Propaganda

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YES!

Dog meat off the menu during Beijing Olympics
Friday, July 11, 2008

(07-11) 08:17 PDT BEIJING, China (AP) -

Canine cuisine is being sent to the doghouse during next month’s Beijing Olympic Games.

Dog meat has been struck from the menus of officially designated Olympic restaurants, and Beijing tourism officials are telling other outlets to discourage consumers from ordering dishes made from dogs, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Friday.
Waiters and waitresses should “patiently” suggest other options to diners who order dog, it said, quoting city tourism bureau Vice Director Xiong Yumei.
Dog, known in Chinese as “xiangrou,” or “fragrant meat,” is eaten by some Chinese for its purported health-giving qualities.
Beijing isn’t the first Olympic host to slap a ban on the dish.
South Korea banned dog meat during the 1988 Seoul Olympics by invoking a law prohibiting the sale of “foods deemed unsightly.” After the Olympics, the ban was not strictly enforced.
Dog meat is also eaten in some other Asian countries, including Vietnam, the Philippines and Laos.

DOG FOREST EXPRESSES APPROVAL OF THIS AND CALLS FOR MORE RIGHTS FOR DOGS…..

NORTH AMERICAN SOCIETY AND CULTURE WILL TAKE ANOTHER DIRECT HIT. HIGH SCHOOL SPORT, PUT SIMPLY, COMPRISES THE MAJOR REASON WHY MANY YOUNG PEOPLE STAY IN SCHOOL, APPLY THEMSELVES TO MEET REQUIREMENTS FOR ELIGIBILITY, LEARN ABOUT LOSING AND WINNING, ETC. ETC. ETC.

IF HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS GO, THE U.S. AND CANADA SHOULD BE ASHAMED. NO, THE TWO COUNTRIES SHOULD BE ASHAMED ALREADY FOR GETTING THIS CLOSE……

SO MUCH MONEY IN UNIVERSITY AND PRO SPORTS, SO LITTLE ON THE HIGH SCHOOL FRONT….

CHECK THIS OUT FROM SPORTS ILLUSTRATED…..

School sports programs fight to stay alive in struggling economy

Story Highlights
A stagnant economy has forced school districts to rethink sports funding
The surest way to keep sports afloat is to raise money to directly fund athletics
Some schools are cutting varsity programs altogether to save money

Mount Vernon (N.Y.) High boys’ basketball coach Bob Cimmino has his work cut out for him raising funds to support the school’s athletic programs.
AP
Forget the wins, which hit 300 in February. Forget the four New York state public school titles in eight years. Of all the statistics Mount Vernon (N.Y.) boys’ basketball coach Bob Cimmino keeps, he cherishes one the most. He’s 82 for 85. In his time as the Knights’ varsity coach, all but three of his players have gone on to college. Cimmino, a social studies teacher who counts Chicago Bulls star Ben Gordon as a program alum, considers sports a critical part of any high school’s curriculum.

The Mount Vernon school board disagrees. Two weeks ago, the board eliminated funding for high school sports after a school budget tax levy failed for a second time, forcing the district to draft a $187.4 million austerity budget that also required the elimination of 115 jobs — 51 of them teaching positions. The decision left Cimmino, Knights football coach Ric Wright and the rest of Mount Vernon’s coaches scrambling to raise the $950,000 required to fund the athletic program for the 2008-09 school year. If they can’t raise at least $300,000 by August, the coaches said, Mount Vernon’s fields and courts could be empty for a long time. Cimmino, a Mount Vernon native, doesn’t want to imagine that possibility. “It’ll be a devastating thing,” he said.

More than 3,000 miles away in Alameda, Calif., coaches and athletes at Alameda and Encinal high schools received the same dire news in March. California’s budget crunch had forced the Alameda school district to cut sports, music programs and Advanced Placement classes to the bone. But students at both high schools — aware that the school district receives funding based on attendance — demonstrated their might by walking out of class en masse. The attention garnered by the walkout probably saved the sports program; last month, a $120 parcel tax passed by the slimmest of margins and saved funding for sports.

The situations in Mount Vernon and Alameda aren’t isolated. Throughout the country, inflation, rising gas prices and a stagnant economy have forced school districts to rethink how they fund sports. Some have instituted or raised “user fees” that charge parents for their children to play. Some, such as Mount Vernon, have ordered schools to seek private funding. Meanwhile, others have started down a slippery slope of small cuts that can only lead to more drastic ones. If recent events are any indication, school-sponsored sports may soon be only a memory.

“The way everything is going, it could be a completely different landscape in a few years,” said Jay Stewart, the athletic director at Florida’s St. Lucie County. “High school athletics are in danger.”

Last month, Stewart banned his football coaches from traveling more than 75 miles to an away game. He also said that after this year’s contracts expire, schools must slice their regular-season football schedules to nine games. Other sports already had cut their seasons, but the idea of football cutting its schedule would have seemed heretical a few years ago. Stewart worries that soon, schools in Florida will have to seriously consider cutting junior varsity sports. Without that feeder system, Stewart said, varsity sports could find themselves on the chopping block as well.

Florida’s troubles aren’t difficult to trace. High gas prices have forced would-be tourists to stay home. Without those tourists, the state doesn’t collect as much sales-tax revenue (Florida has no state income tax). With less revenue, the state has less available to give to school districts. Despite that, districts still must adhere to a state constitution amendment, passed by voters in 2003, that limits class size. With most of the money earmarked for the classroom, districts have struggled to pay for helmets, for volleyball nets or for gas to fill buses for away game trips. “It’s the perfect storm,” Stewart said. “It’s the class-size amendment. It’s the reduction in funding. It’s the bad economy. All that hit at the same time.”

Posted: Friday July 11, 2008 11:05AM; Updated: Friday July 11, 2008 12:29PM
Andy Staples >
INSIDE HIGH SCHOOL

School sports programs fight to stay alive in struggling economy

Chicago Bulls guard Ben Gordon doesn’t know where he would have been if he didn’t play sports at Mt. Vernon High.
Getty Images
Hidden costs

Wright, the Mt. Vernon football coach, shudders to think about what might happen if he can’t raise enough money for his team to play this season. “Football really is the key to everyone else playing,” Wright said. “If football doesn’t play, nobody plays.” And if no one plays, Wright isn’t sure what’s left for those students to do after school. “It’s a tough town,” Wright said. “Sports are the alternative.”

