Sex is all about fantasy, the forbidden, the new and non-routine. Just ask Larry Craig, Internet porn-surfers or anyone who’s ever cheated on their partner.

Test out your own sexual boundaries at Modified Eros at Arena, a non-traditional art venue and BDSM play space in Soho. The show’s a photographic exploration of bodies modified with tattooing, piercing, corsetry and scarification.

These “Suicide Girls” aren’t just posing; they’re exploring their inner kink.

A stark beauty exists in the images, which include a man suspended by hooks piercing his epidermis, close-ups of women with bloody cuttings decorating their body, genital organs studded with rings and tattooed girls having fun together.   more »

The country is headed for recession and there's nothing that Bernanke can do to stop it. The only question is whether we'll be facing a colossal economy-busting meltdown like 1929 or a milder 5 or 6-year slump. That's up to the Federal Reserve.

If the Fed chief decides to pit himself against the falling markets by slashing rates and destroying the currency; then we are likely to be digging-out for years. But if Bernanke steps aside, and lets the chips fall where they may, then the pace of recovery will be quicker.

Whatever choice he makes, there's no avoiding the inevitable downturn. The hammer is poised to strike the anvil.

The stock market will fall, the over-extended banks and hedge funds will collapse, and the country will go into a protracted, economic tailspin.   more »

Some industry analysts say that the writers may be engaged in a futile act, because they have no real power, can’t shut down networks that can turn to more reality TV, and may not be able to stop the conglomerates from squashing them — a scenario straight out of Paddy Chayefsky.

“Some of these writers are living check to check,” said James Brooks, the writer, director and producer — and a creative force behind “The Simpsons” — who is on the picket line in Los Angeles. “And I fear union busting. It’s happening all over the place, and we’re not immune.”

Dorothy Parker, once an unhappy writer in Hollywood, had an image of the town’s power structure as “a block-long limo with a gloved, jeweled hand sticking out the rear window holding a bagel with one bite taken out of it.”

The writers are running alongside the limo just trying to get their own bite. And maybe a schmear.   more »

There are two key and contradictory challenges for Hillary Clinton in her bid for the White House. On the one hand, she must not just be a woman but perform femininity.

The fact that she is female is part of her appeal - particularly to women. Young girls at her rallies wear badges saying "I can be president".

In her stump speech, she often cites a 95-year-old woman who told her: "I was born before women could vote, and I'm gonna live long enough to see a woman in the White House."

"And I told her, 'Amen! Amen!'" responds Clinton. Finding a way to leverage this support is central to her electoral strategy.

On the other hand, she must, more than any other candidate, assert her toughness, resolve and predisposition to lead troops into battle - attributes traditionally associated with masculinity.   more »

How successful that hardball tactic has been in getting language more acceptable to Cheney is still not known, but there were still differences of view on the issue in the draft NIE as of last month, according to my sources.

These approaches to cooking the intelligence on Iran are even more nefarious than Cheney's direct approach on Iraq in 2002.

They will certainly give Cheney language supporting his belligerent policy that he can leak to the press and use to keep Congress in line.

Hopefully responsible officials with access to whatever dissenting views remain will leak those to anti-war Democrats, along with more details about how Cheney has manipulated the process.   more »