Performers, your safety net has been torn wide open. It no longer provides the small amount of protection that it once did, and recent events are all you need to look at to know this is true.
This Harm Reduction Program was built 15 years ago. The industry that this system was built for no longer exists. At the time this program started there was about 400-500 performers participating in the system.(This is the number of HIV tests that AIM was running monthly at the time, I know this because I was paid a commission for every single test, I know the numbers). The industry was much more centralized, right here in the San Fernando Valley. The number of performers escorting on a large scale was not happening. There was some, but not nearly the amount there is today. And most of all, there was not nearly the amount of crossover talent, working both sides of the fence from one day to the next. I was very glad to see that APAC does recognize this fact, that there is no more seperation between the industries, for that I applaud you.
Let’s take a close look at the most recent events. These recent events contained elements of every single thing that have lead to this system no longer being effective. All of this happened out of state, who knows where is another question, Vegas, Florida? Ask yourself, “Why is it necessary to keep the location a secret? It involved not just an escort, which usually leads people to think female. This was a gay crossover performer, who was escorting with men on the side. It involved performers and producers who did not play along with the industry protocols. Performers, you all know, whether you will publicly admit it or not, that this is not an isolated incident. It is happening today, right now, it will happen tomorrow, and every day from now on, unless you change it. Producers and agents don’t care, if they did they would be helping you change this seriously broken system. And as sad as it is, a large number of performers don’t care either, and that is the most dangerous aspect of this entire problem. Don’t tell me that a gay crossover escort cares about the risk he is willing to put YOU at.
There used to be a certain “honor among theives,” a mutual respect among alot of the performers. Not to say that their aren’t some performers who still have this respect, but there are too many that don’t. And one bad apple does spoil the whole bunch. The number of performers, agents and producers who do not have any respect for eachother has rendered this once effective system very very damaged. Today, all you have is something that is simply better than nothing, and if that’s good enought for you then so be it. Your actions, or lack of action so far looks like you are ok with this, and that is another reason this system is so broken, performer apathy.
APAC, take a close look at how every single person who has contracted HIV in the past has been treated by your industry. Look at every single one of the recent incidents, and see how many of the circumstances I mentioned here have been present in every single episode. And most of all, stop LYING TO YOURSELVES, and your fellow performers. Your system is no longer effective. I helped build this system, I spent so many hours hours with you, having many in depth conversations with you, and I know you want a better system, and I know you would like to be able to use condoms. I personally listened to so many of you spill your guts about these things, but I know that if you speak our publicly you wont get any more work, you know this too.
Pull your heads out of the sand and take off the rose colored glasses. And then ask yourself a really big question, Do you really want DIanne Duke to be in charge of the testing system?
Feel free to contact me anytime, [email protected]
66 Responses
Very good article I must say Mr. Tritch. So when is the next Hiv shutdown? Next week?
We all know the answer to that Crunk. SOON. FSC knows it, APAC knows it, we all know it.. And now FSC wants APAC to run PASS. Then the performers will be paying for all the tests, and paying to provide producers access to a list of available performers.
Perfromers consider this. AIM was a non-profit organization. But who benefitted from the program. Performers PAID for everything, Performers got nothing for free. But PRODUCERS benefitted from performers paying for what is their legal responsibility, and producers get access to all your information. It was PRODUCERS who were the beneficiaries of AIM. It was PERFORMER MONEY that paid for everything. PERFORMER MONEY was used to pay Karen Tynan to write IIPP plans for production companies, and to defend the producers from safety violations, and the illegal practice of making performers pay for testing.
Great Article Tim. So otherwise, most of the performers today are what you would say…Very stupid? If you are going to pay for your own test, and have APAC run pass and then next the performers will be paying for the productions next. Swell. Sound’s like they have some pretty stupid ass people in porn today. What’s the IQ of most of these numb nuts today? 0? But anyway good article Tim.
Porn has one fucked up industry to try and clean up.
if they ever can. Anybody want to buy some cheap swamp
land in Arizona. These people sound like a bunch of fools.
Dangerous.
Shalom!
There are more than plenty of HIV positive males out there who are looking to hire hot HIV+ escorts!!!! And they pay top dollar too!!! So please do not delude yourselves into believing that there is nobody out there who ACTUALLY WANTS you to catch HIV!!!!! Because, trust me, there is a stable out there with your name on it once you are HIV+!!!
I am no saint. Are there things I would do differently if I had the chance, of course. But none of that matters. The past is not going to cure the future. But the future scares the hell out of me, and it should scare the hell out of APAC, and its members. Performers aren’t stupid. People may do stupid things, but we all do stupid things. When you sit in a private setting with performers, they know whats going on. They know how they are being exploited, they know they want to use condoms, they are just stuck between the proverbial rock and a hard place. You can’t bullshit me on this subject. I lived in the eye of the storm. I sat in the room when 20 year old girls were told they have HIV. I gave girls rides to urgent cares, and hospitals. I paid, out of my own pocket for every sinlge QList performer in 2004(even the producers and others who weren’t ‘Officially” on the list). I made the call to AIM every single day with the list of positive stds, every single day. This industry has dodged so many bullets its unreal. But there are just too many bullets flying around these days to continue getting so lucky, and thats all it is, pure luck. And that is not an effective program, when luck is the major component.
I might also add, people in this industry would rather stab eachother in the back for 50 cents than work together and make a dollar.
http://www.xbiz.com/news/186861
APAC, i applaud your efforts here. But this solution is itself seriously flawed. You cannot just pick a number of days for a moratorium. All you can do is test, and retest, until you are sure everyone is cleared.
And here is another reason why the system is broke, the decentralization. In 2004, AIM, more specifically=,Healthline labs kept specimens for over 6 months, The day Darren was diagnosed we went back to his previous specimens, and were able to get a much clearer picture of when he was infected. We also had multipe previous specimens on over 50 of the performers on the QList. We pulled all of those old specimens, again, to get a much clearer picture of when people were infected. These elements, the ability to pull past specimens, all in one place, was CRUCIAL to stopping the spread of the disease. YOU NO LONGER HAVE ANYBODY DOING THIS FOR YOU. Another reason your system is no longer effective.
You are right about that Tim. Back stabbers all over the fucking place in porn today. And the directors back stab each other for what is considered crumbs left in productions around today. But, yes the performers all cut each other’s throats and will today always will
for 50 cents .
Geez, You guys right better articles over here than we cut throats over
at the retarded porn wiki leaks.com. Good job and good article Tim.
Dear APAC,
At your next meeting could someone pleas as Nina Hartley where all ov the money AIM took from you performers went. You performers handed over $655,000.oo to AIM for testing, yet AIM never paid for those tests. WIll someone please ask Where did YOUR money go? Of course a bunch of went to Karen Tynan, to write compliance programs FOR PRODUCERS. Performers, did you know that YOUR CASH was being used for this? And then ask her about those AIM credit card charges in Belize.(That little Central American country with all of those LUXURY RESORTS)
Please, APAC, ask these questions, they wont answer me, after all, I am the guy they screwed for $655,000.oo.
PS. APAC, would like copies of the official bankruptcy papers to back up your questioning?
APAC, you know who Karen Tynan is dont you. Yes you do, Do you know how many thousands of your testing dollars went into Karen Tynan’s pocket? But dont be to mad,,,,In AIM”s bankruptcy it says they still owe her over $8,000.00. APAC, want to know more about were all of YOUR money went. Send me an email. The truth will shock you, and piss you off, I guarantee it.
Tim, I wish I had a theoretically effective (although not in practice) solution for this issue other than shut down porn productions altogether (which I do not support although evidently Weinfuck and Izzy the idiot bunch do). The biggest thing to help here would be to legalize and regulate prostitution in a way that eliminates the underground nature of it. That is to require a negative VD panel like porn performers submit to within 14 days of the encounter. That would likely have prevented the last incident where a performer’s client had HIV completely (fortunately the performer has tested negative, if it were to have been positive the industry would have likely been shut down for a couple of months). If the performers use condoms and the condom breaks (Nina Hartley claims a 30% breakage rate in porn) there is vastly increased irritation to a woman’s pussy causing an increased risk of passing on any VD present in the man’s semen on his dick or in the woman’s pussy/ass. If performers do not use condoms then there is still a risk of VD. Truvada may be the solution for HIV transmission (the jury is still out on that one IMO) but at $1100 a month per performer that isn’t happening. Even with Truvada performers still have other VDs like chlaymidia, syphilis and gonorrhea to deal with that Truvada will likely do nothing to prevent. The only shot at vastly reducing the VD transmission on porn sets is testing. At least with testing if someone gets VD it gets detected within 28 days (two testing cycles), limiting the number of people it gets transmitted to. IMO producers should happily pay for it as it reduces their liability for workman’s comp expenses caused by VD transmission but in this economic climate that isn’t happening either.
At this juncture all the industry can reasonably do is test and test often. At 14 day testing unfortunately the issue of repeated venipuncture causing collapsed veins in performers is already a concern, increasing the frequency of testing any more will drive performers out of the industry quickly as their veins will collapse and within six months to a year in the biz they won’t be able to submit to required testing to perform anyway. Even with 14 day testing most performers will have collapsed all reasonably accessible veins within two years of steady performing, which is going to cause the industry a big problem as it loses long-term performers like Veruca James and Aaliyah Love (who are as of 25th October 2013 still in the biz, have both been performing for at least two years and have steady work but have to be approaching the point where they don’t have accessible veins to submit to venipuncture) because of this. Due to this issue increasing the testing frequency is not a reasonable solution. I was actually against 14 day testing because of this but performers have it (at least with the larger companies) and with the HIV scares of late it isn’t going to be reversed back to 30 days so performers and producers (who lose their best performers to this issue) alike have to live with it.
As you can see this is quite the condundrum. What can people in adult film do about the issue of VD transmission. Adult can do absolutely nothing more than it is already doing. You can’t stop performers from prostituting themselves, if the government can’t stop it APAC, producers or the FSC certainly can’t either. The few rogue producers that don’t require VD tests aren’t going to no matter what is done and we can’t reasonably require condoms, Truvada or increased testing. The best thing to be done is to educate about the risks before performers enter the biz so they can make an informed decision and hope for the best. That is where APAC comes in if they are effective at all. The first thing for them to do is to look at AIM’s information available through Wayback Machine online, view a copy of their VD information DVDs (I still have the DVDs if necessary but someone in the biz and living in LA or SF should still have them as well), improve upon it where needed and make damn sure new performers get the information (likely APAC will need to make a new comprehensive VD video along with handouts to accomplish this) With APAC taking over testing and charging producers to access the performer database they should be able to get the money to produce the video within a year or so through charging the producers each $200 a month to access the database, handouts are cheap to make and could be made right away.
RT @MikeSouth1226: Wake Up APAC A Disaster Is On The Horizon: Performers, your safety net has been torn wide open. It no longer… httā¦
@mharris
Yer drinking kool aid again.