Mount Vernon is a four-square-mile city in Westchester County bordered by the Bronx to the south, Yonkers to the west and New Rochelle to the east. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Mount Vernon is, economically speaking, an average New York town. The median household income is $41,128, while the state average is $43,393. In Mount Vernon, 14.2 percent of the population lives below the poverty line, compared to 14.6 percent throughout the state. According to the FBI, however, Mount Vernon has a higher violent crime rate than its neighbors. In 2005, the FBI counted 431.9 robberies per 100,000 people in Mount Vernon compared to 199.2 per 100,000 in the New York City metro area. Aggravated assaults (329.8 to 239.8) and gun assaults (54 to 17.6) also were more frequent in Mount Vernon than in New York City.

Mount Vernon Mayor Clinton Young knows the statistics. He also knows from experience how to avoid becoming one. Young’s prowess on the track and in the classroom at Mount Vernon High helped pay his way to Morehouse College. Young, who has no say in how the school district allocates its funds, believes his office now must pick up the slack. He worries that if the athletic department can’t raise the money, he’ll have to pump more money into the police department and youth services. “These kind of programs teach these kids character,” Young said. “They teach them to have self respect. And, just very bluntly, if we don’t have sports, some of these kids are not going to school.”

So to avoid throwing a significant portion of the town’s high school population onto the street at 3:10 every afternoon, Young has launched the Save Our Sports program to help solicit private donations. Last month, the Bulls’ Gordon traveled to Mount Vernon on a day’s notice to help drum up support for the program. “I don’t know where I’d be,” Gordon said at a press conference to introduce the program, “without the support created by the Mount Vernon sports program… It kept us all off the streets.”

In Grand Meadow, Minn., Grand Meadow High assistant wrestling coach Jim Richardson shares Young’s belief that money not spent on sports eventually will be spent on law enforcement. Richardson has a unique perspective; he’s also Grand Meadow’s police chief. “I’d rather deal with them on the field or in the gym,” Richardson said, “than at 2 a.m. in a cornfield.” Recent budget cuts forced Grand Meadow to eliminate baseball, softball and golf. Richardson worries the cuts eventually will cost more than they save. “In America, it’s all about investing,” he said. “What do you want to invest in?”

Cutting sports also can turn a school into a ghost town. In March, California’s Alameda Unified School District faced a mass exodus of athletes and honor students to other schools when the district decided to chop funding for sports and Advanced Placement classes. So the students decided to stage a mass exodus of their own to prove how valuable those programs were.

At California’s Encinal High, which produced Willie Stargell, Dontrelle Willis and Jimmy Rollins, quarterback/safety/right fielder Jonathan Brown joined other student leaders in organizing a peaceful walkout that brought the district’s two high schools to their knees for a day. Brown, the son of a police captain who is drawing football interest from Colorado and the Air Force Academy, said the students had to show the community how much the programs meant.

“We waited for everybody to get to school,” Brown said. “At second period, everybody walked to the front of the school. A few people had bullhorns, saying we were going to walk all the way to the administrative offices to see the superintendent. That’s on the other side of town, so it was a long walk.”

Superintendent Ardella Dailey met with the students and explained that for the district to fund the programs, voters would have to pass Measure H, a $120 tax hike paid by each property owner. For the next two months, students rallied to support the measure, but when the polls closed June 3, it appeared the measure had fallen just short of the two-thirds majority needed to pass it. But over the next few days, as the absentee ballots came in, the pendulum swung. The measure passed by 34 votes.

“Luckily it did,” Brown said. “Because if it didn’t pass, a lot of people were going to be leaving.”

Posted: Friday July 11, 2008 11:05AM; Updated: Friday July 11, 2008 12:29PM
Andy Staples >
INSIDE HIGH SCHOOL

School sports programs fight to stay alive in struggling economy

Alameda (Calif.) squares off against Encinal during last season?s Island Bowl. In March, students from both schools walked out of class to protest budget cuts that would have eliminated funding for sports.
Ed Jay
Pay to play

As money grows tighter for taxpayers across the nation, levies such as Measure H aren’t going to save sports funding everywhere. To make matters worse, some districts have placed athletics on the sacrificial altar so many times in order to ram through a tax increase or to squeeze out additional funding, voters have begun to consider it an empty threat.

School sports turned into a political football earlier this year in Manchester, N.H. In April, athletic director Dave Gosselin warned that the district might not be able to find funding for athletics in the $140 million budget proposed by Mayor Frank Guinta. The mayor argued that if the district used the money more efficiently, it could afford to fund sports. In an interview with the Union-Leader, one of Guinta’s predecessors, a veteran of an earlier budget crunch, agreed.

“This is an exercise designed to whip the parents into a frenzy,” former mayor Raymond Wiezorek told the paper. “It wouldn’t occur to them to ever take a good look to see if there’s another way to do things that might cost a little less. … (Government) never makes the adjustments that a private business has to make to survive. In government, how do I survive? I send people a larger tax bill. I don’t ever have to worry about changing anything.”

In May, Manchester’s school board approved a budget that would continue to fund athletics. But without additional tax dollars, what is a cash-strapped district to do? Bob Kanaby, the director of the National Federation of High School Associations, said schools in nearly 40 states charge students to play sports.

As the economy has faltered, those user fees have risen in many districts. Last September, The Boston Globe reported that 27 schools in metro Boston charged students to play sports. Fees ranged from $75 per sport at North Middlesex Regional in Townsend, Mass., to $250 a sport with a $1,000 per family cap at Stoneham High, where a new garbage collection fee — on top of the user fees — saved sports in 2007. In Brainerd, Minn., parents and coaches formed a foundation to fund Brainerd High’s sports programs after the district eliminated funding. In spite of their efforts, parents will have to fork over $380 a child in activity fees this school year. In Lakeville, Minn., a Twin Cities suburb, a failed tax levy forced a mid-year activity-fee hike from $90 to $230. Lakeville North High athletic director Byron Olson said the increase didn’t affect team sports this past spring, but it did curb participation in individual sports such as track and tennis.

Olson worries that districts are pricing low-income families out of sports. Unlike other schools that charge user fees, Lakeville North has yet to raise enough money to create a fund that would allow poor students to have their fees waived. Olson fears the disparity will make an already obvious class system even worse. He also worries that some students may never try new sports because their parents aren’t willing to spend the money.

“We’re going to lose some students because they can’t afford it,” Olson said. “It goes against everything that we stand for.”

