an excerpt:

With over 1.68 million visitors per hour, Pornhub was the world's largest pornographic video sharing website in 2013. Recently, their statisticians collected data from 2013 and summarized a few disheartening facts about pornography use around the world. This data was gathered from Pornhub's amazing 14.7 billion visitors!

Now 14.7 billion is a big number. In monetary terms, if you had 14.7 billion dollars, you could buy 150 Boing 737's. And in people terms, 14.7 billion is more than twice the population of the earth. In celestial terms, 14.7 billion years ago, scientists postulate the Big-Bang happened. Needless to say, Pornhub has created a destination for an amazing number of pornography purveyors.

On the average, a Pornhub visitor spends 8 minutes and 56 seconds on the site per visit and typically revisits the website six times a day. That's a 5.1% increase over 2012 figures. Americans spend the most time on Pornhub per visit at 10 minutes and 39 seconds.

Although there are various searches and videos available on Pornhub, users are drawn to the same search term worldwide. For the past two years, the search term teen has been the top search around the world. This search team alludes to the topic where the porn viewing public is digressing. The implication could be that sexual predators may be seeking younger victims.

The National Association of Head Teachers - which has drawn up a charter to protect children's innocence - says the media must ensure pre-watershed content is free from sex and violence.

Speaking at the NAHT's conference in Birmingham, its president Gail Larkin said:

We know that most parents are trying their best to protect their children from certain dangers in the outside world.

I know, as a grandparent, how much more difficult it is with such advanced technology to prevent children from accessing, often unwittingly, materials and media that are not just inappropriate but often obscene and mentally damaging.

Lancashire head teacher, Amanda Hulme, who will propose a motion that the union adopt a new charter on the issue, said schools and parents shared concerns about the problem. She cited instances of popular television soaps using adult storylines and examples of swearwords being used on television shows before the 9pm cut-off point. She also raised concerns about the content of some music videos, which children may see on digital devices, and the impact of violent games.

The Salvation Army has collected 665 names on a petition which calls on Cheltenham Borough Council to ban sexual entertainment venue licences in the borough. There is also an online version of the petition with 373 signatures currently.

A 12-week consultation exercise was launched by the council on April 14 to gauge public opinion on whether there should be a limit to the number of venues, such as lapdancing clubs and adult cinemas, in Cheltenham.

This follows in the wake of a licence being granted to Bath Road Property Limited, to turn Voodoo club in Bath Road into Diamond Gentlemen's Club.

In a letter of objection to the council, The Salvation Army's commanding officer for Cheltenham, 'Captain' Steve Smith said he was 'concerned' about Cheltenham becoming known as complicit in the selling of the services of vulnerable females as mere sexual commodities .