Oddities in the Nude News this Week

On Nipple Radiation

Melissa Harrington (web site - warning, adult content) is back in the news in the continuing saga of her legal battles with the city of Lincoln, Nebraska. If you remember, Ms. Harrington was cited and fined by Lincoln city police back in December, 2003 for posing nude in public. The evidence . . . police trolled the Internet, found pictures of Ms. Harrington naked and surmised by the background that she had done the posing within the city of Lincoln. The interesting (and perhaps chilling) aspect here is that charges were preferred only after-the-fact based on photographs posted on the Internet. Chilling thought if I happened to post a picture of myself nude on my backyard deck with the skyline of the Space Needle and Seattle far off in the background. Could police with nothing better to do and trolling the Internet, argue that I was nude in public? Fortunately, Seattle is not as draconian as Lincoln, Nebraska.

The Nudiarist gives his thoughts on Melissa's Criminalized Nipples on his blog. But for a chuckle, read a satirical take on the issue at My Secret Public Blog where the writer asks, "What is it about women's nipples that causes so many to get their panties in a knot?". Read Nipple Radiation: Why is American Society to damned repressed?

Naked College Parties and Mr O'Reilly's Take

A refreshing article about the popularity of Naked Parties on college campuses seems to have caught the eye of Mr. Bill O'Reilly of Fox News' O'Reily Factor. Of course, our favorite (not) pundit tries to associate these parties with increased risk of sexual assaults in an interview with a graduate of Yale but fails to make his point. If you can stand to read anything put out by Mr. O'Reilly, you can read the transcript of the interview here.

AANR Seeks Exclusive Exemptions Only for Its' Members

This one got my gall when I read it. The article, entitled "Group seeks exemption for nude recreation" concerns a proposed (and passed) Carroll County adult business and community standards ordinance, the latest iteration of an ordinance that started out to ban public nudity and obscenity. While doing its part to regulate adult businesses, the ordinance goes further to redefine the meaning of 'public indecency' by removing "obscene" as a qualification which could allow the new ordinance to apply 'to far more than was probably intended'.

The Naturist Action Committee's Executive Director, Bob Morton, noted that 'some of the language infringes on people's everyday rights, such as how to dress'; examples given:

• less than the majority of each buttock completely and opaquely covered” qualifies as nudity, the ordinance states. The style of swimwear today shows some portion of a woman's buttock, Morton objected. “You certainly wouldn't be able to buy most women's swimsuits today off the rack.”

• Morton also finds problematic that the law prohibits the “female breast distal” being covered less than completely. By his interpretation, women would not be able to legally wear evening gowns that show cleavage.

While TNS and NAC were involved with trying to get the language of this ordinance modified to reflect the legitimate and innocent needs of skinny-dippers, nudists and naturists in the county, the American Association for Nude Recreation (AANR) chimed in with faxed examples of 'nude recreation exempted laws', handwritting a suggested change to the proposed ordinance:

“No person shall be in violation of this section in or at a club event sanctioned under legal association with the American Association for Nude Recreation.”

Um, only AANR members may practice nudism in Carroll County? This little piece of self-serving skull-dudgery does nothing to promote and unify the nudist community. What AANR is saying to the rest of us who are either unassociated or choose to be members of TNS is that we don't give a rat's ass about you . . . we are only seeking special, privilaged exemption for ourselves.

Contrast the above suggestion to the Carroll County supervisors by AANR with the work by The Naturist Society (TNS) through its' legislative arm, the Naturist Action Committee (NAC) who is trying to have the ordinance reworded to benifit all nudists and naturists . . . or lacking that, a thinly-veiled reference to challenging the ordinance in court.

Predictably, AANRs stupid attempt was ignored by the county. Unfortunately, the ordinance was passed as wriiten. NAC is already working on a followup challenge. I have no idea where AANR may be skulking off to lick the burn of its' rebuff.

In the aftermath of this story coming to light the naturist forums are alight with disgust for AANRs tactics. One response stuck out and I quote it in full:

I'm a recent transplant from New England, and a few years ago in Vermont, the Ledges--the northeast's most beloved skinny-dipping zone--changed ownership, as the utility company that owned that land and didn't care what naturists did on it sold it to a new interest. NAC, as well as Dennis Kirkpatrick, the leader of Boston's Pilgrim Naturists, were both very clear that we should not raise havoc over this; everything was inclined to stay as it was, since there had been no problems between the Ledges and the greater community. So what happens? AANR barges in and starts trumpeting to these small-town people--who, I want to emphasize again, were going to preserve our status quo--and started scolding and finger-wagging the local leadership that a ban on nude use of the Ledges that wasn't even pending until they showed up got passed into law just as a retaliation against them. And who got it overturned through cooperation and respectful dialogue with the town? NAC, that's who. If you love paying money to ensure that your naturist oases blink out of existence, donate to AANR. And then, go to hell for all I care.

From a posting to NWFunInTheSun

How factual this depiction is I do not know, but experience with AANR-NW GATs in relation to both Rooster Rock State Park and Collins Beach has always told me to beware attempts by AANR to influence control over these two wonderful clothing-optional beaches in Oregon. AANRs recent activities seem to show an exclusionary pattern from the greater naturist community and has forced me to rethink my membership in that organization.

Is a Venerable Hot Springs Resource Gone?

Finally, the premeire resource for hot springs information in North America, Soak.net, seems to be gone. Attempts to reach the website and its' ten-year old database of trip reports, photos and information of the hot springs of Canada, USA and Mexico, end up at Network Solutions' Domain Expired page. Soak.net's domain name expired on Jan 3rd, 2007 and the owner has not renewed it to date. Curiously, even attempts to email the webmaster reach no one. Hot springs enthusiasts are confused and worried about this loss of a great resource. What happens to that database is the subject of much discussion and already, plans are being discussed to resurrect the site should the domain not be renewed.

Update: Soak.net is back up and fully functional as of Jan 16th, 2007. Welcome back Jim.

Technorati Tags: Nude News, Hot Springs, Law and Nudism