text:
Posts Tagged 'Iran'
Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged advertising, agency denial, Australia, brothels, Business As Usual, Check Your Premises, Checklist, cops, First They Came for the Hookers, hysteria, illegal aliens, Iran, language, Life Imitates Artifice, Mars, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, propaganda, rape, scams, stripping, surveillance, The Hooker Vote, The Naked Anthropologist, The Widening Gyre, To Molest and Rape, video on July 5, 2017| 1 Comment »
Anti-prostitution crusaders behave as if we were at war over a symbol rather than discussing possible and partial solutions. – Laura Agustín
Check Your Premises
Yeah, I'm sure they answered the pigs' fake ads and said, "Hi, I'm interested in buying sex from a potential trafficking victim". That sounds totally legit: "The FBI and police in St. Louis County…[claim] that [14] men contacted undercover officers….[and] were interested in paying for sex from potential trafficking victims…"
First They Came for the Hookers…
Just in case you think owning a "legal" sex work business protects you:
A brother and sister were sentenced…to two years in federal prison for their schemes to promote prostitution at 10 Portland-area strip clubs and adult video stores. Kandace Desmarias…and her brother, Gilbert "Mace" Desmarais…also were convicted of conspiring to evade paying more than $728,000 in federal income taxes by concealing $2.6 million in income from the clubs' strip shows and prostitution. The ringleader of the operation, their stepfather Lawrence G. Owen, 75, was sentenced in April to two years and six months in prison…
"Ringleader"? Seriously? Are owners of non-sex related businesses called "ringleaders" when convicted of tax evasion?
Life Imitates Artifice (#139)
It took four years, but eventually an Islamic theocracy followed Russia's lead in using "sex trafficking" hysteria as Anti-American propaganda, exactly as I predicted:
[Bahram Qassemi of the foreign ministry of] Iran said…"The root causes of human trafficking lie in unilateral, interventionist and aggressive policies as well as the wars of attrition, terrorism and ethnic cleansing in which the military and security forces of America and some of its allies are involved…the U.S. government…cannot shirk its responsibility for that by playing blame games and leveling unfounded and false accusations against other countries"…
Given that cops raping sex workers is both typical and tolerated by police departments, my guess is that this dude pissed off somebody well above his pay grade:
An NYPD cop working undercover prostitution stings in Manhattan…[raped] six women…All of the[m]…illegal immigrants…[Michael] Golden would pay between $40 and $300 for the sex acts, prosecutors said. Then, a field team made up of fellow officers would burst in and…arrest [his victim]…Under the rules, undercover cops can strip down to their underwear, but they aren't allowed to engage in any sex acts with the sting targets…
The Hooker Vote (#615)
Yet another Dennis Hof PR scam, because reporters are stupid enough to keep giving him free publicity:
Licensed prostitutes in Nevada…are organizing against legislation they say will devastate them, other prostitutes across the nation and their families…dubbing itself "Hookers for Health Care," this group plans to go "on a political offensive…to stop the Republican effort." At the helm is Alice Little…who works…at Dennis Hof's Sagebrush Ranch brothel…About a hundred women working in Hof's seven brothels have already signed up to be involved with this new movement…
Are these reporters complete dolts? Are they unable to see that a real "movement" would involve prostitutes who didn't work for Hof as well? Are they oblivious to Hof's unimaginative naming convention (cf "Hookers for Hillary", "Tarts for Trump", "Pimpin' for Paul")? Why do these imbeciles keep providing free advertising for this dangerously self-centered jackass, who's happy to get in bed with prohibitionists against sex workers who aren't forced to give half of their income to him?
