This is just in from the NY Times website:
June 17, 2008
Oregon woman plans to parade topless on July 4
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 6:51 p.m. ET
ASHLAND, Ore. (AP) — A woman seen frequently in Ashland riding topless on her bicycle says she plans to be in Ashland’s Fourth of July parade free and independent of all clothing but a hemp G-string. The Chamber of Commerce says that’s contrary to the rules for the family celebration. She says she’ll sue if she can’t parade as she wishes.
Jen Moss has been known as ”The Naked Lady” since she moved to Ashland in May from Ojai, Calif., drawn by the town’s nudity laws. They specify only that people must cover their genitalia in a city park or the downtown commercial district, which means Moss need not cover her breasts.
The police in California, she says, harassed her when she rode her bicycle wearing a G-string and pasties.
Moss applied for an entry for the parade, which draws thousands each year.
The Ashland Chamber of Commerce learned of her coverage plans from an online posting. She promised to lead in-line skaters ”wearing only a hemp G-string and blowing a conch shell.”
”We don’t feel that someone in the parade who is topless or nearly naked is appropriate for a family audience,” said parade chairman James Kidd.
For the full story go to:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-ODD-Topless-Fourth.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
City Council member Eric Navickas said he’s on Moss’s side.
If she can’t be in the parade, Navickas said, it would be ”an interesting commentary on our society that we’re willing to tolerate dead bodies through our aggressive foreign policy from the war, but not healthy, naked bodies.”
Moss told the Ashland Daily Tidings in an e-mail that if she can’t be nearly naked in the parade, she would ”run around near naked protesting their unconstitutional(ism) and un-Americanism.” And she said, she would ask the American Civil Liberties Union for help in a lawsuit.
{ 49 comments }
it’s her get rich scheme!
It must be the Full Moon! I cannot believe these last top three Ojai Posts posted within minutes of each other on our nearly naked Jen (wish she was in our parade), green living, self-mastery and aura readings, Ojai has it all!
I ask you, if this was happening in Ojai, which member of our City Council would be on Jen’s side?
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-ODD-Topless-Fourth.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
sUZA YOU DEFINE SELF-MASTERY!!
DEFINE or DEFY?
Conch Shell! Wish I had thought of that …
we’re so fortunate to have both Freud and Jung contributing to the Post …..
maybe suza (MT & jock-o) can lead 7/4 parade!! all three w/conch shells and hemp thongs!!
ay carambas!!!
maybe suza (MT & jock-o) can lead 7/4 parade w/conch shells and hemp thongs!!
praise jesus & ay carambas!!
I’m going to be in our parade in a g-string made of linguni and a bra top made of Spaggetios with meatballs to cover my nipples. Or is the plural Nipple-I? Get your forks ready.
Kind hearts are the gardens.. kind thoughts are the roots..
Kind words are the flowers, kind deeds are the fruits..
Take care of your garden.. and keep out the weeds..
Fill it with sunshine.. kind words & kind deeds..
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
I hear tell that a very interesting and inflationary float is coming to the parade this year.
#11 – You’ve posted that dribble wisdom twice already – send it to the “pasty lady” Jen – she’s the one that needs to read it. What a twit! Can you imagine going from town to town harrassing people – disgusting! and very unfriendly and unloving and unhelpful and very un-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow! I can’t believe you keep giving her all this press, and for what? a little controversy? Doesn’t Ojai have anything else to talk about? Pathetic!
dribble: perhaps you mean drivel? Thanks for the kind advice. Sleep well.
I saw her in MO today skating in her B-Day suit
Ojai City Council Closed Session
Councilmember Smith: “Did you hear that the pastie lady is going nude in Ashland’s 4th of July parade?”
Councilmember Hansted: “It just goes to show our media’s twisted values. Why, I won an award for my “social host” ordinance and the New York Times didn’t cover me! Kids don’t drink in our town anymore. You would think that would be news!”