What happened to ‘we’re porn and self-regulated’? When Agents are booking three escort gigs (charging more for GFE & PSE) for each filmed production any and every testing protocol porn wastes hot air & lip service on is bullshit…plain and simple. Producers don’t want to pay for testing because they know agents are just as much if not more of a stakeholder in any given testing timeframe.
The number of medical conditions that require long term weekly venipuncture (Heart patients on blood thinners, thyroid patients, metabolic disorders ) ..would indicate porn is using bobo phlebotomy or the collapsed veins theory is from the same bullshit pile as condom rash.
Appealing to APAC as anything other than a marketing tool for performers ready willing and able to give FSC/stakeholders a good ass kissing or nice deep rim job is an exercise in futility.
Any performer who releases their private and federally protected health information to an organization charging a look see fee isn’t the brightest crayon in the box. Let’s see if this makes sense…performers charge for the use of their body ..then give away the private health Information they had to pay for so other people can make money and/or cover their asses.
APAC isn’t saying they’re going to be a voice for performers IG we bought a test, you want to see/use it…show me the money. APAC is saying we support the protocols FSC designed to milk the cow for free.
As for any videos APAC might make…$200 ought to cover it using borrowed camera, lighting and even donated studio space using their non-profit status and ability to let donors write off ‘in-kind donations’. Too bad the only videos they might make are in line with the kool aid you’ve been drinking and won’t do a damn thing to protect performers.
Here’s a simple protocol to address reality…
1. Anyone who performs or is repped by an agency tests. (company’s must disclose their policy in model contract…HIV negative or undetectable and agents are responsible for ensuring appropriate matches)
2. Anyone who asks to see test pays a fee to performer for the shared benefit.
3. All escort gigs require condom use
4. If client doesn’t want to use condom they can…test and film event or pay 30 days income; allows performer to live while declining on-set performing and keeps agent happy with fat fee on top of the condom mandatory gigs they’ll surely be booking š
Something along these lines might actually cover the asses on the line vs the the bulllshit FSC is selling about out of state performer not in PASS working on set not following PASS protocols. They have no fucking protocols to address the reality that their stakeholders are booking 3 non-PASS events for every PASS event.
And we are back to escorting, of course. Who should set the standards: the clients or the providers? I say the providers. Treating a client like a performer and pretending at least a recent industry test and a rapid test on site would be common sense. But the problem is guess what? Prostitution is illegal and therefore you cannot set an industry standard and that’s once more how much the governments care about performers and industry workers safety: where shooting porn is legal, there must be mandatory condom to contain contagious risks, but in those sectors where the contagious risks are the highest, there are no problems taken care of, simply because the existence of those sectors and their risky business is denied by the law. Prostitution is illegal and therefore it and its related health issues do not exist.
Now, you would expect escorts to take care of themselves, following a personal code of ethic and conduct, but this unfortunately does not happen because there is nothing and no one in this industry suggesting that you must have some level of professionalism in order to be part of it.
In this quote from LurkingReader is packed all the professionalism that we get in this industry:
“Producers donāt want to pay for testing because they know agents are just as much if not more of a stakeholder in any given testing timeframe.”
– A professional producer, would black list an agency running such practices. Instead, it is almost impossible to get work if you don’t go though those same agencies.
– A professional agency would have safety as the first thing in mind, when representing a performer, and getting the best possible terms for their protegees, including paid testing, should be their priority.
– A professional performer would never put their health (and potentially their career, if not their life) at risk for a few more scenes and bucks and they would send both unprofessional agencies and producers to fuck off.
But as stated in LurkingReader’s quote, none of the above ever happens.
There is a big confusion between talent and professionalism and that’s what fucks all things up. Normally, you have less talented-at-something people than professional people, but in this industry there are much less professionals than talented people. I suspect that until things stay like this, little can be done.
Lurking, as I have said before I like the idea of producers paying a fee for testing expenses (say producers paying $25 per performer per scene) rather than performers paying. I also like the idea of producers donating camera use and appropriate staff to produce and film the Porn 101-102 video. AIM used to do it that way. James Deen is both active in APAC and has his own production company, maybe he could be convinced to donate the necessary equipment and services.
As for weekly veinpuncture, I can speak from experience about collapsed veins from blood testing. I don’t need a blood test anywhere near weekly (and never have shot up drugs) and still my veins have collapsed in the usual venipuncture places, creating a big problem when I need blood testing or an IV inserted. Also, for the record most blood thinner testing is monthly and only one of the many blood thinner meds (Warfarin) requires regular blood testing (which is why it is rarely prescribed today). Metabolic disorders usually require four time a year testing. If I recall thyroid patients only require four time a year testing as well once the right medication dosage is found. The only medication that I can think of requiring weekly blood testing is Clozaril which is a schizophrenia drug that can cause the body to not replace red blood cells (fortunately few require this particular medication nowadays with the atypical antipsychotics available nowadays although it does work when others do not).
@Mharris,
During my laboratory career of over 30 years I served as the Patient Service Center/Phlebotomy supervisor for about 5 years. I know a little bit about procedure and collapsed viens. While it can happen to any individual at any time, there is virtually zero possibility that at two week testing regime is going to lead to any large scale inability to collect specimens from a large group of people. One arm one week, the other next week, back of the hand next wee, back of the other hand next week. These people are not going to look like junkies.
YOU DO NOT MAKE POLICY BASED ON THE EXCEPTION TO THE RULE!!!!
Harris, along with the ridiculous condom rash you keep talking about, this post about collapsed veins just makes it look like you will grasp at any little straw to try to make your case. Good try.
@Sabrina, too bad you aren’t the President of APAC. I know there are many performers who think exactly like you do, they just don’t have the balls to come out an say it. Kudos to you.
And all of this talk about what ‘should’ be happening is worthless. This system was built to deal with whats happening TODAY. Today there is a performer who is going to take a gonnorhea, chlamydia filled load up her ass, arguing about escorts testing, and banning crossovers does nothing to help that performer today. In this industry education has failed, they dont protect themselves, and there are a number of individuals who just simply dont give one fucking flying shit about the risks they are willing to put others at. Deal with that, not some hypothetical cure in the future. Truvada, LOL, why talk about it as a fix when nobody is using it?
I would like to thank everyone who emailed me over the weekend. The response was much larger than I expected. I am sorry it took until today to respond, but I had a major water main break at my house, the water was completely off for 30 hours, and we had a family pumpkin carving party on Sunday.
It has been a while since I have corresponded with some of you and it was nice to hear from you again. I hope I answered your questions sufficiently, and I will get to work on getting all the information I promised several of you.
Please, protect yourselves, this industry is NOT what it once was, and your safety net has more holes than ever. I heard some very GOOD things about APAC over the weekend, as I have been very critical of the organization lately, but my criticism is done in the hopes that it spurs action in the right direction. I would love nothing more than for some of my criticism to be proven wrong. I am available to any of you anytime, and despite what others have said of me in the past, please consider the source, and what their agenda is, which in my opinion, their agenda is to keep PERFORMERS quiet. It can be done, and performers can have a REAL voice of their own, not just an echo of the FSC. 80% of APAC voted against PASS, good start. Now lets do it right, for YOU, not for them. They need you, you are what makes the wheels go ’round.
Thanks again, Rome was not built in a day, neither was it destroyed in a day.
[email protected]
@Sabrina
Your comments come as a breath of fresh air. IF they were professional …
To me that’s a huge part of the problem…the so called ‘professionals’ are anything but professional or looking out for the overall picture. Providers (performers) do set standards then their agents violate the hell out them for a buck here and there via blind eye to their clients (performer) no list in mindset that the agent is the provider and performer as well as producer are clients beholden to their standards…if they don’t like it..fuck em…they find work or talent on a street corner.
Performers are discouraged in every way from setting or maintaining personal codes of ethics. When an agent says you’re doing it or you can forget working with any producers I can hook you up with and I’m gonna charge you five to ten grand to buy out this two year contract…what young person wouldn’t choose the inevitable of violating the no list they set out for themselves?
Regulators show up to meetings and play nice appearing to go along with porn party line ignoring the reality that porn has become escort advertising but they are in no way ignorant to this reality.
@mharris
My grandmother took warfarin or Coumadin along with synthroid and two other metabolic adjusting drugs for longer than I can remember. From the mid-seventies through her death in 2007 I will assure you she had weekly blood tests as well as frequent medication adjustments. The only time she experienced a collapsed vein was in ICU when they blew the first site rushing to save her life which required use of alternate sites in left arm vs alternating l/r for one month and then all was fine. Her nickname was ‘pin’ as in pin cushion, given to her by her sorority sisters long before I or my mother was a glimmer in gods eye.
@jilted
APAC took that 80% performer no vote and plans to shut them up with bullshit promises aka re-wrapping PASS and the protocols they rejected. No one re-gifts useless crap to people they like or care about, they offload it where it is least likely to come back around. Not sure which is worse FSC offloading PASS onto APAC or APAC embracing PASS as is with open arms.
In your post you mentioned these protocols were designed with 4-500 performers in mind. Iirc they also included an oft overlooked ideal of waiting out the window after any international travel to avoid not only HIV but co-infections with mutated strains of GC, CT and other risks not native to the US.
Instead of evolving to accommodate increased risks over time the protocols have evolved to something like paramedics carrying 1×3 band aids and neosporin to a ten car, three bike pileup.
For a bit of perspective…15-20 years ago as these protocols were designed Americans didn’t need passports to leave our borders, most cruises out of the US required only a license and second ID to prove citizenship (even church baptismal certificates worked) UAE = oil, Dubai is where my jeweler got exquisite pearls and was talking about some pie in the sky idea of making man made islands into a wreathed palm tree more suitable to a coin than expectations that it would succeed or rival Singapore as a Chinese business hub. Now Macau once a Portuguese colony (trading port) and still a SAR of PRC is the number one gambling destination in the world.
It’s more than a bit frustrating to see performer ideals like Sabrina’s tossed aside as irrelevant because they are coming up with ideas related to performer safety vs the “professionals” concern with making as much cash as they can using anti-government CYA pursuits via wolf du jour blame game.
FSC Army is sending performers out to the front line with flip flops to deflect live rounds of ammunition and act like they don’t care as long as war spoils keep flowing their way.
If APAC played some part in Pressers for this latest HIV incident where FSC played political three card monte vs outright throwing another performer under the bus it’s time for them to up the ante by rejecting crappy protocols re-gifted in shiny paper. It’s time to change the game with performers insisting they won’t be appeased until protocols are relevant and related to covering performer asses regardless of looming regulatory issues.
I have a somewhat renewed faith that APAC may actually do some good things in the near future. Several members, and non members alike are very interested in bringing up many of the facts, and opinions I have expressed here. And the proof is right in the pulblicly available documents.
This industry has always depended on people keeping their mouths shut all in the name of profits. But with those profits falling, and the entire pie getting smaller and smaller, performers are now realizing just how exploited they have been, and how remaining quiet just isnt as profitable as it used to be. If I were a performer making 100k a year I might let some things slide, but now that same performer is only making 20-25k a year, and that just aint worth the risk.