To Molest and Rape
"Forced into a sexual relationship" may be the most convoluted way of saying "raped" I've yet seen:
…Melissa Granados sued the Otero County [New Mexico] Sheriff's Department…Joshua R. Sides and others…Granados [reported] that after Sides and four other [cops] entered her home without a warrant and arrested her as she got out of the shower, naked except for a towel, co-defendant sheriff's Officer John Emory joked with Sides and others that it was "hard to handcuff her … those tits are distracting me"…The five [thugs from] the Otero County Narcotics Enforcement Unit entered her home "claiming they had an arrest warrant for plaintiff, however never produced any valid warrant to enter her home"…later…Sides told her she had 24 hours to accept his offer to work as an informant. Granados…refused…[then] Sides [coerced] her…in[to] a sexual relationship…She arrived home one day to find him already inside, though he had no key…he…hit her and knocked her…unconscious…
The Widening Gyre (#692)
I love watching "authorities" get caught up in their own manufactured moral panic:
A SERIAL conwoman who cost [Ireland] €350,000 in armed garda protection by posing as a child sex trafficking victim is facing up to 10 years in jail after pulling a similar scam in Australia. Samantha Azzopardi…who is now 28…[is] accused of obtaining €13,500 worth of services from the state and charities by pretending to be a 13-year-old Sydney foster child…named Harper Hart…court documents…cite…her "extensive history of providing false documentation, obtaining passports in false names and assuming identities of other persons" in Queensland, Western Australia, Ireland and Canada…
Those who don't remember the height of the Satanic Panic may be surprised by this level of lunacy:
Alex Jones…interviewed Robert David Steele, a man whose Wikipedia page lists him as "an American activist and former Central Intelligence Agency clandestine services case officer." Steele laid out a strange theory that suggested NASA not only has secretly sent humans to Mars without anyone knowing about it but that…"There is a colony on Mars that is populated by children who were kidnapped and sent into space…once they get to Mars, they have no alternative but to be slaves on the Mars colony…Pedophilia does not stop with sodomizing children…It goes straight into terrorizing them to adrenalize their blood and then murdering them. It also includes murdering them so that they can have their bone marrow harvested as well as body parts"…
Checklist (#713)
Just in case you didn't think you were spied on enough in airports:
…the House's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill…would require new mandatory training for all "ticket counter agents, gate agents, and other air carrier workers whose jobs require regular interaction with passengers" on "recognizing and responding to potential human trafficking victims"…federal agents have already been training flight attendants and other airline personnel on how to "detect" human traffickers or trafficking victims on their planes…There is no evidence these efforts have actually yielded any trafficking busts—which shouldn't surprise anyone not immersed in some Taken-style fantasy…A heightened sensitivity to anything out-of-the-ordinary—which in the United States can still mean interracial families or a child traveling with two fathers—means a propensity to profile passengers based on stereotypes…Airline Ambassadors International, which often works with government officials on sex-trafficking awareness training, suggests that "children and young women traveling alone" should be considered suspect, as should people who say they are adults but have "adolescent features"…
Interview: Laura Agustín
Another interview with Dr. Agustín about The Three-Headed Dog:
Why should acknowledgement of structural inequalities mean victimising those less equal? I've never understood that. Unequal in terms of money and power does not mean unequal in agency, connections, street-smarts or guts…The focus on inequality leads logically to self-positioning as a helper – the Rescue Industry. And if helpers believe everyone must want to be in their original homes, it leads to deportation…
Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged Argentina, Brazil, Business As Usual, Canada, censorship, China, Cooties, cops, crypto-moralism, dehumanization, Facebook, Hollywood, hotels, hysteria, illegal aliens, India, Indonesia, Iran, language, Lying Down With Dogs, Minnesota, Morality Lessons, Moving Pictures, Only Rights Can Stop the Wrongs, politicians, porn, Presumption of Guilt, prisons, prohibitionist myths, rape, sex offender registry, sex rays, streetwalkers, surveillance, The End of the Beginning, The Prudish Giant, The Public Eye, The Red Umbrella, The Widening Gyre, Think of the Children!, transgender, United Kingdom, Utah, violence vs. sex workers, Virginia on January 11, 2017| Leave a Comment »
Everyone knows that before ubiquitous internet porn, puberty-racked adolescents walked uphill both ways to and from school and never saw themselves as sexual beings. – Elizabeth Nolan Brown
Think of the Children!
The subjects of moral panics are always "worse than ever", yet somehow never reach the point of saturation:
A Hillfields [wanker] says prostitution in the area is worse than ever…Steve Bowen…[claims] residents have witnessed women waiting for business near the nearby school and used condoms have been found outside flats. But despite the ongoing problem, only four arrests have been made since September 2014…Bowen says…"We have so many children who live round here and to see someone offering their services is life-changing…that is absolutely traumatic to a child…The social disruption they cause is engraved in the community. The damage they cause to other people is never ending"…
"Life-changing"? "Social disruption"? I sometimes wonder if these people are even talking about the same thing. Like maybe he's using the word "prostitution" to mean "cops beating someone up" or something like that.