Councilmember Horgan: “Rae, you should come to the next council meeting topless!” [Chuckles] “No, seriously, if that fringe element pastie girl tried that at our 4th of July parade, I’d have Captain Norris drag her across the pavement by the hair, bruise her silly, and throw her butt in jail. Just like that nasty Cathy Jones! And let her sue! Who cares? It would be worth $20,000 to see her get what’s coming to her!”
Councilmember Olsen: “I’d second that one, Sue! Is that a motion?”
Councilmember DeVito: “You know, I made the front page of the OVN. It was when…” [Drifts off...]
Olsen: “What I don’t get is, some of these whiners here complain times are tough, but Ashland must really be in trouble, the way they let people run around up there. I wonder how many vacant storefronts Ashland has got? I bet its a ghost town up there.”
Attorney Widders: “OK folks, let’s get down to business. I’d like to suggest we file a lawsuit against Ms. Moss. Watch how fast she shuts her trap when she gets hit with the business end of some court papers!”
Horgan: “I like it Monte! I’ll so move. Any second?”
Smith: “Wait. Do you mean like a lawsuit lawsuit, Monte?”
Attorney Widders: “No, Carol. Not really. Just a little procedure where we go before a judge. Let the court decide. Routine stuff. I bet we’ll get in the New York Times!”
Olsen: “I’ll second.”
Hansted: “No, Steve, I’m seconding! I want to make the New York Times!”
Olsen: “OK, fine Rae. Joe, are you in?”
DeVito: “Huh? Uh, aye.” [Perking up] “Aye!”
Smith: “Wait, wait, what’s going on? I’m not sure what’s going on!”
Olsen: “Come on, Carol. Aye or nay?”
Smith: “I don’t know what’s going on!” [Turning to Widders] “Monte, what are you going to sue her for?”
Attorney Widders: “Carol, please. I’m the city attorney here. You authorize me to sue, I’ll write up the lawsuits. That’s my job. You weren’t elected to be city attorney. Alright?”
Smith: “I don’t know, Monte. Can I abstain?”
Widders: “Sure, Carol. Of course you can.”
Hansted: “OK, so its done! Next item. I move that I be the official spokesperson who gets to call the New York Times!”
[And so on.]
***** Not true events. The foregoing is satire. None of our esteemed councilmembers or attorney or police or other people are anything like the fictitious caricatures above. For the record, they are all truly wonderful, caring, dedicated, highly competent public servants who appreciate humor and whom we thank for their service from the bottom of our hearts. *****
Hypothetical situation:
Two people keep having sex in public. One of them wears nothing but a hat made out of the U.S. flag, and the other one wears nothing but a hat made out of the flag of Iraq. When finally confronted by law enforcement/the press/local citizens/whomever, they both state that what they are doing is performance art and an attempt to raise the consciousness of others, and that their message is quite simple: “FUCK THE WAR!”
Question: Regardless of how you might feel about public sex, would you unquestioningly buy the given (and somewhat stretched) explanation or might you think that you were simply listening to two people who liked to have sex in public and who had cooked up what they considered to be a plausible cover story for their behavior?
That idiot Jen has never read the Constitution, I’m sure; if she had she would know that public nudity is not a Constitutional right. Individual communities have the right to codify standards of public decency as they see fit, and Jen rudely disregards other people’s right to NOT have to see her skanky naked ass in public with their children.
#17- phalarope – you’re a GENIUS! and clever toooooooooooooooo!
I heard through the grapevine that we will have a Jen look-alike posse in our 4th of July parade.
Phalarope, R and Dvorah: One thing the First Amendment is supposed to stand for is the idea that government – including the “community” acting through government – does not get to decide what ideas may be communicated and what means of expression are permissible. That is up to each of us who are expressing ourselves.
Now, courts have always indulged the “within reasonable limits” concept. So you can ban public sex, as long as you apply it to all public sex, and go after the public sex, not the flags and message in your hypothetical.