I have a little change of opinion on FSC giving APAC the PASS system. I would love to see FSC turn it over, and then have APAC throw it in the trash can. LOTS< LOTS of APAC members have been educated on the fact that the TTS system is perfect, and, it also protects producer liability, something I really dont care about, but it does.
And several of the performers who contacted me were concerned about these 3 day, 14 day moratoriums. THey now know that you cant set a predetermined number of days, or, when was the last contact before the positive test bullshit. Thats not how a Harm Reduction program works.
One of the main things missing from todays system, is the centralization. The most recent event being an absolute PERFECT example of this. In 2004, the vast majority of performers were using AIM. The very day Darren was diagnosed we had all of his past six months worth of specimens. The very next day, and for several days after, every time we got a new name on the QList we pulled all of their previous specimens. We had not only our Nobel Prize winning doctor on our staff at Healthline, but we had doctors directly from Roche Diagnostics at our lab, conducting very specialized tests on these old specimens. We even used the Roche 1.5 Amplicor test kit, which at the time was still not FDA approved in the US.(As a direct result of our research the 1.5 kit was approved by the FDA in May of 2005. It was this level of scrutiny that prevented a disaster. We were dealing with a strain of HIV that was not detectable by the 1.0 kit, and we could have easily missed virtually every single postive person, but with the amount of extra dilligence that myself and my team poured into the AIM account a disaster was avoided. Had I not actually been at AIM the day Darren had his blood drawn, and had I not known that he had just been in Brazil, a disaster of epic proportions could have occured, and a special shout out goes to the best PCR tech in the buisiness, a guy named Jovan, who was really the one responsible for averting this all out disaster. It wasnt the industry system, or anything the industry did,,,,it was the professionalism of the medial personel handling the situation that limited that outbreak to only three infections. And here’s what I was leading to, PERFORMERS< you no longer have this level of protection. Yes, you tests are being processed professionally, but you do not have this extra level of scrutiny looking out for you, nothing even close to it.
But it was very refreshing to see a number of performers who are not drinking the FSC kool-aid, performers who now know, that the system you once had no longer exists, and the safety net just has way to many holes in it now. It had holes before, but now they are just way to big.
And it is also nice t see that performers are more interested in knowing where their CASH went that they handed to AIM. Lets just say I am hoping that some questions that have been off limits in the past will get asked directly to the people who SHOULD know the answers. There must be some accountablility as to where $655,000.oo of PERFORMER CASH went too.
@Jilted
From a non-occupational standpoint TTS results availability and verification is great. For occupational purposes it needs to go a step further and offer single use verification codes using shared costing.
With the number of performers also escorting it’s arguable that the existing cash up front model can be the basis with shared costing applied to subsequent test panels. IG performer fills out forms and tests with most medically appropriate panel to meet industry requirements and receives a one time results AC (access/authorization code). Performer accounts will allow them to add names for work related HIPPA release. Producers and agents (many of whom already have relationships with TTS) sign shared costing agreement that includes a nominal per test administrative fee (covers accessing and verifying performers updated HIPPA release authorization and on-demand code generation) agents and producers use AC (access code) then get a separate VC (verification code) that they maintain as proof they verified performers eligibility to perform. If a performer is not eligible to perform due to failed test then no VC is available. (Charges still apply) Each time a third party AC is generated the performer is notified via email (w/o code), each time a VC is generated performer is notified via email with code.
Outdated tests would be eliminated because no access code would be generated w/o current performer test. Performer privacy is enhanced with provider centralized records and producer record keeping is much simpler w/o concern for maintaining paper copies or other potential medical privacy issues. Obviously performers lose the ability to present forged tests and gain an upper hand with ability to refuse work on a set that hasn’t verified and shared the cost of their tests. System should allow performers to verify the VC which removes agent/producer incentive for forging codes. Performers/Producers/agents pay upfront with the shared cost benefit reducing subsequent upfront costs as credits are processed.
To me that is much closer to an ideal system for occupational testing purposes. Looking at in the light of AB1576 it removes performer HIV testing privacy issues if the day comes where OSHA or health authorities are checking producer records for proof of employer paid occupational testing. The VC would allow regulators to check for payment w/o any additional information or access to performer records. And my favorite part…this type system would eliminate my pet peeve of branding performers with a scarlet X!!
As for determining the minimum standards…it’s already been determined and generally accepted using APTIMA 1 particle testing.
No matter how great a testing program is it won’t rise to level of occupational standards without systemic education for awareness and prevention. If APAC wants to make a real difference they will develop medically sound (vs industry propaganda) STI awareness and prevention materials to be supplemented with occasional physician guest speakers. The materials should include both individual and group applications with facilitator guides.
@jilted
Despite the centralized processing and all the details that prevented 2004 from causing more harm than it did your experience of it ignores the travel restrictions that were in place at the time and totally ignored.
Pointing out the protocol lapse it seems important to also say this in no way reduces the gratitude or respect I have for those who went above the call of duty to minimize the fallout. Given the increased number of performers and national focus today vs regional of 2004 it’s difficult to wrap head around a workable process beyond a centralized lab processor which raises sample logistics I’m not familiar enough with to address.
It’s heartening that performers are seeing FSC protocols are a gate swinging in the wind with no fence beyond the propaganda posts it’s anchored to. If the fiscal mismanagement at AIM motivates performers to look beyond FSC kool aid then it’s easy for me to say thank you for the 655k it cost you. Sadly nothing I can do will bring the cash back to you yet knowing about that fiscal mismanagement has helped me when considering shared costing applications.
We often have disparate approaches to the HOW yet it’s nice to know the goal of performer safety remains paramount.
Lurk,
I like your comment, BUT, you are talking about things that should exist, not things that do exist. Should all of the things you mention here be happeneing,,,yes they should, but they arent. And because all we have TODAY is a HRP, that is what we have to deal with.
The TTS system has the verification programs that work perfectly TODAY. There are two seperate systems, and each allow the PERFORMER to share his results, eliminating the third person(PASS) and protecting the producers from accessing information from that third party. It is the PERFORMER who is sharing the results, not a third party. It virtyally ELIMINATES the need for the PASS system.
When the system was first developed it was performers sharing results with performers,,,,producers wanted NOTHING to do with it. But now, with the TTS system, performers and agents could institute a simple program,,,,,,If a producer wants to see your results, which would only be available directly from the PERFORMER, then you pay $50,,,or whatever fee is ecided upon. It could be insitiuted tomorrow. Performers pay for testing,,,,if producers want those results, let them pay PERFORMERS for access to them. SImple. C’mon APAC, here is a simple solution. Do you have the ability to put such a simple plan in place, a plan that actually protects your precious producers too. A win win for all of you. And TTS is nationwide, which helps with the centralization of the entire system,,,,,,a HUGE part of what makes this type of system effective, close up one of those big holes in your safety net.
Lurk,
Wrote my comment above before seeing this. The TTS system, and TTS being nationwide, is a way of bringing more centralization. ALot of people wanted AIM gone, they wanted competition, and now look what ya got. There are serious MEDICAL not political, reasons for centralization. Centralization is a KEY component to this type of system, for MEDICAL reasons.
@jilted
TTS designed a great solution to meet its clients needs, you’ll never hear me say otherwise. In this situation you’re looking at immediate medical concerns and admirably doing all you can to stop the floodgates while I’m looking at current realities and future possibilities.
Right now there are piecemeal regulatory efforts happening worldwide and every regulator is being torn between folks at risk, trade groups like FSC and SWOP and folks like you who have invested their hearts into programs they’ve developed to address the biggest leaks in the dike.
I see the potential for the program I laid out to pave the way for use as an alternate to many current laws criminalizing HIV while retaining criminalization for those who intentionally knowingly and recklessly choose to put others at risk. Right now in many jurisdictions if someone is arrested for prostitution they are ELISA tested and no allowance is made for seeking treatment, achieving and maintaining an undetectable viral load. In my mind charging them with a felony equates to condoms as justification to prostitution arrests. This not only stereotypically stigmatizes prostitutes and performers as disease ridden irresponsible less thans but also carries over to folks who acquire HIV aren’t promiscuous and never knowingly put themselves at risk.
Right now every performer who is escorting is also at risk of prostitution arrest. Right now producers seek out prostitutes to perform as experienced and willing participants. Right now any number of HRP are handing out test vouchers and rapid tests. Right now regulators are dealing with increased ACA costs and big name large employers pissed off they are carrying the load for UTR prostitution medical costs.
Legalizing marijuana may not seem relevant but it is and shows attitudes are changing when it comes to prohibition. It also comes up in every convo with regulators concerned with adult entertainment in their neighborhood. They don’t just talk about porn production they inevitably include strip clubs and prostitution always expressing frustration about which regulatory aspect is taking their focus from the larger picture of how to legally provide and enforce STI testing as something more than piecemeal HRP. Some are focused on how to balance willing vs unwilling participants vs survival sex work vs actual trafficking. Others look at labor standards and focus on wages. All of them discuss ACA being linked to IRS…some fear where it goes while others see its potential for legalizing many UTR economies.
So bottom line TTS developed a great program to meet its current client base but I’m looking at what’s possible today to pave the road for whatever happens don the road. Clearly I’ve talked to lots of folks and done tons of ancillary research to narrow down a simplistic approach to meet needs not even being addressed today. IG those verification codes are a way of using medically appropriate testing for folks in other industries as well as those charged and probationers without detailing their medical records in all too often breached legal records.
As a policy queen my focus is how to tailor universally applicable programs that accommodate countless conflicting narrowly focused laws already on the books.
@jilted
Was trying to recall if or how LabCorp and Quest related to TTS. Did recall some comments that with either lab it’s possible specimens drawn from one patient may go to separate processing locations for logistical or processing equipment purposes. Even so the patients results and records remain centralized creating ongoing opportunities for the hometown advantages you spelled out from 2004 in numerous locations.
The disparate reporting conditions TTS has taken issue with using medically appropriate centralized/standardized processes is a no brainer. Also no way to address all the international travel via industry panel that is easily addressed via medically appropriate provider driven processes. Not everyone needs ebola or HIV 2 tacked on to panel but it could be medically appropriate for someone who’s been to a Sun City South Africa Resort.
Who knows how many retirements in 2013 were blamed on HIV but were really HepC. One performer was vilified yet how many justified showing up to work for years with HepC due to industry standards that were anything but medically appropriate?
And during our conversations today, another performer was infected with an STD. In all of my years of working with AIM there was NEVER one single day that I did not report a postitve std to AIM. It happens EVERY SINGLE DAY, actually, more than once a day.
