Hey guess what–Playboy and Penthouse aren’t pornographic, at least according to the military:
“U.S. Rep. Paul Broun, R-Ga., has introduced legislation that would close a loophole in the current law that allows the sale of some sexually explicit material on military bases by lowering the threshold required to deem material “sexually explicit.”
A Department of Defense committee that reviews materials sold on bases ruled last year that magazines such as Playboy and Penthouse are not pornographic. But Broun’s Military Honor and Decency Act includes language that could make those magazines eligible for the ban.”
Not surprisingly, some of the guys in the military aren’t too pleased:”
“”We all read ‘em,” said Pfc. Paul Rubio, 31, of Bakersfield, Calif. “There are times we just read ‘em for the technological parts like the new gadgets that come out. They have good stories sometimes too.”
“Pfc. Greg Smith, 21, of Northboro, Mass., a regular Playboy reader, said soldiers should be allowed to buy nudie magazines at the exchange.
“Playboy is good entertainment while you are on the can. They have jokes and good stories,” he said.”
Seriously.
“Broun, a Marine veteran, told Newsweek recently that the magazines sold in military exchanges are partly responsible for a rise in sexual assaults in the military and other problems.
“Allowing the sale of pornography on military bases has harmed military men and women by: escalating the number of violent, sexual crimes; feeding a base addiction; eroding the family as the primary building block of society; and denigrating the moral standing of our troops both here and abroad,” Broun says on his Web site.”
And here’s some interesting numbers:
“Army and Air Force Exchange service public relations manager Judd Anstey said AAFES sold $231,000 worth of Penthouse, Playboy and Playgirl magazines in Europe last year.
“Sales of these three titles account for 2.7 percent of total European magazine sales ($8.5 million) at AAFES facilities,” he said.
The sales accounted for 0.5 percent of worldwide AAFES magazine sales of $46.4
million, he said.”
That’s your tax dollars at work, folks.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.