As far as public nudity, the papers report that the Ventura DA says Jen is within all legal limits and breaks no laws. The Ventura DA is not known to be of a liberal persuasion. In this case, its pretty clearly correct: Go to any beach or poolside or swimming hole/hot springs and there’s plenty of skin that nobody is getting up in arms about.
The reality in this case seems to be that people are using Jen’s bare skin as an excuse for wanting to suppress her expression, which they apparently don’t like. That is pretty apparent through all these threads.
Actually, hasn’t the outcry been more about her confrontational and at times obnoxious behavior? I think she even had the decency to admit that she went too far a few times (St. Thomas was a perfect example). I can’t be certain, but had she not lost control of her good judgment, civility and manners in those instances, she might now be getting more unaminous rounds of high-fives…
There is a letter from Earthfriendjen in the June issue of the Ojai and Ventura View. The link is http://www.ojaiandventuraview.com/
Hey Humor Me! That (Comment #16) is VERY funny. Only an “insider” could write like that!
Anonymous | June 18, 2008 11:05 AM:
I have no problem with Jen’s nudity. Really. If you knew me, you’d know just how much I really meant that. I just happen to think that Jen is being a bit disingenuous, and I believe that if we were able to look into a bit more deeply into her mind than she would normally allow us to, we might discover that her desire to appear naked in public far preceded her stated rationalization for doing so, probably by a factor of many years.
Like the panhandler who has a great story about how 5 more dollars will get him on the bus to Las Vegas so that he can visit his dying sister, I truly believe that regardless of what Jen says; regardless of how she chooses to express herself; regardless of her stated mission, and regardless of her beliefs, Jen just likes to get all nakey and run around in front of people and then claim that it’s all for some higher cause. There’s nothing wrong with her cause, and there’s nothing wrong with her nudity, but I sense an enormous disconnect between the two, and that’s just how it is.
If running around naked or semi-nude is what Jen really wants to do, so be it. I’ll never call the cops on her, and I’ll never belittle her in public. I promise. I just have a hard time believing that she’s doing what she’s doing for the reasons she offers.
(Now, since you referenced the issue of civil rights, let me do the same thing: just as you and Jen have a right to say and believe whatever you want to believe, so do I. OK?)
Well people… for better or worse… Jen had made it into Top People in the News.
“Red, white and nearly nude? An Oregon woman fights to parade topless this Fourth of July.”
Accompanied by a Gallery of 8 photos.
I believe that’s Ojai in the background:
http://news.aol.com/newsmakers/news
I believe that’s Ojai in the background:
http://news.aol.com/newsmakers/news
There is a Poll on A0L:
Should Jen Moss be allowed to parade topless?
So far out of almost 12,000 votes it’s 50% NO and 50% YES.
Should Jen Moss be allowed to parade topless?
Yes 50%
No 50%
Total Votes: 30,380
http://news.aol.com/story/_a/woman-plans-to-parade-topless-on-july-4/20080618150209990001
This is an person who is ALL ABOUT ME. Not about the families or young children or puberty hormoned teenage boys, or the people who are going to be embarrassed. It should be what is best for the community as a whole. It stays ALL ABOUT ME when she threatens to sue…another stupid frivilous law suit to add to the judicial system at the tax payers expense. It is a sad comment on the soul of the United States when the pole shows 50% support of such a self centered person. FIND A NUDE BEACH!
HO,
Perhaps we can entice THE WICKED WITCH,C.E.J. to ride naked on a black horse
in the 4th july parade.
i TOTALLY agree with JaniB.
Poll update:
Should Jen Moss be allowed to parade topless?
Yes 50%
No 50%
Total Votes: 41,044
i TOTALLY disagree with JaniB.
i definitely hear what phalarope and others are saying about Jen’s sometimes abrasive tactics (which i have never witnessed nor experienced) discrediting her expressed motives, as well as phalarope’s insights into the disconnect between actions and purpose. i generally support – at the VERY least, am not offended by – Jen’s expression. i have a fear that many people are confusing “freedom” and “independence” with “freedom to be a puritan”. maybe we wouldn’t be so afraid of our bodies if we’d actually SEE one once in a while.