Another question for APAP,,,,Why why why are you still NOT doing oral and anal swabs for stds. You know that not doing this also renders the current system virtually USELESS. APAC, do you know what your own current protocols are regarding oral and anal stds. Here it is, and I was in the room when this was discussed,,,,”EVENTUALLY, an anal or oral infection will spread to the urinary tract, and we will treat it then.” That is a part of YOUR current system, just wait until is spreads to the urinary tract,,,,meanwhile you continue to work with, and spread an asymptomatic disease. Pretty good system you got there isnt it APAC. ANd again, I was in the room when this was discussed, so dont try to bullshit me on this subject, I wrote the fucking book.
@jilted
That makes my point to have provider driven medically appropriate testing very well. DIR and OSHA can mandate workplace safety but the government shouldn’t be essentially forced to play doctor for industries that place profits over worker health. If OSHA says anatomical swabbing then there’s the question of it it’s an acceptable alternative in total or rotation of the testing frequency vs a doc who gets a whiff of nasty breath and knows its time for oral swabs and may have the lab use a couple extra magic decoder rings on the blood drawn.
For the record asymptomatic doesn’t mean without consequence. Untreated GC & CT are well known causes of PID and infertility in women. Not to mention letting oral or anal disease go until it is systemic and recognized via urine cultures is a great way to facilitate mutations and longer more complicated treatment requirements.
For folks on drug probation docs could treat the issue vs make better liars out of non-compliance as well as avoid or treat some of the harmful things ingested to beat the test.
For the past year hearing performer choice and how they have no choice the escorting part of the equation is all but ignored. Every day agents are giving performers addresses or having drivers take them to locations where the performer is last to know this isn’t a contracted film production but a profitable arrangement the agent made with the clear expectation that they will work with a client who may or may not test regularly as if they were a regularly tested co-performer. Setting those events up w/o advance notice removes performer choice when agent pre-negotiated expectations to honor a clients wish over the performer’s health.
Performers who know they’re meeting a client vs co-performer have the freedom to insist on condoms. Until performers have that freedom there really is no difference between clients and co-performers carrying the risks of their agent booked clients.
Of course this makes the assumption that self-booking performers are distinguishing on/off set behavior and using condoms off set to minimize theirs and everyone else’s risks.
@harris
You’ve been called out and proven as a bullshitter on basically every porn board in existence. Your rep precedes you.
You’re a college professor, credit union compliance officer and now a health educator. Sadly though Matt, you’ll never work for Kink.
Hop/Rob Black, I haven’t ever been a health educator (at least for pay). However, I can apply common sense and personal experience to a situation. Discussing collapsed veins caused by blood testing should be common sense. In fact, I just ran into this yesterday having my annual echocardiogram, the nurse struggled to inject the contrast solution into my veins, after about 20 minutes and a very small needle seldom used she finally got the contrast dye into me to finish the echo. I will say it here again as you obviously have it out for me, Hop/Rob — I haven’t ever worked as a health educator for pay. I am not a medical doctor nor did I teach medical issues. I also did not teach sex ed. Other than that, you can guess as to what I taught but I would bet my IQ is at least 75 points higher than yours if I were a betting man in Vegas. However, I can give opinion and discuss issues that common sense dictates including personal experience, “condom rash” and evidently how to piss you off, Hop Sing/Rob Black. You can teach how to bounce checks, host a shitty second-rate internet program that attracts fewer than ten viewers a day, falsely claim that people are pedophiles and be an internet troll that probably sucks dick on Lankershim Blvd. to pay the bills.
BTW I am now retired and have been for many years now. Also, it is Dr. Harris to you, Hop/Rob Black (I will note that I am not a medical doctor but otherwise leave you guessing as to exactly what degrees I hold) — you can go suck Marc Wallice’s dick, shove his dick deep inside your ass, let him cum and maybe get AIDS. I am also not going to be too upset if I never get that job at Kink considering I haven’t even applied for a job there. BTW your rep precedes you too, Hop/Rob Black. You have bounced hundreds of checks, tried to leech off of your girlfriend and have only a shitty second-rate internet program that attracts fewer than ten viewers daily. If I didn’t respect Mike South I would go off on a profanity-laced rant here and tell you exactly what I think of you. Since I respect Mike enough to keep his blog relatively clean you can fill in the blanks yourself, Hop/Rob.
@mharris
Since HOP (whoever they may be behind moniker) isn’t functionally illiterate I’m calling bullshit on your claim to an IQ 75 points higher than anyone unless they’re in the profoundly disabled category. 70 or below gets folks off death row in some states vs MENSA at 130+ (Stanford-Binet) or alternate of 60 questions in 40 minutes. Both MENSA qualifiers rely on logic as the basis to common sense so it would be a statistical anomaly if you qualified.
Condom rash by a non-allergic person is a bullshit argument put forth by the industry and countered by every qualified medical expert as preventable with lube. As for your recent testing difficulties…where is the logical basis to applying a retiree’s hardened veins (arteries) as proof the same could or would be expected in the average performer who is forty or more years your junior?
Relying on folk lore and stories may be common but it is not common sense when you bring IQ into the equation and try selling collapsed veins and condom rash.
Condom rash, collapsed veins, and lets not forget hazmat suits, and goggles. Hey, I wonder if Mark Kernes knows where my $655,000.oo went, or all of AIMs files? I wonder if he has seen his own dick in the last 30 years.
Lurk, I was actually more expressing my frustration at Hop/Rob’s obsession with me and trying to make me look like a drooling imbecile. I don’t know what my IQ would test out to be now but years ago it was 136. “Genius” level at the time was 140. Maybe I should have rethought that comment but the gist of it stands, Hop/Rob is an idiot that likely smokes too much meth. IMO Hop/Rob can go kiss Satan’s fiery ass and suck his pitchforked dick. I can debate people all day but when a person’s posts are nothing but insults toward me and do not add to the debate I draw the line. You will notice that the tone of my posts are vastly different when addressing your posts than when addressing Hop/Rob. We may disagree but at least you attempt to debate instead of just taking pot shots at me like Hop/Rob does.
As for collapsed veins, I hope you and Jilted are correct and the phlebotomists at the testing labs for TTS and Cutting Edge are good enough at their jobs that this isn’t an issue. Unfortunately telling from Matt Williams’ Twitter when he posts his frustration with getting tested for VD and it taking sometimes up to two hours (let’s knock off a half hour waiting to get into the exam room to start the blood test, leaving an hour and a half of poking and prodding to draw blood) to find a vein and draw the blood for the VD test. In a normal person a blood draw takes about ten minutes. Taking this into account I have to say either Matt’s veins have collapsed as I stated is possible or the phlebotomists at the Oakland TTS testing facility are terrible, more than likely the former as this facility draws blood for most of the doctor’s offices in Oakland as well as for TTS — they should have plenty of practice to become proficient at venipuncture. Matt Williams is only about 45-50 years old. Darling has made similar comments on her Twitter (sometimes with pictures of the bruses from attempts to draw blood to boot) as well, she also lives in SF/Oakland. Darling is only 35-40 years old. Neither shoot up heroin or other illegal drugs. Both have been in the industry for at least ten years and have in general tested every 14-30 days during that time (during the AIM years testing was every 30 days). Although they haven’t commented publicly about their VD testing to my knowledge, Lorelei Lee has also been performing (and testing) for over ten years now; Rain DeGrey, Isis Love and a few others are approaching that ten year mark now as well, I would think they either are dealing with this issue as well or will be soon so we could lose them (along with Matt and Darling) as performers because of vein collapse making the required VD testing just about impossible (an hour and a half of poking and/or a poke to the jugular to find a vein is more than most would tolerate on a bi-weekly basis). I certainly would like to be in the same exam room when they get blood drawn to see if it is as difficult as Matt and Darling have said their blood draws are. Extrapolating from Matt’s and Darling’s experience (and the fact that Matt has been commenting on his VD testing difficulties for at least a year now after about 10-11 years in the biz) and the fact that until two years ago testing was every 30 days (the testing frequency has doubled since then) that puts performers having trouble with blood draws after only 4-5 years maximum in the future, probably with some performers 2-3 years is a more reasonable estimate — very possibly bringing performers like James Deen (who still usually performs in 10 scenes during a 14 day period, he has been performing for at least five years now), Stoya (has been in the biz for at least 4-5 years), Veruca James (2-3 years in the biz) and Aaliyah Love’s (also 2-3 years performing) futures in porn into question either now or in 1-2 more years maximum with the current 14 day VD testing protocol. In comparison most sexually active people with multiple partners get tested every 90-180 days.
Don’t get me wrong, in theory I like 14 day VD testing for the industry. Unfortunately it may be a necessary evil here, it is certainly better than an HIV free-for-all that would exist otherwise. However, it needs to be pointed out that the biz will likely be losing its long time performers because of vein collapse. Maybe Jilted can come up with a solution (better training or alternate blood draw equipment/methods) to prevent this issue from taking our most loyal performers from us in the future. He certainly came up with solutions to quite a few other issues during the AIM days (and performers from the AIM era should lie down on the floor in front of him and kiss his feet in response whether they agree with his condoms in porn stance or not). Maybe shorter scenes and condoms (with appropriate lube) can be part of the solution for some performers. I don’t have a problem with condom optional, that is how I would run my set. I do have a problem with chafing and broken condoms (Nina Hartley claims a 30% breakage rate even with lube), combine the two and you have a prime HIV transmission issue. I think we can all agree that a cut or chafe exposed to HIV or other VD during sex whether a condom is used or not increases the chance of transmission greatly over unbroken skin (this is why doctors and nurses wear gloves when dealing with any procedure involving blood contact). I truly wish condoms worked as well during sex as (non-latex) gloves do during a medical procedure.
The other issue is performer choice. I think performers should make an informed decision regarding condom use. I don’t believe forcing condoms on performers is the answer to on-set VD transmission any more than banning stunts in Hollywood movies is to preventing injuries on the next Jodie Foster or Mel Gibson movie set. People can make decisions about risk themselves and then either take the risk or not. In the case of porn that would be either use a condom and lube or not. I can think of a few ideas to improve porn sets including having appropriate Workman’s Comp policies, increasing the rate of pay at the lower-paying companies to a minimum of $750 per performer per scene, limiting agent percentages to 10%, producers paying for VD testing (I like Lurk’s idea of charging $25 per test look-up and not charging performers for their VD tests), getting the FSC out of the VD testing business (maybe APAC can administer a testing regimen but I think another AIM like organization except run by qualified people instead of a dime store “doctorate” holding ex-con and later an abortion lover running an inept political lobbying organization (Diane Duke)) and implementing required VD testing/serosorting in “gay” porn. However, I don’t think required condom usage in sex scenes is appropriate (that applies to both straight and gay sets).
MHarris,
I too am getting a litlte tired of your outright bullshit you write here sometimes. Now its collapsed veins, which is such a minor point that it doesnt even merit mentioning.
And AIM was run by Dr. Colin Hamblin, and he is hardlya dime store doctor. He gave his all to AIM, and in the end he too was ripped off, and almost lost his license. You speak as if Mitch was making medical decisions which is almost as funny as your constantly repeating the condom rash BULLSHIT.