Lying Down With Dogs
What wonderful company the US is in!
An Iranian official has called for the sterilization of female sex workers and homeless drug addicts in Tehran to prevent "social harm". Siavash Shahrivar, head of the Social and Cultural Affairs Department in the Tehran Governorate, said those women should be "convinced" to undergo sterilization…"with her own approval, and not forcefully…Over 20 percent of them have AIDS and [they] spread various diseases…In addition to…spreading depravity, they reproduce like hatching machines and as their children have no guardians, they sell them"…
The Red Umbrella
In the US, she would've been arrested if she reported this:
[Toronto] police are searching for a male suspect wanted in the vicious assault and robbery of a female sex worker…on [December 29th]…After choking the woman unconscious…he…tied her up. When she awoke, he demanded cash…he…is…approximately 25 years of age, at least six-foot-three with a thin build. He has wavy red hair, a straggly beard and a light complexion with freckles. He also has a boot cast on his right foot…
The Widening Gyre
"Sex trafficking" hysteria is now almost pure self-parody:
Eighteen-year-old Maddy's family say they are terrified she is being "groomed" by a [19-year-old] in Argentina and are worried she is going to be sold as a sex slave! Maddy's mom, Tonia, says Maddy met…Andres, through a video game 13 months ago and ever since then, she's been determined to fly to Argentina and start a new life with a man she has never met in person…Andres has promised her a place to live, money to spend, and…[assistance] with…schooling…Maddy says the reason she came on the Dr. Phil show is so she can prove her family wrong…she knows there is no way her online boyfriend is [a] sex trafficking criminal…
I love the way her dad declares Argentina is "known for human trafficking", presumably because he saw it on TV or something.
The Public Eye
It's always heartening to see a sex worker run for office, especially when she wins:
A small Brazilian city, Manacapuru, recently made headlines after a local prostitute, Francisca da Silva, was elected deputy to the local municipality. The candidacy…was put forward by local residents as a sign of protest against the city's mayor Jaziel Tororó…The woman who started working as a prostitute when she was 11 earned about [$3] per client. Starting next week, her salary will be about $2,300. Silva currently lives with her parents and three children aged 6 to 10 years in a hut with wooden walls and a zinc roof. After her election, she promised to distribute free food for prostitutes on the streets…
To hear these yo-yos ranting, you'd swear this was this film had magic powers and was the only one ever made on the subject rather than one of dozens:
The digital version of SOLD…[was] released on January 10, the day before the Human Trafficking Awareness Day…a shorter PG-13 version of the film can be purchased or leased for screenings at schools, faith-based communities and corporations…The film tells the [fictional] story of a 13-year-old-girl, who is trafficked from rural Nepal to a prison brothel in India in order to repay her family's debts…The movie has won [7 participation trophies]…at International Film Festivals…Since its release in 2014, the film's creators have joined hands [to sing Kumbaya while standing on a lawn] with the Taught Not Trafficked campaign…The global average age of trafficked children is 13…"The International Labor Organization estimates that over 5.5 million children disappear every year into sex and labor slavery- more than at any other time in human history," the press release said…
Cooties (#613)
It's always "gangs". Because you know women are too stupid to use AirBnB for ourselves:
Police are warning owners of holiday lets in the south-west of England to beware of sex workers using their premises as pop-up brothels…Owners have no idea that their…properties have been used in the sex trade…Insp Dave Meredith, sector inspector for Newquay, has concerns that sex workers from central and eastern Europe may have been trafficked into the UK by organised gangs. Meredith…said it was difficult to disrupt the scams…
Because renting a rental property and causing no trouble for the owner is a "scam".
Only Rights Can Stop the Wrongs (#639)
Note that pigs use the same tactics to harass migrant sex workers whether they're portrayed as "job-stealing" aliens or pathetic victims:
While most people in Jakarta were watching fireworks displays on New Year's Eve, Immigration officials put on a show for the media, inviting them to film as they did a raid on the Sun City nightclub…during which they detained 76 Chinese women for allegedly working in Indonesia illegally as sex workers…Indonesian social media has recently been filled with rumors that Chinese workers were coming to the archipelago to steal work from locals…News of the Chinese women's arrest seems to have been taken by some as a form of validation…They face likely deportation though it is possible they could receive up to 5 years in jail for breaking Indonesian immigration laws.