OMG 48k and still tied at 50%. I wonder how many hits aol got on this story?
over 50,000 votes
must be twice as many hits–at least!
Should Jen Moss be allowed to parade topless?
Yes 50%
No 50%
Total Votes: 50,625
ha ha! Fit to be “Tied”!
cute!
Who is Humor Me? Very funny…
Humor Me (Comment #16) is Pulitzer Prize-winning political sarcasm!
Google this!
Monsanto RoundUp Poison
Monsanto RoundUp Cancer
Monsanto RoundUp Miscarriage Abortion
“headaches, vomiting, miscarriages, and deaths of small children”
RoundUp Useful for Viewing Jen on Parade:
http://www.frenblog.com/illusion/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/rodney-dangerfield.jpg
Too bad she has already struck again in Ventura- seen yesterday afternoon doing a near naked handstand in front of the mission. Too bad she chooses multi-venues to reveal her
shortcomings…
Join US in Peace
at the 4th of July Parade
in Ashland, Oregon
Join us from every land, from every tradition, and from every point of view. Join us as we make peace: Peace with each other, peace with our planet, and peace with ourselves. Please join us in peace as we walk, skip, and dance together as part of the 4th of July Parade in Ashland, Oregon.
Peace is patriotic, and peace begins with THYSELF: Body, Spirit, Mind, and Soul. In Ashland, we only have to legally cover our genitals (downtown ordinance). Let’s represent peace by wearing as little as possible! (Parasols and sun hats are recommended.) I’ll only be wearing a hemp g-string! Hemp is the REAL American fabric of our lives and the Earth’s greatest natural resource. Our constitution was written on hemp paper. The first American flag was made from hemp. Our founding fathers, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew hemp. “Make the most of the Indian hemp seed and sow it everywhere.” — George Washington. “The greatest service which can be rendered any country is to add a useful plant to its culture.” — Thomas Jefferson. The federal government of the United States of America has outlawed this patriotic plant and the Way of our Founding Fathers. What would they think of what America has become? The Naked Truth is: America is now a fascist country ran by multi-national corporations; prostituting itself to the highest bidders–allowing our land: the air, water, and soil–the basic preconditions of life–to be polluted and poisoned in the name of “progress”. May we be the peacemakers in this unsustainable system and learn from our wise Native American brothers and sisters; and All indigenous tribes. We must get rid of the distractions and truly take responsibility for our actions. It’s up to US to consciously, compassionately, and courageously connect with our communities in creating self sustainable eco villages: THE REAL AMERICAN DREAM! We are the one’s we’ve been waiting for!
Power to the Peaceful!
What has PEACE got to do with Jen’s self-righteousness and uncaring exhibition of her ta-ta’s in front of natural nice normal people, who would rather be walking down the street unharrassed? Jen is welcome in my house anytime naked or not, as a guest, invited to share a meal and have fun. But she is not welcome screaming and yelling and threatening to sue people about peace (anyone notice a contradiction here?)
I, like so many millions of people around the Globe pray for peace – light candles for peace – join groups for peace – speak and offer ourselves for peace – and we don’t harass people in the process…or ruin a perfectly wonderful outing with the family in Ojai, Venura or Oregon – to have to put up with a naked obsessive exhibitionist.
Marin Luther King harassed people to get his point across! and it worked!
Did someone really just compare EarthFriendJen with Martin Luther King, Jr.? And that King’s effectiveness was because he “harassed people”?
#47 – You’re equating Martin Luther King with Jen? What planet did you come from? Martin Luther King STOOD PEACEFUL “in the Midst” of chaos and made a difference!
Jen CAUSES chaos “in the midst of peace” and makes no difference!
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