Employees in no industry are given the choice if they want to follow the law or not. And in porn, thought it might be nice, performers do not have choices, choice does not exist so why keep talking about it. I wish every day was filled with unicorns and rainbows, but it doesnt exist. Why do you keep offering a solution that does not exist. Shoulda, coulds, woulda, but choice, like unicorns, does not exist.
I don’t know what testing requirements for Coumadin in the 70’s but the literature and the commercials for competing medications not requiring blood testing claim that Coumadin nowadays only requires once monthly testing. Maybe when combined with the metabolic medications back then things were different for your grandmother, I know that some of the medications back then were not as easy to take as today’s equivalent medications are although I don’t know what medications she would have been given for that issue back then. May your grandmother rest in peace, it is hard when a loved one passes on.
I can say that unfortunately sometimes long-term medication is necessary. I have been taking one of my asthma medications for at least 40 years, my doctor said at my last visit that it isn’t commonly prescribed anymore but if it works keep taking it. Hopefully even though I require medication I keep on living, kicking and screaming for another 20 years and maybe even find some cute (adult) woman to marry and fuck once a week (every night is out of the question for me even with Viagra) for the rest of my life from then on.
APAC, heres another on for ya. You all know Karan Tynan. She was paid THOUSANDS of your dollars that you paid to AIM. Did you know that she gave 5000 of YOUUR dollars to the Measure B campaign. The same campaign that, in the official campaign contribution forms PAID Mr Marcus as a “Consultant” $2500. YES< can you believe it, what type of "Consulting" did Marcus do for the Measure B campaign?
Ah, come on, Tim,,, I’m pretty sure mark kernes can look in a mirror, right? Otherwise, just wanted to say that I think YOU should lead the performers union thingamabob, eh?
Maybe NIck, but not the current APAC, You see, I wouldnt fit into the FSC’s pocket, like James Deen does.
Yup, you and Dr. Riggs heading up the organization would be Heaven on earth for the talent of today!!! Seriously, that would ROCK!!!! And it would also prove that APAC was an independent organization capable of speaking for the talent’s interests!
@mharris
My grandmother’s weekly testing continued until her death in 2007 …so we aren’t talking the Stone Age here though that may be when protocol of alternating left one week and right the next was started. To the best of my knowledge alternate limbs are still used as well as alternate sites when alternate limbs are not feasible. The rationale behind her weekly testing was related to required use of generally contraindicated medications and won’t be found in any particular drugs literature.
Getting back to the point…bi-weekly testing using standard phlebotomy protocols that include cleansing injection site and sterile equipment isn’t likely to create collapsed veins for the average performer. The average performer is aged 20-25 and has a career span of less than three years.
Good luck in your quest to find a lady to share 20 or more years of pleasurable companionship with a healthy and mutually satisfying sex life.
@mharris
Hop’s attacks on you reflect his approach and none made you look like an imbecile the way your IQ response did.
For every personal experience you posted here I could give you ten policy manuals with statistical data to prove them null and void. Did you know that adequate hydration affects a phlebotomists ability to draw blood? Did you know that coffee drinkers should alternate water/coffee the days before a blood test? Or that everyone should avoid alcohol prior to blood draws? Caffeine is a diuretic and alcohol dehydrates so they both cause issues.
For the last fucking time…Nina Hartley may be the nicest person in the world but she is also the very last person I would trust on industry health issues due to apparent vested interests. It would help your cause greatly to include even one professional non-industry reference to back up your positions. IG condom breakage…30% is a common stat however it drops below 10% with proper sizing, placement and use. Btw that little factoid was used to implement safe sex education in middle schools across America.
Name dropping is great for bar stools and parties or other social causes but does jack shit to present or back the issues you’re presenting unless they are accompanied by independent research and data to back the position they are parroting.
Aww come on now jilted…Tynan would argue she gave 5000 of her dollars to No on B campaign and she got beat for another 8000.
Was there a date attached to Mr. Marcus consultancy?
Times like this being a stickler for facts and dates is a pain in the ass…trying to recall when the groups name change happened. If his consultancy was before July 2012 it may enlighten some folks to practice of using non-profits for very profitable associations but wouldn’t be the kind of conflict or juicy story it would make if that consultancy fee is between July and November when Measure B passed in Los Angeles.
Sorry folks gotta do it…@mharris
Let’s debate some of what you’re passing off as relevant facts here….
“it needs to be pointed out that the biz will likely be losing its long time performers because of vein collapse.”
So they say…unless they ruled out other causes of bruising or collapsed veins it’s pure speculation aka bullshit that this was caused by frequent testing. If this were a real concern why aren’t the testing facilities out there waving past lawsuits and shouting from rooftops about potential liability concerns? If this were true why is it that so many HRP are out there promoting standard phlebotomy protocols to IDU (injecting drug users)? Why is it that I can walk into a HRP storefront in any major city and find former IDU that will say straight up that injecting questionable by-products and lack of access to adequate hygiene aren’t half the problem as using the same site for abscesses and collapsed veins due to scarring?
“Maybe Jilted can come up with a solution (better training or alternate blood draw equipment/methods)”
Lmao… even peed a little bit on this one…it’s more likely Jilted would tell you the number of trained and certified phlebotomists in the CA or the USA following proven safe protocols. My guess is that in CA alone there are more trained and certified phlebotomists than there are performers in the PASS database.
“to prevent this issue from taking our most loyal performers from us in the future”
Perhaps the most blindly loyal might blame vein collapse for their departure but I still don’t see any nighttime asbestos mesothelioma like commercials for porn performers with collapsed veins from testing happening in mine or my kids lifetime.
“I donāt have a problem with condom optional, that is how I would run my set.”
Would you be paying the related business costs or expecting performers to cover costs to cover your ass?
“I do have a problem with chafing and broken condoms”
I’d suggest you look into proper sizing, wear and lube unless you’re willing to pay for testing as risk assessment. Might also want to check with your insurer to see what’s covered under the work interruption section of business policy, if the deductible is annual or per event etc. it’s great to say you’d have a condom optional set until you think about stuff like SCOTUS FED-EX ruling in August or middle of the night mesothelioma asbestos commercials…then it’s scary because any of those loyal performers you’re quoting today could be the poster face and voice shouting from rooftops arguments similar to those behind these two landmark cases.
” I truly wish condoms worked as well during sex as (non-latex) gloves do during a medical procedure.”
Ever ask yourself why there are always two and usually three glove sizes on the wall of every exam room? Ever consider that porn has no training or universal guidelines for condoms as a major contributing factor to this disparity?
“The other issue is performer choice. I think performers should make an informed decision regarding condom use.”
And here is the crux of why you and I will never agree. I don’t see Nina Hartley’s opinions as a sound foundation of ‘relevant facts’ and firmly believe ‘relevant facts’ are required to make an ‘informed decision.’
“I donāt believe forcing condoms on performers is the answer to on-set VD transmission any more than banning stunts in Hollywood movies is to preventing injuries on the next Jodie Foster or Mel Gibson movie set.”
Aww…this makes me miss Lacey’s great explanations about stunt requirements. Also brings to mind a funny story my that will haunt my husband long after he is in the grave. He is a smart office type guy, but occasionally does something so stupid we have to ask if he really just did that.
As a kid I grew up with frequent clam bakes. Our back yard had a sandy area between the fish pond and crab apple tree where holes were dug and fires cooked huge feasts in 55 gallon drums. With an abundance of Amex points it was decided to exchange them for several 10 person lobster pot dinners from Boston Legal Seafoods. I insisted we needed to start the fires Friday night and my husband assured me the directions called for two hour lead time so the morning would be soon enough. 15+ people on the back porch are laughing uproariously then completely silent as six or so are in the kitchen trying to throw more hors d’ vour together. Every one of the 40+ guests is tip toeing around the hosts growing marital spat and their hunger because dinner is no where near done. I turned and said in a panicked voice the now infamous words “What’s Burning?” & heard the “ME!” our three year old grandson started imitating for a laugh pretending to rub his arms and eyebrows.
My best friend describes the silence…they noticed he returned with lighter fluid after stomping away from the choice words of his pissed off wife in the kitchen with their combined horror and fear that anything they tried saying would only be adding fuel to a fire burning hotter than the one under the lobster pot. Deciding it would be best to approach him vs shout from the porch a guest was still ten feet away when the anticipated fireball happened.
Everyone there that day enjoys Disney World’s Indiana Jones and Back Lot Tours for the massive fireballs whether or not they are aware of the precautions that keep actors, staff and audience safe. None of them would count on the randomly chosen audience performers to possess the relevant data to make informed choices for anyone’s safety. Moral of that story is performer choice equates to throwing lighter fluid on a hidden nut smoldering fire.
“People can make decisions about risk themselves and then either take the risk or not.”
Yep and even people who ace logical story boarding on IQ tests can be frustrated by unrelated stuff and do incredibly stupid shit.
“In the case of porn that would be either use a condom and lube or not.” Sounds simple and works if they are performing a solo scene but goes out the window the minute a co-performer enters the picture with the blind trust element. They are blindly trusting this isn’t the day their co-performer with many years in the business hasn’t decided to falsify their test results…that their co-performer possesses knowledge about the relevant data and made an informed choice, that no one convinced their co-performer working with GC or CT is preferable to a no-show fee and getting cancelled or losing future jobs because set staff need to be paid too. Will stop here but could make this book length with factors that screw up your simplistic pie in the sky image of performer choice Utopia.
“I can think of a few ideas to improve porn sets including having appropriate Workmanās Comp policies”
You do know WC applies to employees right? The employer controls the employee which throws your idea of performer choice out the window.
” increasing the rate of pay at the lower-paying companies to a minimum of $750 per performer per scene,”
Sounds good…gross or net? Assuming appropriate WC policies means talent are covered via employee classification and you’re talking a net figure then the lower-paying company’s are looking at a figure closer to $900-1000 with WC, FICA and state stuff like Unemployment factored in.
“limiting agent percentages to 10%,”
Would that 10% exclude rent, transportation and other ancillary services? Or does 10% pertain only to direct agent booking services? Include or exclude stuff like agents site photos etc?
“producers paying for VD testing (I like Lurkās idea of charging $25 per test look-up and not charging performers for their VD tests),”
For the record I have never and will never advocate a set $25 fee. I do advocate shared stakeholder costing with a nominal admin fee with the testing facility using single use verifiable codes for each access. This means performers who have camming sites or escort are also stakeholders as well as agents who book and take fees for non-filmed events as well as producers.
“getting the FSC out of the VD testing business (maybe APAC can administer a testing regimen but I think another AIM like organization except run by qualified people”
Who at APAC is even remotely qualified to design, develop and administer a testing program that passes muster? Re AIM it’s feasible that an independent community health center properly licensed and run by qualified medical and administrative staff could be the cornerstone to performer safety testing and educational programs as a less expensive option to stakeholders developing and administering the same services in-house.