User fees also introduce other issues. For instance, parents grow more frustrated when their child sits the bench. Didn’t they pay so she could play? Also, coaches and school athletic directors turn into glorified accounts receivable clerks. They must track down every check and manage mountains of extra paperwork.

For these reasons, schools in much of the country have fought user fees, either by raising money to cover shortfalls or by convincing local governments to provide enough to keep them running. But when the money evaporates, some schools have no choice. The coaches at Mount Vernon in New York never wanted their athletes to have to pay. Now, they must consider the possibility. “It’s on the table,” Cimmino said.

Potential solutions

The surest way to keep school sports afloat is to raise money that can directly fund athletic programs. Anyone who has ever eaten at a crab boil or had their car washed by a high school softball team knows most high school coaches are master fundraisers. But can they raise six- and seven-figure sums if they must forge ahead without public funding?

Wright, the Mount Vernon football coach, hopes he can. He has secured a $25,000 donation from filmmaker Jeff Cooney, a former Mount Vernon resident who previously had spent that amount every year to provide academic coaches for the football team through the National Football Foundation’s Play it Smart program. The academic coaches have volunteered to work for free this year so Cooney could repurpose his donation.

Still, Wright knows he needs more than a few big donors. He’ll take anything he can get to help Mount Vernon’s teams play this year. He suggests that if 5,000 people gave up one night at the theater, the school could fund the entire sports program into the winter. Raising money for this year is the first challenge. Keeping the programs funded is another story entirely.

In Texas, where education funding has not risen with the level of inflation for three years, Plano athletic director Gerald Brence runs what might be as close to a recession-proof program as possible. Brence hopes that in a few years, his department can take in enough revenue in ticket sales to fund itself. He said that if home football games for his district’s three high schools can draw between 8,000 and 10,000 fans, the district should come close to breaking even. That way, he said, the district could continue to provide the necessities — fields, equipment, transportation, officials — while leaving any extras to school booster clubs. “If they want to run through a giant, inflatable helmet,” Brence said, “that’s something the booster club would have to provide.”

Of course, not all communities are as affluent or sports-crazy as Plano. In other areas, districts may have to raise private funds for endowments or find more creative ways to get public funding. One potential solution is a tax-credit program. At Red Rock High in Sedona, Ariz., parents must pay a participation fee ($400 per family maximum) for their children to play sports. But those who pay the fee are eligible to receive a credit on their state income tax return. So they pay the same tax bill they normally would, but those dollars get earmarked for a program those taxpayers consider vital to their community.

At Mount Vernon, coaches and civic leaders will examine every option. The coaches already have offered to work for free, and they’ll spend most of their free time fundraising to save the athletic program. Though the odds are against them, Cimmino, Wright and the other Mount Vernon coaches believe they can beat the buzzer and play this season.

“I promise,” Cimmino said, “I’ll have a big smile on my face in August watching coach Ric yell at his players.”

For information about Mount Vernon’s Save Our Sports program, call (914) 665-2351.

ENGLISH TEACHERS TAKE HEART, THINGS COULD BE, AND ARE, WORSE….
SOME SIMILES, METAPHORS, ANALOGIES FOR THE AGES….

1. Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides
gently compressed by a Thigh Master.

2. His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like
underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.

3. He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a
guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those
boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at
high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of
those boxes with a pinhole in it.

4. She grew on him like she was a colony of E. Coli, and he was
room-temperature Canadian beef.

5. She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes
just before it throws up.

6. Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.

7. He was as tall as a six-foot, three-inch tree.

8. The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because
of his wife’s infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a
formerly surcharge-free ATM machine

9. The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a
bowling ball wouldn’t.

10. McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag
filled with vegetable soup.

11. From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an
eerie, surreal quality, like when you’re on vacation in
another city and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. Instead of 7:30.

12. Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze.

13. The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when
you fry them in hot grease.

14. Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across
the grassy field toward each other like two freight
trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph,
the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.

15. They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket fences
that resembled Nancy Kerrigan’s teeth.

16. John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who
had also never met.

17. He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant, and she was
the East River.

18. Even in his last years, Granddad had a mind like a steel trap,
only one that had been left out so long, it had rusted shut.

19. Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do.

20. The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil,
this plan just might work.

21. The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not
eating for a while.

22. He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either,
but a real duck that was actually lame, maybe from
stepping on a land mine or something.

23. The ballerina rose gracefully en Pointe and extended one slender
leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.

24. It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around
with power tools.

25. He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells,
as if she were a garbage truck backing up

FROM CNN ……….

July 10, 2008
McCain avoids Viagra question
Posted: 12:19 PM ET

From CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

(CNN) – John McCain is known for his frequent chats with reporters and his willingness to discuss nearly any issue.

But at least one is off-limits, the Republican presidential nominee suggested Wednesday: Viagra.

“I certainly do not want to discuss that issue,” the Arizona senator said aboard his “Straight Talk Express” bus in Ohio when asked about his views on health insurance covering the medication.

But the off-message topic was raised from a member of McCain’s own team: national co-chairwoman Carly Fiorina, who had said earlier women often express frustration over the fact many health insurance plans cover Viagra but not birth control medication.

“Let me give you a real, live example, which I’ve been hearing a lot about from women. There are many health insurance plans that will cover Viagra but won’t cover birth control medication. Those women would like a choice,” she said Monday.

A McCain spokesman later said the Arizona senator supported competition in the healthcare industry, presumably allowing women to nix policies that cover Viagra but not their specific needs.

Election Center: Where McCain stands on healthcare

McCain has voted against Senate measures that sought to require insurance companies to cover birth control medication.

The exchange also followed a town-hall event during which McCain touched upon the abortion issue, a matter that traditionally hasn’t animated him on the stump.

After praising President Bush’s efforts to expand faith-based programs, McCain pivoted: “I also think that we should do everything that we can, and one of those in my view is respect for human life both born and the unborn.”

The comments led to a standing ovation — his first at that event.

Filed under: John McCain

90 Comments | Permalink

Alanna July 10th, 2008 10:47 am ET
He doesn’t care about women.

Also he can’t rememeber his own voting record.

Cathy July 10th, 2008 10:48 am ET
Another reason why Clinton supporters, especially the women, should think twice about voting for McCain. McCain has a history of not caring about women issues or equality of women and men.

Linda from Prescott AZ July 10th, 2008 10:48 am ET
Why so touchy about Viagra?

New Day July 10th, 2008 10:50 am ET
Wow, glad we moved on to important topics such as Sen. McCain’s penis. Thanks for the mental image, CNN.