Morality Lessons (#640)
The "progressives" have given religious fanatics a powerful censorship tool: declare anything a "public health crisis" and it can be harassed at will:
A lawmaker in Virginia has filed a bill that would declare pornography a public health hazard in the state…Robert G. Marshall [fantasizes that]…pornography leads to problems including the hypersexualization of teenagers and the normalization of abuse of women and children. While not calling for a ban on porn, the proposed bill [imagines] a "pornography epidemic" [which] needs to be addressed…
Utah has moved on to step two, using civil courts to attack since the target isn't illegal:
…Todd Weiler…who sponsored last year's porn resolution, said he will soon introduce new legislation that would allow Utah residents who imagine themselves addicted to porn to sue the websites where they watch it. "I'm trying to kind of track the same path that was taken against tobacco 70 years ago," [said] Weiler…this silly "porn as public health crisis" meme seems to now be spreading to other states, egged on by folks at the group formerly known as Morality in Media…
The Prudish Giant (#641)
Facebook can't even follow its own "standards":
…Facebook has famously waged war on the female breast…But it's not just breasts that offend: so do the sculpted genitalia of Roman gods. An Italian art historian was reportedly told…to remove an image from her page showing a statue of the Roman god Neptune…Elisa Barbari used the image as an example of "Stories, curiosities and views of Bologna." But Neptune was deemed too explicit…[even though] …"We also allow photographs of paintings, sculptures, and other art that depicts nude figures"…
Business As Usual (#664)
The final tally for 2016: 80% of all acts of violence vs sex workers in Hong Kong were inflicted by cops:
Abuse of prostitutes is on the rise and police officers are mostly responsible, according to…Zi Teng, which offers support for prostitutes…[out of] 615 reports of physical and verbal abuse…police were reported on 490 occasions…abuses…[included] 225 cases of [groundless] arrest…100 cases of [repetitive harassment]…11 cases [of rape]…17 [cases in which the cop used threats to obtain hand jobs]…making verbal threats and insults (57)…[sexual] assaults (three) and physical…assault…(three)…clients were accused of 125 abuses…Among them were theft (56 cases), removing a condom during sex (seven), [rape via] denial of payment (19), fraud (six) and one of [forcible] rape…
Presumption of Guilt (#684)
Remember the fascist bootlicker who wanted to eliminate high-denomination currency? Well, India actually did that, and guess who it hurt the most?
A recent announcement which has seen two highest value bank notes in India (Rs 500 and Rs 1000) demonetised has had wide reaching impacts on many communities. Demonesation means the bank notes are no longer legal to use. Sex workers, women, hijra [trans people], refugees and rural poor people are reportedly amongst those standing to be most negatively affected. The demonetisation policy was abruptly announced on 8 November 2016 with Prime Minister Narendra Modi stating the two cash notes would "not be legal tender from midnight tonight." An initial 30 December 2016 deadline was given for those able to present proper identity documents to bring the cash to banks or post offices for exchange or depositing into accounts…The Usha Multipurpose Cooperative Bank…announced it would accept the demonetised notes for a short interim period as the new policy came into place…
The End of the Beginning (#687)
Another setback for due process:
…a federal appeals court upheld a Minnesota program that indefinitely detains sex offenders after they have completed their prison sentences under the guise of treating them for mental illnesses invented by the state legislature…U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank concluded that the Minnesota Sex Offender Program (MSOP) violates the due process rights of the people it imprisons…he…correctly perceived that the "treatment" provided by the MSOP, which has never cured anyone in the program's 23-year history, is a sham used to conceal a punitive purpose and justify preventive detention based on unsubstantiated fears of future crimes…According to the 8th Circuit, none of that matters, because all the state had to do was avow good intentions…
Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged abortion, Above the Law, acting, Acting and Activism, Alabama, Arkansas, Buttons Bags & Banknotes, censorship, Change a Few Words, Choke Point, cops, dehumanization, Do As I Say, ethics, Georgia, Harm Magnification, hysteria, Indiana, Iran, Ireland, law, lawyers, Middle East, Minnesota, Norway, politicians, porn, prisons, prohibitionist myths, Property of the State, rape, red-light districts, rescue industry, Schadenfreude, Scrambled Eggs, Sex Rays (updates), sex work is work, Spain, streetwalkers, Swedish model, The Mote and the Beam, United Kingdom on August 8, 2015| 8 Comments »
The inevitable and terrifying end result of giving legal rights to fetuses [is] a woman…legally reduced to being nothing more than a vessel incubating a future ward of the state. – Maya Dusenbery
Do As I Say, Not As I Do
An Indianapolis police chaplain was arrested on multiple prostitution charges after he told a prostitute [who] he was…police [arrested a sex worker]…and…she told [them] that the day before "Bob from Noblesville showed me his shiny IMPD officer badge and told me he was a chaplain"…police determined "Bob from Noblesville" was actually…Chaplain Bishop John Robert Fiers…
The Mote and the Beam
The stupid, it burns!
