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Un-Total Recall I fucking hate Ronald Reagan. Part of it has to be the fact that a lot of people love him so much. I just don't get it. To me, if his Alzheimer's fate is unjust, it's because it's more than he deserves. He should suffer in lucidity. But everybody else loves him so much that they were perfectly willing to forgive his lapses of memory during the Iran-Contra hearings. Of course, the fact (borne out since) that the already-doddering actor might very well have not recalled a single fucking event put before him didn't hurt either.  That same suspension of disbelief is harder to muster up in the case of current gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has alternately suggested he doesn't remember the controversial Oui interview in which he discusses gang-banging black chicks in a dope-addled haze and his thoughts about "fags," or that the comments were hyperbole aimed at promoting his career. [See Newsbriefs, September 2, 2003.]Arnold's handlers must surely be advising him to keep his mouth shut as to avoid thrusting his foot within, as perceptions of the actor as a misogynist have pummeled his ratings among California women. And if he needs help, his wife has proven she'll help, even if it means clamping her hand over his mouth. Take his taped appearance on Oprah yesterday, in which in came on with wife Maria Shriver in tow, and once again said both that he didn't remember that specific interview (a claim which would tend to support the Oui piece's pot reference), and that he and other athletes at the time made such inflammatory comments at the time to further their career and counter an image of conservative straightness which during the lurid '70s was a liability. At one point during the interview, after Arnold said, "These were the times when I was saying things like 'a pump is better than coming,'" Shriver put her hand over his mouth and added in (mock?) horror, "My mother is watching the show. My mother is watching the show. My God." Accounts report that Shriver chuckled, but clearly appeared flustered by having to leash her inappropriately verbose spouse. Fortunately Arnold is claiming amnesia when it comes to the June Vanity Fair article where he talks about the thrill of slamming a woman's head against a toilet bowl… because it's a robot woman! Of course, with yesterday's bombshell news of the decision by a three-member panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to delay the Oct. 7 recall election (which Republicans and recall sponsors, not that there's a difference, have both pledged to appeal to the Supreme Court), Arnold may have more time to either bury himself deeper or continue to the attempt at spin control. Vancouver considers a better life for sex workers Thirty-plus years ago, the best reason for an American to move to Canada was to avoid the draft during the Vietnam War. These days, if you believe in progressive/liberal social policies, there are a lot of reasons to think about heading up to the Great White North and stocking up on beer and back bacon, especially as the U.S. continues to digress into a lowest common denominator "free" society.
In Vancouver, where marijuana has been practically decriminalized, and a controversial new "safe injection site" (where intravenous drug users can fix under the supervision of medical personnel) is set to begin operations in days, Mayor Larry Campbell has been so bold as to suggest that the city's sex workers are just as entitled to live without fear as its less vilified citizens. Campbell recently told The Vancouver Sun that, as a former coroner, he observed a lot of callous indifference to the fate of prostitutes who ended up in the morgue due to the hazards of the trade, many of whom chalked it up to an immoral lifestyle. But as mayor, Campbell says he wants to change that sentiment, and do something about getting Vancouver's sex workers out of harm's way. "People have to realize that a minimum of 65 women died in this city... we do have to start addressing this before more people die," he said. "The idea that they deserve to be there is wrong." Cambell said he would like to organize a series of community forums involving sex-trade workers and the public to discuss the issue of sex trade safety. "I'd like to see it begin immediately," he said. Dozens of women from the streets of the Downtown Eastside in recent years have disappeared, and Vancouver is still reeling from the case of accused serial killer Robert William Pickton, a local pig farmer currently on trial for allegedly murdering 15 prostitutes who worked those mean streets. Unfortunately, as unlikely as it would be for an American politician to even suggest such an agenda, it's still the easy part. The hard part is actually enacting a plan that progressives and conservatives can agree upon. There are international models that can be sited, but none that sound too appealing to constituents. A red light district might sound like the easiest way to create a safe, regulated environment for women in the sex trade, but not even Campbell is very comfortable with the idea. "There is no magic bullet," the mayor told the Sun. True, but just the search for an answer puts the Canadian city farther ahead of the game than most of its North American counterparts. Lascivious limey lasses! Countering an image of chilly passiveness in the sack, UK women are expanding their sexual vocabulary, and indifferent British men aren't required.  In a survey conducted in part to promote writer Anne Hooper's new sex guide, 269 Amazing Sex Tips and Tricks for Men, British women revealed their newfound comfort with sexual aids and the subject of bisexuality.More than half of women confessed that they own a sex toy, according to the survey, and more than a quarter would like to have sex with another woman if provided the opportunity. "There has been a shift in the attitudes of UK men and women towards sex and a new atmosphere of sexual acceptance seems to reign which is affecting how adventurous we are in the bedroom," said Hooper. "The survey clearly shows that women now know what they want when it comes to sex just as much as men do." Uhh, that would be great if they weren't talking about British men. Just kidding, lads. Kinda.
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