Isaac July 10th, 2008 10:51 am ET
I have an idea, McCain is so keen on being the straight talker, he should go sit in a town hall & answer all question people have not just from reporters who tend to sensor their questions so they can hitch a ride with him.

Straight talk my foot.

Peter July 10th, 2008 10:51 am ET
Very deft Sen. McCain, when asked about a question that impacts a substantial number of women… you essentially say “no comment.”

More importantly, you campaign against abortion, and yet do not support the single most effective way to prevent abortion (birth control). Nice.

theKing July 10th, 2008 10:51 am ET
Viva….., Viagra!!

Don July 10th, 2008 10:52 am ET
He does not want his supply cut off.

Robert July 10th, 2008 10:54 am ET
Good old McCain - running true to form. There are lots of questions he avoids answering. Just ask the Vietnam Vet who questioned his voting record at his townhall meeting this week.

R.I.F. July 10th, 2008 10:54 am ET
The headline here is the Carly has constantly lied on the campaign trail and the media says nothing about it. I’ve been screeming about this for the past twp weeks and just today two newspapers actually decided to finally call her on it. Let’s see if it get’s some national tv attention. I doubt it since you guys are McCain’s base.

Robert in Seattle July 10th, 2008 10:54 am ET
Respect for human life, exept US soldiers, Iraqi’s and don’t forget to Bomb Iran and send them Cigarettes to kill them.

What a vile man you are Mcshame

The Truth July 10th, 2008 10:55 am ET
He probably has a wing of Viaga named after him.

He would be a great spokesperson for Viagra.

HC July 10th, 2008 10:56 am ET
That’s private!!! And nobody wants to know that detaill anyway.

randy July 10th, 2008 10:56 am ET
Funny because he use viagra lol.

Swift July 10th, 2008 10:57 am ET
McFlacid needs viagra? Seems he hates women so much that I wonder what he uses it for?

Well, he couldn’t keep his jet UP in the war, his 2000 campaign was a FLOP, his support of Bush’s economic policies made our economy IMPOTENT, his support of Bush’s war has made our Military STERILE to defend the nation…on and on

Seems McShame needs more than viagra- he needs a clue.

Johnny Mac is bad cheese gone worse July 10th, 2008 10:57 am ET
Doesn’t he avoid or deflect every question? Or at best, give an incoherent or completely off-the-subject with little substance answer?

jen July 10th, 2008 10:58 am ET
CNN the issue was birth control not viagra. Here is your guy PUMAS if you want womens rights to return to the dark ages. He also lies, for example now stating he supported the new GI Bill which he didn’t. Of course CNN is still to obbsessed with Hillary to ever report that….

Melissa July 10th, 2008 10:59 am ET
So….let’s give out medication that can cause more unwanted pregnancies…but not cover medication that will help prevent unwanted pregnancies. yeah…that makes sense. McCain’s voting record has always been against women, period. So why should women vote for him?

Greg Pottstown, Pa. July 10th, 2008 10:59 am ET
What was the question? The article tells us that he didn’t want to talk about it and goes on to talk about health care plans. Was the question about health care. I bet the question was do you take Viagra .

just more spin from CNN

Janey for McCain July 10th, 2008 11:00 am ET
Good for McCain. We should all take responsibility for our own birth control, which is widely available and safer and cheaper than abortion. There is also the morning after pill. This should be a no-brainer. Abortion, except in rare circumstances is a part of the “dark ages”. Young people are more “savvy” then to take unnecessary risks with lasting mental and physical damage. We did not have a choice in the past. Women in the 21st century do!

Seamus July 10th, 2008 11:00 am ET
So McCain’s surrogates are complaining about policies McCain voted for? This campaign is a disaster. Fiorina ran HP into the ground, why is McCain putting her front and center in his campaign? I guess he needed at least one non-lobbyist, might as well make it a multi-millionaire CEO. By the way, when will the press ask McCain if he agrees with his economic adviser Phil Gramm that there is no recession and Americans are just a “bunch of whiners.”?

Ryan July 10th, 2008 11:00 am ET
Um.. what?!?!

His own co-chairwomen brings up the point that insurance sometimes covers viagra and doesn’t cover birth control is “I don’t want to discuss that issue”???

That is insane.. it wasn’t even really about viagra, the title of the article is very misleading. There is no reason he shouldn’t talk about insurance and birth control.

RGiles July 10th, 2008 11:01 am ET
I just thought I would share something of interest. I have been reading the book WHAT HAPPENED, Inside the Bush White House by Scott McClellan and Scott takes some time to describe how George W Bush regularly convinces himself that lies he tells are true. Scott writes, after he describes one occasion, “I know Bush and I know he genuinely believes what he says” and Scott then goes on to call it “self-deceit”. Now I have a degree in Psychology, have read probably over 50 books on the subject, and have thought for some time that George W Bush vividly displays a sociopathic personality (as I feel Karl Rove and Hillary Clinton do) and, whether Scott McClellan realizes it or not, that is likely what he is describing. The sociopathic personality has no conscience, is totally self-indulgent and will go to great lengths, without ever experiencing any guilt, to achieve what they want. As Martha Stout, in her book THE SOCIOPATH NEXT DOOR, put it “their only goal is to win” and they will go to any length, without ever experiencing any guilt, just to win. They simply think it is their entitlement. She adds that they are quite good at “faking most anything”. It seems to me an interesting confirmation of what I suspected, which then goes a long way to explain things.

Bill July 10th, 2008 11:01 am ET
Support Our Troops and Fetuses!

Janey for McCain July 10th, 2008 11:02 am ET
Good for McCain. We should all take responsibility for our own birth control, which is widely available and safer and cheaper than abortion. There is also the morning after pill. This should be a no-brainer. Abortions are for the dark ages.

Matt in Cleveland July 10th, 2008 11:02 am ET
oh….my….god….

sometimes things are so hilarious they dont really need to be commented on

Sue July 10th, 2008 11:02 am ET
I am sure the Senator McCain has no idea what women have to do to get health care. When we are young it is more expensive because we might get pregnate. When we are older, it’s more expensive due to menopause. Why is it always more expensive for women who make less money, then it is for the men, and, will he work to do anything about either of those issues????? I don’t think so. He has voted against equal pay for equal work and I do not see him caring about any womens rights.

Go Obama

Mike July 10th, 2008 11:03 am ET
Is his Viagra covered?