The [Georgia] trial lawyer who wants to [profit from] sex trafficking through civil litigation said his phone hasn't stopped ringing since he announced his plan late last year…David Boone, president and founder of Civil Lawyers Against World Sex Slavery, known as CLAWS…[said] "We're really tried to take a business approach to this"…Boone [pretends he can sue] those who pay for sex as well as those who allow the business to exist…He said his research shows the "sex slave" industry is a $9.5 billion business in the United States, exploiting primarily girls starting at the age of 13 who are lured in or kidnapped. Most die within seven years from drug overdoses, AIDS or murder. Atlanta has become a hub for the trade largely as a side-effect of having one of the world's busiest airports…
Yet another rescue industry "hero" is revealed as an opportunistic fraud:
…Vednita Carter…started Breaking Free…nearly 20 years ago, vowing to help women and girls free themselves from prostitution…[by convincing them that] they were victims of abuse and sexual exploitation. In recent years ["sex trafficking" hysteria] won [the organization] more funding and expanded its [hunger for money]…Carter…was named a CNN News Hero and the Bush Foundation gave Breaking Free an award…but…a group of former employees…wrote a letter in April to government agencies that have funded or worked with Breaking Free, detailing concerns about how victims were being treated and served, its adherence to laws and regulations, alleged "misuse of funds, property, and services and employment of family members," and "staff misconduct and lack of training"…
Harm Magnification (The Beat Goes On)
Prostitutes have…accused police of trying to "ghettoise" them…after [it was] revealed that Gwent Police were planning a "managed" sex zone…One working girl feared that forcing them into designated zones could lead to more being raped and murdered. "They tend to put these areas in out-of-the-way places in the back of commercial and industrial sites where there are rough roads and the lighting is poor, and access in and out is abysmal," Michelle said…
Change a Few Words
Drug Abuse Resistance Education, better known as DARE, has spent decades telling schoolchildren…to "Just Say No" to marijuana. For a few hours [on July 27th], however, they appeared to just say yes to legalization. [Journalist] Christopher Ingraham…found a strange re-post on the DARE website…which originally ran in the Columbus Dispatch…[and contained] a full-throated endorsement of marijuana legalization by Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) speaker Carlis McDerment…Ingraham contacted DARE for clarification and [they immediately removed the article]…
Ever notice that cops "state" or "explain" their versions of events, but the rest of us merely "claim"?