Got the idea you’re taking issue with some individuals but can’t see how it adds to qualified people running an organization. It’s a bit confusing as the dime store doctorate relates to AIM ignoring fact that qualified MD’s filled role of Medical Director while Dukes past job with PP and prior education actually make sense for her position at FSC where her work is defined and directed by a board of 13 members.
“and implementing required VD testing/serosorting in āgayā porn.”
Seems you’re not aware that using APTIMA HIV 1 for required testing would actually eliminate serosorting and make it safer for HIV- as well as suppressed HIV. Because of its cost and long time use of cheaper effective viral load tests APTIMA isn’t a suitable choice for treatment monitoring but in an occupational setting it could work as a threshold to exclude those with new/acute as it’s already used along with untreated HIV, those who aren’t complying with treatment and those whose treatment has become inadequate for whatever reason. Company’s that want to go further can use antibody or antigen testing as well if they take position that nature of job might pose risk to performer with occupational exposure.
“However, I donāt think required condom usage in sex scenes is appropriate (that applies to both straight and gay sets)”
I think barrier (condom) use and post editing might be a feasible alternative to blind risks or cancelled shoots for any number of STI situations while further reducing HIV transmissions risk. Such as protecting all performers regardless of status.
Addressing the value of protecting all performers I’ll only mention the word vaccines so they aren’t forgotten. Protecting all performers means addressing reducing all STI as a means to prevent those w/o HIV from getting it and to prevent those with treatment suppressed HIV from the risks of opportunistic secondary infections or co-infections that may render their treatment ineffective which raises everyone’s risk. To me laying out a nice circle showing all the places STI and HIV can be prevented would be a great conundrum graphic.
Lurk, unfortunately there aren’t any independent studies for me to reference regarding condom breakage during heavy-duty porn sex. I would like to see one done, actually (of course making damn sure none of the participants actually have any VD before sex). There is a big difference between middle school students (who should not be fucking anyway) and 45 minute plus fucking in porn scenes. As far as civilian sex I have seen figures as low as 5% breakage or slippage with proper lubrication and application. Unfortunately porn sex is so different than civilian sex (at least in most cases) the studies done with the general public do not apply IMO. Having wrote research papers myself I understand very well the importance of scholarly sources and good data recording procedures but when the studies haven’t been done I have no choice but to use anecdotal evidence like Nina Hartley’s assertion along with others such as Casey Calvert and Veruca James that also claim that condoms just don’t work for porn sex.
For the record last week’s IV injection of contrast dye was performed after drinking 32 ounces of water that morning (I have a 32 ounce tumbler I drink out of, I usually consume at least four of those tumblers full of water daily including one almost as soon as I wake up), I don’t drink coffee or alcohol (I don’t like coffee and I like alcohol too much to dare drink it nowadays) so they don’t come into the equation. All of this and it took two nurses at least twenty minutes to find a vein (and they screwed up and injected dye into my arm outside of a vein leaving one hell of a bruise before finally finding a vein to inject into)
Jilted, I know officially Dr. Hamblin (and Dr. York before him) was supposed to be running AIM from a medical standpoint but from what I can gather he had little to do with the financial side of the organization. Sharon Mitchell (whose doctorate was from a diploma mill) was presented as the person responsible for AIM overall and was partly responsible for its downfall. I believe Dr. Hamblin and Dr. York to be fine physicians but as is true in most medical practices today they had little to do with decisions regarding anything outside of the practice of medicine.
Also, if I were you I would have cut off their lab services way before your company did. Once an account goes 90 days past due something is wrong and you need to cut your losses and stop providing services until the bill is paid or satisfactory payment arrangements are made, from what I have seen your company allowed AIM to continue using your services on credit until the account was at least six months past due. “Dr.” Sharon Mitchell is to blame for AIM’s bankruptcy, not you and certainly not Dr. Hamblin.
As far as my proposed solutions to the VD issue in porn, I am optimistic enough to think that I offered reasonable solutions that would make porn a better place to work. It is also questionable whether porn performers are required to use condoms in all 50 states, from their reaction to the bogus AHF charges against Kink in Nevada (judging from their lack of response evidently filing AHF’s letter in the “circular file”) their OSHA staff thinks condoms are unnecessary in porn. For example, here in Michigan workers are not required to wear protective gear on a construction or logging job site unless the person is climbing a tree or hanging from a building three stories from the ground. Doctors and nurses aren’t required to wear gloves when treating a patient here either unless the mouth or sex organs are involved (most do because of the possibility of HIV transmission after accidental exposure to blood). The only thing stopping porn from setting shop in Michigan is our strict fornication law/criminal sexual conduct law which bans all sex outside of a legally sanctioned marriage. If that were repealed producers (short of a federal takeover of OSHA which isn’t going to happen) could likely come here and make as much non-condom porn as they wish without state OSHA (actually called LARA here) interference.
I honestly dont know if anyone can pinpoint the reason why escorting amongst adult film stars is so high. perhaps its because of the short shelf life of the female talent. a shelf life that runs 6 months to 3 years at best.
the constant tug of war between producers, agents and bloggers with strong opinions about how the girls should be handling their careers could also be a huge factor.
but also the fact that the girls are promoting it to one another. that might be the biggest and hugest factor right there.
Girl 1: Yeah so its really easy all you have to do is this and this and then your client will show up or you go to his house and its real quick and then bam money.
Girl 2: oh wow is it safe?
Girl 1: oh yeah they always wear a condom….
or Girl 1: oh yeah my pimp told me that they are all tested….
(ive heard girls tell me this one, you couldve knocked me over with a feather)
Now as for crossover talent, lets just say it men. I cant tell if its greed or desperation. if your a guy and you suck a mans dick, fuck him in the ass, get a blowjob from him or let him fuck you in the ass even if he had hormone therapy and looks like a pretty girl and has fake titts you are gay. you are a homosexual as far as i am concerned. and thats not a bad thing, gay men make some of the best contributions to our society. but please stop bullshitting, you knew sucking another mans dick was some gay shit your whole life and now the only ones you are lying to are yourself and your wife probably (she should probably get tested too). from what i understand producers book the switch hitters often but the big mafia family agencies are putting it down and pressuring the producers to stop booking gay homies when shooting with their girls. especially the ones that get booked often, and for obvious reasons. if your star girl tests positive for HIV well she cant work anymore, and to think this could have been prevented if the producer would’ve avoided booking the guy thats been escorting for men on the side.
There is an increasing demand for confirmed straight male talent in LA. those men who are 100% straight which means never sucked a dick, got head from a man, fucked a dude in the ass or got fucked in the ass with a real or fake dick (i know fake dicks dont make you gay but its like pandoras box sometimes), those men work all the time.
so if it is greed, then keeping to the straight would yield more work and better pay.
girl makes 600-1k for a b/g , straight guy used to make 300, now makes 1k+ per shoot.
the age of the contract girl is over, yet the contract male talent is alive and thriving,
@mharris
Lmao…is this a serious response to the questions directly related to the plan you laid out? Okay I’ll play your game….here ya go…
I said …. “It would help your cause greatly to include even one professional non-industry reference to back up your positions. IG condom breakageā¦30% is a common stat however it drops below 10% with proper sizing, placement and use. Btw that little factoid was used to implement safe sex education in middle schools across America.”
You offer some bullshit personal opinions about porn vs middle schoolers having sex and digress into a tangent on porn vs civilians. Then try to back this up saying you’re a fucking scholar? For a genius you ain’t too fucking bright! The DOE used existing standardized studies to justify offering safer sex curriculum to middle school students with with the goal or expectation that doing so will offer those students relevant data to help them make more informed decisions regarding their pregnancy/STI prevention options IF and when they choose to have sex.
Considering your source the anecdotal evidence is bullshit! Nina Hartley doesn’t have a dick and isn’t known for years of condom usage making her a piss poor tenth choice given the number of gay performers with hundreds of documented on-set condom experiences to draw from.
Remarkable…you’re still trying to compare your shriveled up old man veins to folks forty or more years your junior. Let me help you put that to rest…first it’s a lot easier to draw blood than inject contrast, second even healthy folks veins change as they age. Third it’s likely you’ve experienced some of the vascular issues common to people with asthma due to both the disease and medications to treat the disease…IG glaucoma is considered a vision issue but relates to vascularity of the eyeball and a common side effect of numerous asthma medications. Lastly radiology nurses might perform an average of ten injections per work day while the average phlebotomist does forty or more draws per shift depending on their work environment.
Moving from questions that relate directly to what you laid out as a plan to questioning OSHA fifty state applicability looks more like doddering fucking fool than any optimism you wish to claim from behind whatever magical rose colored glasses you’re wearing.
“The only thing stopping porn from setting shop in Michigan is our strict fornication law/criminal sexual conduct law which bans all sex outside of a legally sanctioned marriage. If that were repealed producers (short of a federal takeover of OSHA which isnāt going to happen) could likely come here and make as much non-condom porn as they wish without state OSHA (actually called LARA here) interference.”
OSHA is a FEDERAL program that allows states to choose to administer it in their state with 50% of the administrative tab picked up by the Federal treasury; states administering their own plans place all revenues into their general fund….States must meet or exceed federal regulations.
In 1991 Federal OSHA adopted the BBP currently applicable in all 50 states and territories. All state administered plans adopted it before the end of 1992. The Cal/OSHA draft BBP/OPIM is not law yet as it has two more policy development phases to go through before the Governor accepts or rejects it as California OSHA that exceeds federal law. If the governor doesn’t want to veto it he can let it become law w/o a signature by simply letting enough days pass w/o action.
So mr genius scholar…..do your fucking homework cuz yer gonna get called out for your ridiculous bullshit anecdotal and off the wall opinions.
For the record, MHarris, you know nothing more than what you have read on porn industry websites. For the record, you dont know jack shit, never have never will.
A federal take over of OSHA. You moron. Lurk, will you please explain to this genius with the 175 IQ the relationship between Cal-OSHA and Federal OSHA. I dont have the time today. Thank you Mike.
@jilted
Lmao…you mean the tiny tiny part I left out right before saying do your homework …sure….
No need for Feds to take over a FEDERAL program. OSHA set up with state administered programs segregated into Regions….Cal & Nevada are both Region 9 which also includes Guam from Federal offices in San Francisco…Michigan is Region 4 out of Chicago. Puerto Rico is part of Region 2 in NY. So there ya have it 50 states and two US territories divided into ten sections that all meet or exceed Fed OSHA…and yes that includes 1991 BloodBorne Pathogens which iirc state administered programs all had to adopt prior to 12/31/1992.
For MENSA scholars OSHA works similar to Medicaid/Medicare, food stamps and a whole host of other Federal programs run (administered) by the states under the umbrella of Federal oversight.