FLORIDA Voter for Obama July 10th, 2008 11:04 am ET
L.O.L. @ Viagra & McCain

wow

Puma is Operation Chaos, Pt 2 July 10th, 2008 11:04 am ET
Why is McCain avoiding talking about his Viagra issue?

Chris from NY July 10th, 2008 11:05 am ET
He doesn’t want to talk about viagra because it will remind people of his age.

duh July 10th, 2008 11:07 am ET
“the Arizona senator supported competition in the healthcare industry”. People’s health is not something someone should be making profits off of.

Saad from NJ July 10th, 2008 11:07 am ET
First “Obama almost forgets Cliton” and now “this”….. it’s too funny… I love you CNN, you are on a roll… Keep it coming.. we need some lighter stuff in the otherwise so serious, bizarre, and sad political news coming out lately.

ERD in NC July 10th, 2008 11:08 am ET
I think Fiorina was making a good point and I think McCain is a nut, but I am not sure if this story is really newsworthy except for its crudeness

American July 10th, 2008 11:09 am ET
Too funny…of course McWalking Cain uses viagra..lol…

And I hope all 500 members of PUCKA PAC use what limited brain cells they have and see that McFlip Flop will try to take a womens right to choose away for good.

Americans are saying no to McFlip Flop….

OBAMA ‘08!

@HusseinIsAmerican2 July 10th, 2008 11:10 am ET
CNN is sooooooooooo BIASED in their reporting; they will spin the story as a positive for McShame!

I read the whole dialogue on the viagra issue; McSame sounded lost, confused, couldn’t recall how he voted on the issue, paused a long while without any response…sounded like he lost his “bearings” or just like using VIAGRA but not comfortable talking about it!

America knows that McBush no longer have sex with cindy “botox face” mcshame; but if he does, Viagra must come to the rescue.

If McSame veto VIAGRA, just as he promised to veto “BEER”, that will be his last best hope in having sex!!!!!!!!

It will happen July 10th, 2008 11:11 am ET
If McBush is elected, say goodbye to Roe v. Wade ladies. PUMA that.

Wal July 10th, 2008 11:12 am ET
If you call yourself “straight talk” your response shouldn’t be base on calculation.
You should always use your “Principe” to answer question not the calculated position back you took previously to answer present question. We understand that the vote in the senate is not basing on Principe but on lobbies position.
Change is coming…

lather me up July 10th, 2008 11:12 am ET
Don’t most men need it after age 30

hussein July 10th, 2008 11:13 am ET
the only standing ovation was radical,right-wingers, wanting to force everyone else to live by THEIR rules.the reason they will lose is that most americans dont want some americans making personal decisions for them.individual rights to privacy used to be a standard trump card for republicans.those who want to impose their values on everyone else,have taken over the republican party and driven it into the ground,trying to force their views on others through violence,smears and fear of reprisal.they would have fit in well with folks like stalin,hitler,and mussolini.

Linda Carpenter, Phoenix, Arizona July 10th, 2008 11:13 am ET
Pandering to whomever he thinks he might be able to fool. John McCain is against anything that would help working people. He voted against women’s request to have birth control covered but won’t comment on the fact that viagra is covered. He used to support a woman’s right to choose and now panders to those who would destroy the Constitutional rights of women. If its good for weapons manufacturers, corporations, insurance and drug companies, then he is for it. If it s good for American workers, women, immigrants, he is against it.

He is too old and too set in his ways, a misogynist, and a war monger. He wants to kill the Iranians with cigarettes. He seems to enjoy anything that has to do with killing- his so called jokes reveal the sickness he has - a blood thirst and revenge from the Vietnam War.

Carl Justus July 10th, 2008 11:13 am ET
That is because we have dirty old “conservative” men making the rules for our insurance coverage.
When we get the so called “conservatives” and “good ole boys” out of power and get someone who does is trying to increase his power or bank account, we may have a decent government.

Robert NYC & Miami July 10th, 2008 11:14 am ET
How pathetic that he could survive the Vietnamese but cannot survive his base.

Tori, Oregon July 10th, 2008 11:14 am ET
McCain is so anti-female it is funny. So he is prolife but does not support birth control for females so that way we can also stop abortion from happening. What a joke!

Frank July 10th, 2008 11:15 am ET
This is certainly not an issue of national proportion. How about dealing with issues surrounding endless war, escalating debt, federal reserve’s monetary policy, loss of civil liberites (fisa).
Viagra? Is this what the country is losing sleep about every night.
Why no coverage on the Impeachment proceedings??

David, Silver Spring, MD July 10th, 2008 11:15 am ET
So what was the “issue” that McCain didn’t want to discuss? Was it the issue of whether insurance companies that cover Viagra should have to cover birth control? Or was it the issue of whether McCain takes Viagra?

I can understand him not wanting to say whether he uses Viagra, but why would he dodge a question about equity in health insurance coverage?

As it stands, McCain supports insurance companies paying for Viagra but not birth control, and doesn’t support abortion rights. So everything is slanted toward increasing the population regardless of the impact on women.

Vote for that, PUMA!

dlwillson July 10th, 2008 11:15 am ET
How about he and his financial spokesperson Gramm today…

saying the economy issues are “psychological”…and “we have become a nation of whiners”

So my neighbor who just got laid off with 1000’s of co-workers is all “psychological” and his wife and kids are just a “bunch of whiners”.

disgusting.

no more silver spoon frat boys running our government and handling our economy.

woman for Obama July 10th, 2008 11:15 am ET
McCain has voted against many women’s issues in his stay in the Senate. People need to wake up and read the issues and his voting record.

MD FOR OBAMA July 10th, 2008 11:15 am ET
I couldn’t read the article. I was too busy staring in disbelief at how scary and botoxed Cindy looks. Very Scary!

I’ll go back now and read the article.

Mary July 10th, 2008 11:16 am ET
Unbelieveable that a reporter would even ask that question. What age is the reporter - a 20 something who doesn’t realize that people are sexual all their lives? Does the reporter think that if you are over the age of 70 you can’t get it on without help? What a twit - and how out of line to even ask a question like that. If you asked my husband that question, you’d be quickly picking yourself off the floor and nursing a swollen jaw.

Jack Jodell, Minneapolis, MN July 10th, 2008 11:16 am ET
McCain’s “don’t let the government have any say in how insurance companies do business” is the typical laissez faire approach to the economy whill all free traders love and which has tilted this economy against the average working American. But what do you expect from an economic Bush clone who claims he needs to “brush up on the economy”? As far as Viagra goes, McCain’s buddy Joe Lieberman could definitely use some! These two are pathetic.

