A Man of Means By No Means

Drive 105 is no more. It has been replaced by the "All sappy love songs, all the time" station. It's an unholy mix of WLTE and JACK FM. Love 105 is really just another sad, boring station. Things like this are what keep me from being excited about HD radio. Is 3 stations per frequency that great if they all play the same mediocre music? I'm not saying Drive was a revolutionary station, but it allowed me to hear "alternative rock" not being played outside of satellite radio without having to listen to Hungarian folk music or wait 2 weeks to hear a song I like again. Also, Drive played new music while it was still new, not weeks or months later. Considering I listen to talk radio more than anything else, satellite radio isn't even a feasible choice considering the price. I guess I'll just sulk and listen to Alt Nation on my TV satellite at home until something better comes along.

Enough sulking. At least until this idea gets more popular. Once again, it is shown that some people don't think women are smart enough to think for themselves. Raising the age of consent for "erotic" images from 18 to 21 (for women only?), is pushed by this idea. Those girls are just too dumb to realize that their bodies are dirty.

Think only of the difference between a college freshman and a recent college graduate, or between a high-school senior and a young woman with a job and apartment of her own. Or think of the difference between a 19-year-old girl--intoxicated by both a Scorpion Bowl (illegally served) and her own newly developed form--and a woman who has been through her first heartbreak and has had to think long and hard about what her value is, both in her personal life and at the office. The second woman is more likely to nurse a chardonnay with friends than "go wild" in the sense that Mr. Francis' cameras are so eager to record. Surely the porn industry can survive without the participation of teenagers.

Because 18 year-olds have never had their heart broken or thought about their bodies.

First off, I continue to insist that breasts are not intrinsically erotic. They certainly can be, but a woman flashing me doesn't turn me on. Especially when she's drunk and doesn't care who sees. Erotic the belief that sex (with me) will go along with the flash. "Girls Gone Wild" doesn't make that promise.

Secondly, the biggest difference (drinking-wise, if not completely) between a college freshman and senior is the experience of knowing how much to drink so that you can get seriously fucked up without puking. "Nurse a chardonnay" my ass. I know 30 year-old women that can and will drink me under a table, then steal my wallet and draw a fake moustache on me as I lay passed out in a pool of vomit and single-malt scotch.

Either we're adults at 18 or we're not. The drinking age of 21 is a joke. However, Jon Swift has made a better proposal for the porn industry; an even higher age minimum. Kind of like when the voting age was raised to 65 on "The Simpsons."

Let's not pretend this is compassion for young women. If you don't like porn, try and ban it. Saying that 18 year-old women just aren't smart enough to show their boobs is insulting. Me, I'd work on trying to get the 18 year-old more than a t-shirt for doing it. Garance Franke-Ruta should start working as an agent for Spring-Breakers, folowing Joe Francis around and negotiating points for the women on every video sold. That would "burden the next Joe Francis with an aptly limited supply of 'talent,'" as she says. At least talent willing to flash for free.

Your AM Radio leader.