The Laughing Wolf

Bill O'Reilly Is At It Again

Bill O'Reilly seems incapable of learning from previous mistakes. They are airing on Fox advertisements for tonight's show that talk about the rampant problem of teenage porn because of nudist camps. The premise as relayed in the promos is that nudist camps are said to be good, but really are just fronts for putting teen porn out on the net.

There are many problems with the promo, which does not bode well for the segment.

First, most nudist parks, camps, etc. don't allow photography, period. Nature photography can take place at some, but only under strict conditions. Pictures of people at most places is not allowed. Pictures of children and teens can be a quick way to ride a rail, and for the owners and patrons of such places to see if there is roofing tar around.

Second, many of the places that do allow photography are not in the U.S. and operate under very different standards. Mainly, they are not as paranoid as we are here, and are definitely not as uptight about nudity, youth, etc. They may well be onto something, but this is not the time or place for such a debate.

Third, sex -- sometimes even the privacy of your own room -- is not allowed at most U.S. nudist establishments. This rule is very strict, highly enforced, etc.

Fourth: Nudity does not equal pornography. Check the masters, check the classics, check SCOTUS rulings.

Fifth: Nudity does not mean or imply that anyone is up to anything. See differences between nudity vs. naked vs. nekkid.

Sixth: Yes, some pictures do make it to the net and some sites make a lot of money off of them. Those sites rarely if ever are the camps themselves, many of the pictures are quite old, and even if they were not, see four and five above. So long as the pictures were made with consent and openly, there really is not a legal or a moral problem. To answer before asked, no I am not happy that so-called porn sites are making money off this, and helping blur the lines, but provided copyrights and such are followed, they have the right.

Seventh: Despite the clear implications of the promo, the camps are not doing this for the purposes of taking the photos, posting them, and making money.

Finally: It remains abundantly clear that Bill can't get his head around how the Internet works, what is freely available and what isn't, etc. Either that or he and Fox are "sexing up" the promo to lure viewers in. Maybe a bit of both here, but it is wrong and piss poor journalism, if one cares to call it that.

Feel another rant or two coming on about personalities and discourse, but that will wait. For the record, I will NOT be watching. I rarely do watch anymore and this piece of crap promo is a sure way to make sure I don't. If this is what passes for fair and balanced now, I expect that the segment will be even worse. Even if it is not, I will not pander to it.

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