Charlotte July 10th, 2008 11:16 am ET
Yes, Ms. Forinia, We women would like a choice. Unfortunately your candidate doesn’t think it’s necessary that my health insurance cover birth control. Someone should educate McCain on the fact that many women have to take birth control for other reasons besides preventing pregnancy.

Benjamin July 10th, 2008 11:16 am ET
Uh, that’s not a “Viagra” question. He wasn’t afraid to talk about “Viagra.” That was a birth control question, and he was afraid to talk about birth control. Why are you afraid to write that in the headline, CNN?

JJ July 10th, 2008 11:16 am ET
This shows once again that McCain is not for women’s rights. He doesn’t want to discuss it because he knows if he addresses it, many women will realiize his stance on women’s rights and will turn away from him. If he wants the slogan “Straight Talk”, then he needs to be straight and tell everyone how he really feels.

Eric July 10th, 2008 11:17 am ET
What you should do is mandate sterilization of everyone once they’ve had two kids.

Pat Riot July 10th, 2008 11:18 am ET
Well, erectile disfunction is a medical problem that limits you from using a part of your body. I’m pretty sure that most insurance should provide coverage for Viagra. Birth control isn’t a cure for anything. Getting pregnant is perventable and not typically a medical problem. How do you not understand that?

Woman for Obama July 10th, 2008 11:18 am ET
“McCain has voted against Senate measures that sought to require insurance companies to cover birth control medication.”

Ladies, you all know how much of a pain that the cost of birth control is. DO NOT VOTE FOR MCCAIN!

SAY WHAT!!!!! July 10th, 2008 11:19 am ET
Cnn…McCAIN—-.willingness to discuss nearly any issue.But at least one is off-limits, the Republican presidential nominee suggested Wednesday: Viagra……(EVEN Viagra Can’t help McCain)
McCain has voted against Senate measures that sought to require insurancecompanies to cover birth control medication
McCain——-my view is respect for human life both born and the unborn.”AGAIN DO YOU SUPPORT THE DEATH PENALTY?

Another old white woman for Obama July 10th, 2008 11:19 am ET
Not only birth control pills but voluntary tubal ligations and vasectomies should be offered and covered. This would eliminate some of the need for abortions. Why just pay for pills to help impotent old men procreate? Bad idea unless medically necessary.
The planets resources cannot continue to support unlimited breeding.

Jay July 10th, 2008 11:20 am ET
Why would McCain care about the double standard? He’s not a woman. And he obviously isn’t the type of person to try to see something from a woman’s perspective.

Maybe if a company made an anti viagra, we wouldn’t need to worry about faith based abstinence only programs and abortion. Put the responsibility squarely on the man’s shoulders for once.

American July 10th, 2008 12:34 pm ET
Hm.. maybe if we call it an “erection security issue”.. he’ll be better suited to answer the question..

Ed July 10th, 2008 12:35 pm ET
Hmmm…..poor Cindy !!

Jason July 10th, 2008 12:35 pm ET
All of you Hillary supporters who say you are switching to McCain really should do your research. He has traditionally gone against things women fight for…

JH July 10th, 2008 12:36 pm ET
His conflicting positions just prove that so many conservative men believe that an unwanted pregnancy is a punishment women should endure for the sin of being sexual beings. It’s hypocritical in the worst possible way to profess respect for (and presumably want to protect) the unborn and not do everything in your power to make affordable, safe contraceptives available. And not addressing the obvious inequality in a system that supports men’s rights to a healthy sexual life–brushing it off in a statement of “the Senator supports competition” is icing on the cake. Bravo, Sen. McCain. You’re officially a walking, talking, running-for-office cliche.

Neal July 10th, 2008 12:36 pm ET
Free Market as a means to correct things is so stupid.
Those insurance companies are headed by businessmen who work too much, exercise too little, and are all stressed and therefore have erectile dysfunction. So covering Viagra makes sense to them, but birth control does not.

Pick me!! Pick me!! July 10th, 2008 12:36 pm ET
I started observing McCain about twenty years ago when he was ranking minority member of the POW/MIA committee chaired by John Kerry. I don’t have time to go into details other than to say I was shocked at his hostility toward any witness who provided evidence that there might still be POWs alive in SE Asia. He was even arrogant and rude toward POW family witnesses. His behavior on that committee is well known to anyone familiar with those hearings. He did everything he could to discredit and squash any evidence that POWs might still be in Vietnam. That was his goal, not to learn if there might still be some there.

All I’ve observed in twenty years of McCain as a public figure makes it impossible for me to believe he ever acted heroically. McCain is out for McCain the maverick, period.

You won’t change my opinion of him. I’ve observed too much that are out-in-the-open facts, not conjecture concerning what happened during the Vietnam war.

To me, he’s a survivor and to be admired for that. But I find it impossible to ascribe any noble intentions to him, now or in the past.

It’s ONLY the voices of us old farts who refuse to believe the bull@#@# of ambitious and greedy politicians that MUST keep up the pressure…..
That is the LEAST we owe those we didn’t bring home…

Dave July 10th, 2008 12:37 pm ET
I think we all as Americans, need to know what our President (or future President) stands for on all the issues. You cannot dodge a question like that. This stands for Barack Obama as well on certain issues. You have to answer and should keep a knowledge on all the issues.

Jon July 10th, 2008 12:37 pm ET
This is a good question. So, McClain running for President and can’t give an answer to Health care problems that this country (USA) face all across the board (races). Unfair to women.
Vote Obama.

Jeff D, South Bend, IN July 10th, 2008 12:38 pm ET
McIdiot strikes again.

STILL VOTING FOR HILARY! July 10th, 2008 12:38 pm ET
VIAGRA SHOULD NOT BE COVERERD PERIOD! TOO MANY YOUNG KIDS ARE TAKING IT LIKE CANDY AND MEN IN THEIR 30S , 40S AND 50S RIDICULOUS. ITS PART OF AGING, YOU MAY NOT LIKE IT BUT LIVE WITH IT. I DONT WANT TO PAY FOR YOUR GOOD TIME! NO BODYS GONNA PAY FOR MY BOOB JOB ARE THEY? GET OVER YOURSELFS

‘whiner’ July 10th, 2008 12:39 pm ET
why would anyone want him to be on viagra.this should be a crime

Ilona,PA July 10th, 2008 12:40 pm ET
McCain voted against the bill requiring insurence companies to cover birth control medication? It prooves one more time that he disrespects women and is sexist. Remember he voted against women’s equal pay? All women that are going to vote for him should get their head examined. And older women should think about their daughters and granddaughters future before voting for a man who left his sick wife for a beauty heiress. GOP family values are screaming here aren’t they

Anita from Arizona July 10th, 2008 12:41 pm ET
And this is the Straight Talk Express??!! What are we? Back in the 50s when noone talked about sex? Get with the times, McCain.