I was unclear as to what I meant, Lurk and Jilted. I meant that OSHA is administered by the state (at least in MI), the state can enforce it any way it wishes including ignoring certain federal regulations that it finds obnoxious. That happens every day in many states. The feds aren’t going to bother with attempting to change this unless a Bhopal, India Union Carbide like incident happens here and it is found that LARA (OSHA in MI) contributed to the incident with lax enforcement. That type of incident (the Union Carbide chemical spill in India killed thousands and wiped out a whole city’s population — a similar incident hasn’t happened in the US in decades) isn’t happening because of porn and our state employees responsible for administering OSHA regulations doesn’t give a fuck about whether condoms are used in porn (the attitude here in state government is to do as little to bother business with regulations as possible, especially under the Snyder administration). I can guarantee that you will find at least one violation for each ten production employees, probably more. Most shops seldom hear from LARA regarding OSHA issues unless someone reports them for something, the fines if assessed are so low that in most cases they can be considered the cost of doing business. My father was supervision in machine shops and foundries off and on for years, still has connections in a few. Let’s just say the conversation about LARA is very interesting when enforcement comes up. Unless something drastically changes I doubt the feds are going to send stormtroopers to MI to enforce OSHA regs over a small issue like condoms since they don’t over actual safety issues such as hot iron being poured into an employee’s boot and causing him to need an amputation (that actually happened at a MI foundry about ten years ago — no fine was assessed). If they do attempt to force us to kowtow to their possible agenda to run porn out of the country, all our state officials need to do is tell the feds to take their OSHA money and stick it up their asses, they aren’t going to send the National Guard in to force us to administer OSHA regs to their satisfaction (and Snyder likely would, too). If I were porn I would be more worried about renewed obscenity charges than OSHA regs requiring condoms in MI.
The only thing keeping porn from setting shop in MI is our fornication law which many county prosecutors with a fundamentalist Christian bent would use to attempt to keep porn out of their counties (we have plenty of cute, nubile adult women to star in porn productions, people willing to direct and produce porn and probably a few men attractive to female viewers able to keep it up for three hours with a double dose of Viagra to star as well so the lack of performers/production staff isn’t an issue). Our fornication law can change with some lobbying to Gov. Snyder and our state legislators claiming that porn is willing to move and will create 5K jobs and a $10 million in yearly new tax revenue including all facets of production, the only issue here is the legislators whose campaigns are supported by conservative Christian organizations which in the last election is a minority so I suspect it isn’t actually a problem to get the fornication law repealed. If you doubt this (for example) walk into any machine shop in Michigan and start tallying up violations and tell me with a straight face that what you see isn’t much worse than two VD tested performers fucking without a condom. I bet porn even gets a tax break for moving here once the fornication law is repealed. Condoms in porn is just an issue created by the fundamentalist Christians (I may be a Christian but I am more liberal and think people can make their own moral choices), uptight prissy bitches like Gail Dines that evidently believe all sex is rape and people like Michael Weinstein that have to pay out a few bucks to treat a couple of HIV infected porn chickies (that were likely all infected outside of work although there is no way to know for sure) to run porn production out of the country through the back door.
@mharris
The noxious bullshit you keep spewing must have reminded you of the Bhopal Dow plant that blew up killing about 4000 instantly and ultimately affecting up to 20,000 iirc they were making ‘Sevin’ a landscape pesticide that killed every damn thing that tried to eat or infest expensive ornamentals. Ty for reminder of what happened thirty years ago. If you were trying to discuss Michigan industry the 2013 Bangladesh garment factory collapse might have been more relevant. Either way as you point out there hasn’t been an industrial incident on that scale in the USA for a long time….which is in large part directly attributable to our Labor laws as well as our building codes.
Now to clear up some things….LARA nor any other State administered OSHA plan is free to do as they please.
Long before AHF sent letters to Nevada OSHA they appealed to Florida OSHA and despite your being a loafer wearing scholarly genius you have no clue what’s going on with OSHA and BloodBorne Pathogens.
At the Federal Level there is Open Comment until December 8th re:
Proposed Information collection requirements …accuracy of OSHA time estimate for employers…record keeping collection & reporting methodology assumptions and ways to minimize employer burdens.
Perhaps that will explain some of what’s behind having the healthcare provider maintain the records vs unrealistic expectation that every Johnny come lately company can or will maintain confidential medical records for a week let alone thirty years as regs now call for. Maybe it will also clarify pursuing the use of single use verification codes….it’s not just about porn. It’s about every workplace where folks HIPPA rights can be violated with a lack of training and/or security.
Getting back to porn and those AHF complaints you’re so sure landed in the circular file….they didn’t in Florida or Nevada. When OSHA gets a letter from someone like AHF it is a referral and goes to bottom of priority list leaving room at the top for current employee complaints followed by whistleblower and former employee complaints. Next fact California OSHA is nearing the end of a long battle with porn that includes ten years of heavy OSHA involvement and five years of active enforcement of the same standards your deluded mind thinks aren’t applicable to all US states and Territories. The day Open Comment for cal/OSHA proposed OPIM draft closes the porn industry will be litigating it to stonewall as means to prevent giving Governor Brown (with higher aspirations) a chance to sign it into law.
Regardless of industry litigation against cal/OSHA the Feds will start the process of regulatory adoption which will create BBP/OPIM regulations for non-healthcare related industries. They will create a ‘comprehensive’ policy that ties all the little changes happening here and there as we speak …including the Federal BBP record keeping policy currently in open comment stage of process.
Btw Michigan’s fornication laws are much less of a hurdle than numerous states with sodomy laws remaining on the books. If porn wants to freeze their asses off they’ll head to NH and join Colin Roundtree where porn production has already been litigated.
APAC,
Here is another simple thing you can ad to the testing program. Perhaps twice a year you have as many performers as possible, all withing the same three days or so, go in and get gonn/chlam tested. By having as many as possible tested and treated at the same time you basicly clean out the entire pool at once. Performers benefit medicall, agents benefit because less people miss work because of an std, and producers get basicly the same benefit as agents, a clean working pool.
The overall daily rate of std’s after the ‘clean week’ program will be significantly lowere for at least a few months, and APAC could do fundraisers to pay for this. MAYBE event he testing facilities might offer a discount for this special additional testing.
A SIMPLE way to improve YOUR system!!!!
@mharris: bs alert! LOL how do you come up with this crap? does it come to you in a dream? Are you trying to apply for a job as spokesperson for the FSC? hahaha. Keep the laughs coming! š
@commonsense
Took him a week to come up with that one š in highly unionized states like Michigan the unions often have stricter standards than municipal, state or federal regs.
Btw mharris….I didn’t go into some of the facts that are pushing regulators to act…such as the US having one of the highest if not highest rate of treatment resistant HIV being passed around.
When yer buddies start telling you all about how many women are on Truvada tossing around 43% …do the math 43% of 2300 patients mostly in the northeast yet the highest infection rates for women are in the southeast.
Regarding asking if I would pay for testing at my hypothetical production company I should have answered your question yesterday, Lurking. I would more than likely cover testing costs for performers working for me (or add $200 to the per scene rate for this purpose so instead of paying $750 I would pay $950) if I owned a porn film production company. I have said before that I believe producers should cover the cost whether it be a fee-based system where they pay by the test verification or whatever. I don’t think it is fair for one company to have to pay full freight for a test that is used at ten companies but that is the way it is now for Kink and a few others that pay for their performers tests.
As for my pay thoughts I think the $750 should be gross as paychecks at any other employer describe it (with employer FICA, unemployment, etc. on top of that), with testing paid for the performer should net about $550-$600. Ten scenes a month would net a performer $5500 or so, a person can live on that comfortably in LA. SF would be a problem with rents above $3K a month, maybe Kink and Intersec would need to pay more being located in SF/Oakland (currently Intersec pays $1200 plus a scene to the performer, Kink is between $800 and $1400 to females IIRC). To salaried performers such as Lorelei Lee, Darling and Rain DeGrey that mainly work for one company that would be at least $90K annually (you can bet your ass that Lorelei as a director at Kink makes much more, Rain as an editor and rigger at Intersec probably makes more as well).
@mharris
Wtf is your point? You post some pie in the sky bullshit business plan totally ignore the chance to offer clarity posting unrelated rambling nonsense about no studies yet pop out 5% like you know what the fuck you’re saying.
In your bullshit business plan you were applying your arbitrary $750 to other companies as well as your imaginary ideal…after a week you come back with bullshit crap about OSHA…fornication laws and Christians are the devil crap. guess we should be glad your reference this week is your dad vs Nina Hartley?
Seriously responding after a week then adding a PS I should have said….WTF is your point?
you’re putting this out there like you’re all heart complaining how unfair it is that some companies are paying full freight picking up the tab for others….
Most performers would read that and think if not say FUCK YOU !!!! and the scholarly loafers your genius brain pranced over to the keyboard in….WE’VE BEEN PAYING FULL FREIGHT FOR DEADBEAT COMPANIES FROM DAY ONE!
While you and your dad are reminiscing over the hey days of both of your steady paychecks and bitching over your retirement benefits here’s some food for thought if your addled brain is capable….
Performers don’t care about your imaginary company or bullshit ideals you want to pass onto smaller companies who can carry the load of your arbitrary scene fees…they have real shit to worry about like making a choice to eat, pay rent, or fork out money for a test so they can work hoping the producer thought to pack a lunch for them too. Too many performers hear about ACA and blow it off cuz they can’t afford the subsidized premiums and why bother cuz it won’t cover 2x or even once monthly testing.
As for anyone else…if they have 1/4 of the brain power you ascribed to HopSing they know you’re just spewing pie in the sky bullshit that has no basis in reality. If you were discussing a real business plan you’d be talking about the costs to you vs how much a performer will net of they book 8 or 9 scenes with other companies in any given month.
BTW…”Lorelei as a director” salary has not one fucking iota of relevance to your imaginary business plan to pay performers $750 a scene.
Not a bad idea to pick a week in say late May and late November to head into the busy summer & slower winter when less production happens …which means less testing with less GC/CT floating around.
You didn’t specify but I’m assuming the fundraisers would be to cover anatomical swabbing, treatment and post treatment testing as the additional testing? Would you also include a filming hiatus to head off performers who might use antibiotics as a test prophylactic assuming they’re good to go either way?
Apac says that they are an independent body that is not controlled or influenced by any outside influences. A coalition by the performers for the performers.. Bull cough cough shit!!!
Apac is a joke. A scam. A bunch of con artists. It’s a do nothing organization that solicits donations. Where those donations go nobody knows.. Perhaps Nina hartley’s bank account.. That flip flopper goes where the money flows. She has no credibility..
Let’s see..APAC was formed over a year ago by the FSC ..ummm …I mean by stoya, Asa akira and James Deen who are FSC puppets..particularly deen who is diane dukes number one stooge. He doesn’t miss an opportunity to tow the industry bullshit! So are they the ones really pulling the strings at APAC? Is the FSC the real leader of this organization?