ANGIE July 10th, 2008 12:42 pm ET
he doesnt care abot woman he is the one that opposed birth control for woman on most insurances go look it up look up john mccains voting record see for yourselves this man is a pathetic pandering fool dont belive his lies 7 years of his senate voted with bush 98 percent of time aint no stopping him now he will continue the bush policies!!!

‘whiner’ July 10th, 2008 12:42 pm ET
sounds like a personal problem

flavoter July 10th, 2008 12:42 pm ET
Even viagra can’t help the walking dead.. Go away McCain

One real point for the candidates why can men get viagra covered on most medical insurances. And women can’t get birth control pills covered even if it’s for theraputic reasons?

Lets talk about issues..

Jayson July 10th, 2008 12:43 pm ET
Viagra would in no way be comparable to birth control since it doesn’t treat a problem. The proper comparison would be to compare it to condums and health insurance doesn’t cover condums….

Brian, Pittsburgh July 10th, 2008 12:43 pm ET
McCain’s Double-Talk Express! He doesn’t want to upset pro-life voters, and he doesn’t want to lose women voters. Walking a thin line, it’s hard for the life-long politician to just be honest. That’s why we need new blood in the White House.

Obama ‘08!

Brian G, Sugar Land, TX July 10th, 2008 12:43 pm ET
Now that’s funny! Now McCain knows how women in the 1960’s felt when someone would have asked them if they were on the pill. A delicate question at that time.

So, fess up, Johnnie boy, do ya or don’t ya benefit from modern chemistry? (Psst…somebody go ask Cindy!)

carolflowery July 10th, 2008 12:43 pm ET
maybe he doesnt take it, or he doesnt want to run around with sex on his mind all the time, he is running for President, heck, would you want to risk having a hard on for 4 hours if you were in his position

The Surly Scholar July 10th, 2008 12:43 pm ET
Okay, first of all, seeing “McCain” and “Viagra” in the same sentence makes me want to throw up a little.

Second, once again we see McCain, faced with an uncomfortable question brought up by his voting record, simply refusing to comment, because he can’t possibly give an answer that is both honest and politically viable. He doesn’t care about women or birth control. But can he go out on the campaign trail and simply say “I think the only valuable contribution a woman can make to society is her uterus?” Doubtful (though I would absolutely love watching his campaign implode if he did).

But there you have it. Another demographic being alienated by McCain. Ladies, time to rethink your vote.

mitchell martin July 10th, 2008 12:43 pm ET
sounds too personal

Daunel July 10th, 2008 12:44 pm ET
Does he at least know that his “no comments” could cost him women votes?

boo McCain July 10th, 2008 12:44 pm ET
1. McCain doesn’t care about women’s rights!

2. “praising President Bush’s efforts to expand faith-based programs” - what in world happened to separation of church and state!?!?!?

3. Cindy looks rather scary in that picture!

mitchell hussein martin July 10th, 2008 12:44 pm ET
Obama is full of it and we need to let him know it. In the primary, Obama supported pulling out of Iraq within 16 months, called the D.C. gun ban constitutional, backed the subjection of telecom companies to expensive lawsuits for cooperating in the terror surveillance program, opposed welfare reform, pledged to renegotiate Nafta, disavowed free trade and was strongly against the death penalty in all cases. But in the past few weeks, Obama has reversed course on all of these, discarding fringe liberal views for relentlessly centrist positions. He also flip-flopped on accepting public financing and condemning negative ads from third party groups, like unions.

Dave, Illinois July 10th, 2008 12:46 pm ET
Uh, Isaac, I think you are confusing McCain with Obama. McCain does have enough guts to hold many townhall meetings. He regularly holds a lot of them and gets asked tough questions. Watch CSPAN sometime.
Obama, on the other hand, seems to be allergic to any venue other than grandstanding speeches and interviews with carefully selected, friendly, interviewers. He’s an empty suit.
Hateful comments from Obamites to follow 5,4,3,2,1…..

Larry in TX July 10th, 2008 12:49 pm ET
Is talking about Viagra on the “Straight Talk Express” a contradiction?

VitoF July 10th, 2008 12:49 pm ET
Some great advisers McCain has. Just this week — McCain said he’d balance the budget in 4 years, and his budget adviser said he actually meant 8 years. Then co-chair (and possible Veep) Carly Fiorina says it’s not right that birth control isn’t covered, and McCain “ummm”s his way out of answering. And now his economic adviser Phil Gramm says we are a nation of whiners, and the economic problems are all just in our mind. John McCain’s campaign is a mess. And that’s just in the last 3 days. McCain can’t manage his way out of a paper bag.

mitchell martin July 10th, 2008 12:50 pm ET
too funny!

John, Catholic July 10th, 2008 12:51 pm ET
The government may not legislate on the morality of abortions. Meaning the government has no right to say if abortions are right or wrong. That is a burden that is to be carried by the individuals that seek to practice it or refuse to practice it. Those that practice are not necessarily wrong to do so and those that refuse to practice it are not necessarily right in their refusal. The right and wrong of the matter is very case specific as the issues of right and wrong or moral issues.

However government if they so chose may legislate the ethicality of abortion. Meaning the rules by which abortion is practiced. That is not to say that they may put the rules in such a way that abortion becomes illegal to practice for that is an unjust law and hence an unethical law. They can however specify that the consent of the woman involved must be given for such is an ethical matter. They really cannot prohibit abortion in anyway for to do so is not ethical. Remember it is not that you have rights it is that others do not have rights over you. You do not have the right to happiness it is that no one else has the right to take happiness from you unless you yourself give them that right. You do not have the right to freedom, rather it is that no one has the right to imprison you unless you grant them that right.

Finally you do not have the right to life, again it is that unless you give some one the right no one has the right to take life from you. With that said it is the condition of a child that their happiness, freedom, and very life is in the hands of at minimum the mother at best both their parents. The rights of the child are given to at least the mother by chance, fate, happen stance, or God for better or for worse. As heaven grants many gifts to mankind we must recognize that what humanity does with the gifts granted to them is not regulated by the heavens. The heavens do not stop humanity from doing what they will even if the heavens chastise humanity for what they will do. So the gift of child is given by heaven and it falls upon the will of man what they will do with that gift. To either keep and cherish it or cast it aside and destroy it. Such is the blessing and the sadness of heavens greatest gift of free will.

AGAIN, REDUX, FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES….

July 9, 2008

Trial About Privacy in Which None Remains

By JOHN F. BURNS

LONDON — At moments, it seems like British satire at its whimsical, Monty Python-style best: a judge and a bank of lawyers, all stern-as-you-like in horsehair wigs, exploring the finer points of bottom-spanking with an aging multimillionaire and several young women who joined him in a Chelsea flat last winter, for a $5,000 fee, for what was described as five hours of sadomasochistic “fantasy” play.

The Victorian Gothic edifice in central London that is home to the Royal Courts of Justice has witnessed many bizarre trials in its 126-year history, but the one now under way amid the rich oak paneling and stone-arched windows of Court 13 — the case of Max Mosley versus The News of the World — would have a claim on any list of the most unusual.

How often could any court hear a disquisition on the pleasures of caning from a woman who specializes in sexual fantasy play, giggling as she compared taking 12 strokes on the bottom to the joy of finishing a marathon? And how many courts have been treated, as was this one, to an audiotape featuring what one of the tabloids feasting on the trial, The Daily Mail, described as “the sounds of slapping and thwacking” during the Chelsea session?

Much of the testimony so far has centered on an aspect of the Chelsea “party,” as participants have called it, that has turned a run-of-the-mill sex scandal into something altogether more contentious: whether the motif for the event was that of a Nazi concentration camp, as alleged by the tabloid that splashed an account of it across its front page in March, or, as the participants say, an occasion when the use of guttural commands in German, an old Luftwaffe jacket and military-style caps and boots had nothing at all to do with Nazi fantasies.

Adding to the improbability, the trial was set off by the man who paid for the sex session, the slim, dapper, eloquent Mr. Mosley, age 68. Bravely or foolishly, as the trial may determine, he is seeking punitive damages against the tabloid, which broke the story and accompanied it with a secretly filmed video of the spanking that Mr. Mosley’s lawyer said had been viewed 3.5 million times on the paper’s Web site and on YouTube.

Mr. Mosley has lived much of his life in the glare of publicity, wanted and unwanted. As he has volunteered in court, describing it as something “hanging over” him all his life, he is the son of Britain’s pre-World War II leading fascist, Sir Oswald Mosley, and his wife, Diana, who had Hitler as guest of honor at their secret wedding in Berlin in 1936. In his own right, after a brief career as a barrister and as a second-tier racing driver, Mr. Mosley is the notoriously didactic president of the International Automobile Federation, known as the F.I.A. His post makes him the overseer of international motor sports, including Formula One.

Unlike many high-profile figures caught in embarrassing sexual adventures, Mr. Mosley has chosen to make a fight of it. In the face of condemnation from the powerful automakers that bankroll Formula One, he has refused to step down from his F.I.A. post, which he has held for 14 years. He has outfoxed a galaxy of opponents among the world’s largest motoring groups, including the AAA, by rounding up support from a host of smaller, developing-world motoring associations that gave him a 103-to-55 vote of confidence at an F.I.A. crisis meeting last month.

That tactic has faltered, as he has been shunned by the rulers of several nations that host Formula One races, including, most embarrassingly, because he lives there, the race six weeks ago in Monaco, the jewel in Formula One’s crown. But much the larger gamble is the one unfolding in court. In effect, he is trying to make history with a wallet-draining lawsuit that seeks to establish a new benchmark in Britain for an individual’s right of privacy against news media intrusions, particularly by Britain’s attack-dog tabloids, notorious for their relentless pursuit of celebrities.

In arguing that The News of the World was guilty of a “gross and indefensible intrusion,” he has spoken candidly of his passion for sadomasochism, which he has told the court has lasted for 45 years.

He has admitted giving one of the five women involved the equivalent of about $70,000 to rent the Chelsea flat for regular sessions and offered, on Monday, an insistent defense of his pastime. Far from being depraved, he said, sadomasochism was “a perfectly harmless activity provided it is between consenting adults who want to do it, are of sound mind, and it is in private.”

He said his wife of 48 years knew nothing of his sadomasochistic tastes. “So that headline in the newspaper was completely, totally devastating for her and there is nothing I can say that can ever repair that,” he said.

As for the newspaper’s allegations that he had asked for a Nazi theme, he said that he could think of “few things more un-erotic than Nazi role play,” adding, “All my life, I have had hanging over me my antecedents, my parents, and the last thing I want to do in some sexual context is to be reminded of it.”

On Tuesday, he was supported by four of the five women involved, each granted anonymity by the court and each of them presenting sadomasochism as something quite normal. Mr. Mosley testified on Monday that the caning he underwent in the session had drawn blood, but he said that people engaging in frequent canings developed sensitive skin and “bleed very easily.”

One of the women involved in the Chelsea session, identified only as Miss D and introducing herself to the court as a doctoral student at a British university, said being caned was “certainly not everybody’s cup of tea,” but was enjoyable for her. The woman, who appeared to be in her early 30s, added, “I’d rather do this by far than go to the dentist.”

All four women denied there was a Nazi theme, yet in a transcript of the sex session introduced in court, one woman involved could be heard saying in English, “But we are the Aryan race, the blondes.”

The principal organizer, identified as Miss A, a slim blonde of about 30, said the idea for a prison-themed session originated with a fantasy of Miss D’s about being interrogated by foreigners. She said the occasion had been given a German theme because Mr. Mosley spoke German and one of the women was German. “It wasn’t a Nazi-themed event at all,” she said.

But a notice posted outside the court suggested that something not yet raised in the testimony — the judge’s concern over the apparent deletion from Mr. Mosley’s computer of some e-mail messages to participants in the session that may have been relevant to the case — could prove crucial to settling that issue.

The judge, Sir David Eady, has listened poker-faced, showing occasional impatience. But The Times of London suggested last month that Mr. Mosley might have found a sympathetic ear.

The judge, the paper said, was “almost single-handedly creating a new privacy law” with a series of landmark judgments against newspapers in libel and invasion-of-privacy cases.

The Times cited a 2006 case in which the judge granted a “gagging order” to a famous British sportsman, unnamed in the order, who had had an affair with a married woman, to prevent the woman’s husband from going to the papers and exposing the sportsman as a philanderer.

Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company