This so called performer advocacy group has done nothing to help the performers. Zip! They do nothing but spew the same exact bullshit the leaders of the industry and mharris127 spews….condoms are bad! š They cause condom burn! š No onset transmission of HIV in 10 years! š It’s not what the performers do onset its what they do offset! š Testing works! š Blah blah blah…
And according to this interview Chanel Preston and Connor habib did for playboy….
http://www.playboy.com/articles/apac-organizes-porn
APAC has big plans! Demanding Condoms? Nope. To help the performers so they can stop being taken advantage of by the powers that be? Nope. To improve the testing system? Nope. To create more “educational videos” most of which will be focused on one topic… Lying to the public? Umm, I mean, from “what to bring to set” to “understanding your sexual health”YES! Bingo! Ding ding ding!!! And “like the lol porn 101 video these videos will also be made available to the general public in hopes that they will be stupid enough to believe the bullshit and lies we spew”..Um I mean “they will be made available to the general public with hopes of dispelling myths about porn and humanizing performers and making the industry more open.”Great! I Can’t wait! Thank god these videos will be made available to the public! We in the general public THANK YOU! Let the LOL countdown begin! š
Anyway, Judging from this interview, I have come to the conclusion that APAC’S real goal is NOT helping the performers but lying and spreading more bs and propaganda to the General public about what really goes on in the industry in hopes that people will be stupid enough to believe what they say and support them…(they’re not) .. That they care about their health and safety and AHF/michael Weinstein is a big bully picking on these poor innocent victims and wasting tax payers money trying to get someone to enforce the law…when there is no problem. Our testing works! We care! Lol Oh, and they are also hoping that they can con some new naive suckers into joining the industry.
My comment about Lorelei Lee was to attempt to explain that I knew she was not hurting for money even though I used her as an example of an example of a salaried performer in porn. That comment needed to be made to show that I know not all performers are paid per-scene whether it be a contract with Wicked (Stormy Daniels is an example) or a primary job as a director or rigger (Lorelei Lee, Rain DeGrey).
Sorry if I am liberal about certain social causes like a fair wage. I wasn’t raised rich (my upbringing was more middle-class), I actually had to learn the value of a dollar growing up and carry those attitudes with me even today. I know not every company is flush with money but (especially with the ACA which I do support in general although a British-style Medicare plan funded by a 10% increase in the corporate and personal income tax would have been better for both employers and employees and wouild be cheaper than the ACA/employer-provided hybrid medical insurance system we have now) my tax dollars (I have paid and continue to pay more in taxes yearly than most porn performers make even in my retirement) currently subsidize second-tier performers (those working for $500 a scene gross as a 1099 contractor — probably $300 net with the double FICA tax on “self-employed” business people, some likely work only six or seven scenes a month if that, do the math on that one) medical insurance now, probably food stamps and subsidized housing as well for some because of the low pay rate of second-tier companies and the lack of scenes for certain sectors of the biz. Therefore I feel I have a right to have an opinion regarding this issue. My attitude is if these companies can’t pay a living wage to their performers then they need to find another business to be in. My proposed minimum is higher because of the high cost of living in CA. With the lower cost of living in other areas I can understand a slightly lower per-scene rate in other areas of the country (including Mike’s home base in GA and FL, especially considering his performers for the most part don’t live in high-cost CA — I would have to see prices of food, rent/mortgage, car insurance, etc. to say how much of a reduction is appropriate but for comparison in northern MI last I checked living costs are about 25% lower than Los Angeles, CA). As the marginal companies go out of business other companies that can afford to pay a living wage will produce more to fill in the gap left in the biz (now that they can make a profit doing so), hiring more performers at a wage they can truly live on. We lose a few performers (probably the ones that look like shit with jailhouse tattoos on their tits and chest) completely in the shuffle which is unfortunate but hopefully they can find other employment, my educated guess (from studies over the years on the effect of a minimum wage hike) is that roughly 90% of performers would be better off under this scenario. I purposely leave out escorting because it is a felony in most states, if it were legal and regulated maybe my opinion would change. For the record I am a supporter of the $15 per hour minimum wage as well, maybe even $18 in high-cost CA in general and $20 or more in SF/Oakland/Marin where rents and utilities combined are over $3K a month for a two-bedroom apartment, have a roommate and you are still at $1500 a month per person for a SF/Marin apartment — maybe this explains my mindset more clearly.
Finally, please don’t feel sorry for me (your remark about my reminicing about my steady paycheck is telling in this regard). I have some health issues and retired at 59 because of them but I will do fine. I receive regular pension and Social Security income as well as have savings and investments, I have retiree health insurance to supplement Medicare through a former job. Smart planning when you are young really does help a person when retirement time comes around. People snickered at me when I lived below my means during my working years, living in modest houses and driving my cars (with needed maintenance) until the wheels just about fell off while working but they aren’t laughing now that they are living paycheck to paycheck. For example my father was shocked when I handed him a substantial amount of cash and sent him to the auto auction to buy another car a few years ago (the old one’s body was literally falling apart from rust, I don’t drive so may as well allow him to pick out what he will be driving — yes he still drives and hasn’t had an accident in decades). Most people my age today end up financing their cars and scrimping to make the payments.
I hope this lays the issue of APAC and performer pay in porn to rest for a while. I attempt to think my posts through but I have to edit them for length, if I explained every little thing each of my posts would take up two typewritten pages and overload Mike’s server. This makes it difficult for me to explain complicated issues on this blog, leading Lurk to believe that I am an idiot. Each post like this one that I write takes me an hour or more to compose.
Lurk, where do you come up with 43% for women on Truvada. I may be misunderstanding your comment but I would think less than 1% of sexually active single women are on PrEP or PEP as of November 2014. Even Peter Acworth hasn’t come up with that kind of figure and he is pushing Truvada as a panacea. I know I am a man but PrEP is applicable to men as well and my doc hasn’t offered it to me, she knows I am single and occasionally sexually active. If it hasn’t been offered to me with insurance coverage I doubt it has been offered to many in her practice (my area’s doctor office is a federally subsidized operation mainly serving the poor population in the area which consists of a small wealthier population on the outskirts where I live and a large poor population on Medicaid in the center and the other side of the county, I could take you to some areas where houses are literally falling apart and supposedly some even have dirt floors –we have even come across poor people unable to afford housing living in tents in the national parks in the spring and summer — that part of the county is that poor).
@mharris
43% represents the number of women identified as a percentage Truvada users….based on a total number of 2300. Dismissing your rambling bullshit….I’ll make the point you obviously missed
Your sources like to use bullshit data when they aren’t relying on speculative anecdotal opinions as fact.
@mharris
At this point I doubt anyone is reading this crazy ass exchange…since I need a break from serious data crunching …here goes.
“I hope this lays the issue of APAC and performer pay in porn to rest for a while.”
Seems safe to say I’m not the only one to hope you’ll put it to a rest permanently.
“I attempt to think my posts through but I have to edit them for length”
That’s even more scary than idea that your plucking this shit from your ass. Easiest way to edit for length is cutting all unrelated and personal crap.
“This makes it difficult for me to explain complicated issues on this blog, leading Lurk to believe that I am an idiot.”
I think your an idiot because you spew crap without a basis in reality. The plan you laid out in this post made as much sense as the one you presented for porn taking over a ghost town in Nevada.
“Each post like this one that I write takes me an hour or more to compose.”
Please don’t waste anymore time trying to convince me you aren’t an intellectual idiot. The best way to show you aren’t an idiot is to respond on point to relevant questions…IG if WC was included, net or gross etc when you lay out a plan instead of rambling nonsense that never clarifies the plan.
Doesn’t matter how much you try to justify why you speculated about a directors personal income…it had no relevance to performer income or the imaginary pay scale you presented. If your deluded business plan included maintaining one or more salaried performers it still wouldn’t be relevant to use directors or riggers income to present a performers expected income under your plan.
Mharris..you’re not liberal you’re deluded hence references to drinking kool-aid or medication issues made by numerous commenters.
I’ll leave it up to performers and companies who may or may not be flush with cash to decide if 750 gross is a fair if performer is paid as an employee with their test covered, WC, and tax withholding etc.
Your ramble into ACA has no bearing on the plan you laid out nor does it respond to my comment that performers have higher priorities than ACA they can’t afford.
“Therefore I feel I have a right to have an opinion regarding this issue.”
It’s idiocy to use your tax burden to justify opinions or comments on MikeSouth as he let’s folks spew opinions without cost.
“My attitude is if these companies canāt pay a living wage to their performers then they need to find another business to be in.”
If performers worked for only one company ‘a living wage’ would be relevant. Reality is performers work for many companies and rely on a ‘fair scene rate’ to pursue a living vs an hourly or regular ‘living wage.’
Performers also travel nationwide and internationally for scene opportunities which throws your assumption of regional living costs out the window, ignoring the affect of travel expenses.
Your ramble about losing marginal companies has no bearing on the plan you laid out. Seems more realistic to offer your hope and well wishes for work to drugged out no shows regardless of beauty or pristine titties vs ugly jailhouse tattooed girls who show up and do their job in a professional manner.
“my educated guess (from studies over the years on the effect of a minimum wage hike) is that roughly 90% of performers would be better off under this scenario.”
There ya go again throwing stats out like you know what the fuck you’re saying. Minimum wage studies relate only to hourly wage workers. Let me know if you find any ‘adjusted prevailing wage’ studies for porn performers.
“I purposely leave out escorting because it is a felony in most states, if it were legal and regulated maybe my opinion would change.”
Now here’s some serious idiocy! You rant about your taxes subsidizing benefits for second tier performers and advocate companies paying a higher wage and 10% to stuff but ignore that escorts have no legit reported income which entitles them to even more subsidized benefits, not to mention the costs associated with policing, courts and jail that your taxes are paying for too?
Once again hourly wages have not one fucking iota of relevance to performers or the plan you laid out.
“Finally, please donāt feel sorry for me (your remark about my reminicing about my steady paycheck is telling in this regard).”
So not feeling sorry for you! Your experience with a regular paycheck has no point of reference to performers (or any other small business owners) struggle to make a living. Your ramble of how well you planned and lived below your means makes it obvious you missed that point.
It’s idiocy to not see the contradiction of laying out your advantages as somehow relevant to performers struggling to just get contracted scenes or maintain status as a second tier performer with the dream of someday becoming top tier…meanwhile they struggle to find the means for their most basic needs dreaming of day when they can simply live within their means. Should I mention how your benefits are affected by all the Medicaid and SSI performers are forced to rely on as a ‘smart planning’ move to avoid tricking from a tent when they’re 59?
“Most people my age today end up financing their cars and scrimping to make the payments.”
More idiocy and has no relevance to plan you laid out or performers struggling to find their next meal!
I hope this puts a rest to mharris spewing irrelevant crap from his ass!
@lurkingreader: LOL! Great response! š
@mharris: LOL! Better check your meds. I think you may be having an adverse reaction again. š
The porn industry testing system does work, It shows exactly how rampant stds are in the industry, and that is why Dianne Duke will always say we test so frequently, but she will NEVER reveal the results of those tests. PS,,can’t wait for that statute of limitations to expire this March regarding those ‘certain things’ that were done a few years ago.