A Garda forced a prostitute to perform a sexual act on him in order to have her laptop computer returned to her after it had been seized in a raid…Almost half (48.7%) [of sex workers surveyed] said they had garda clients and 2.7% said they had [been forced to] provide…"free or discounted" sexual services to officers…The purpose of the survey, by…Uglymugs.ie, was to establish how sex workers viewed policing in Ireland given plans to introduce new laws which will effectively criminalise the entire sex trade…
Sex Work is Work
Guess what, Mr. Huckabee? If "prostitutes, pimps [and] drug dealers" weren't criminalized, we'd easily be able to contribute to your system:
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said…that if elected President he would increase the money going into Social Security, Medicare and other entitlement funds by…"[transforming] the process by which we fund [them]…the money paid at consumption is paid by everybody — including illegals, prostitutes, pimps, drug dealers, all the people who are freeloading off the system"…The line was met with thunderous applause…
Scrambled Eggs (#311)
I'm sure everyone who dies while waiting for a kidney is happy to go to his grave to prevent people from making their own decisions about what to do with their bodies:
Last year in the United States, more than 4,000 people died while…waiting…for a new kidney. An additional 3,600…left the list when they became too sick for a transplant…In every country that does transplants — except one — patients have two legal ways to get a new kidney. One is to have a friend or relative…donate a kidney. The other is to get on the waiting list for a deceased donor. In America, the average time on that list varies from 3 years to 10…Patients can't even get on the list until they are about to start dialysis, and the average life span of someone who starts dialysis is only 5 to 10 years…And the longer a patient spends on dialysis before getting a transplant, the greater the chances of complications and death with a new kidney…[but] in Iran…people wait to donate a kidney. That's because donors are paid…
Buttons, Bags & Banknotes
Hey Cosmo, are you ready to speak out for decrim yet?
Several major retailers have agreed to censor…Cosmopolitan behind blinders, after facing pressure from a campaign led by the granddaughter of William Randolph Hearst, the man who founded the company that owns the publication. Victoria Hearst…began a campaign…called Cosmo Harms Minors, which…eventually [wants] shops to be banned from selling the magazine to anyone under the age of 18…
Sex Rays
Spain's Guardia Civil police force will no longer accept donations from a brothel in Navarra, even if the money is put towards a good cause…The unusual funding arrangement came to light…when the citizen group Observatory Against Corruption filed a complaint …The money was used to throw a celebration dedicated to Our Lady of the Pillar, the patron saint of the Guardia Civil…
Choke Point
Could be worth looking into for non-porn sex workers as well:
Major U.S. banks have closed or denied banking accounts to individuals working in the adult industry…the Adult Performer Advocacy Committee (APAC) is now offering…financial services offered by First Entertainment Credit Union…which…was first established as the credit union for Warner Bros. Studios in 1967 but now extends membership to many entertainment industry organizations, including the Free Speech Coalition…Services offered to APAC members will include checking and savings accounts, financial planning, home and auto loans, as well as business account services…For more information on becoming a member…visit the APAC website or email apac.information@gmail.com.
Property of the State
Another abomination from Alabama:
A woman imprisoned in an Alabama jail wants an abortion…but her request…was denied…and…the state is attempting to strip her of her parental rights over a "child" that is not actually a born child yet and arguing that if she doesn't have parental rights, she has no right to terminate the pregnancy…the state is arguing that since this woman has "endangered" her fetus by using drugs, it should now effectively become a ward of the state, and therefore the state can do anything it wants—including forcing her to carry it to term against her will…
Acting and Activism (#559)
My friend Savannah Sly on the Hollywood response to Amnesty:
These famous voices are…out of touch with the reality of sex work…[they] are connected to anti-trafficking organizations, which…fail to illustrate to these celebrities…that criminalization actually makes [things]…worse. For some reason, celebrities are held up as just being wiser than the rest of us because they're famous…Who are [Americans] going to trust, this seemingly familiar person they've seen on TV a lot or a bunch of social pariahs?…
And while the Guardian has long provided a platform to vehement prohibitionists, it did allow this one from Molly Smith to slip through:
…by prioritising the supposed "eradication" of the sex industry, [the Swedish model empowers] police…to harass, evict and deport migrant sex workers…Amnesty found that sex workers in Norway were routinely evicted by the police…"a number of migrant sex workers were violently attacked and raped…They reported the incident to the police…they returned to their apartment to find the police have removed all their money and electronic equipment. Four days [later] they were forcibly evicted." It's hard to believe that those Hollywood signatories read this and thought: "Brilliant, the police evicting migrant women when they report rape sounds like the feminist solution to prostitution; we should support the legal model where this occurs." But that is what appears to have happened – unless they signed up to attack Amnesty over a document they had not read…
That Was the Week That Was (#436)
Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Obituary, Perception, Tyranny, tagged A War for Peace, abortion, Above the Law, Absolute Corruption, agency denial, An Enormous Big Nothing, Arizona, Australia, brothels, California, Check Your Premises, China, Colorado, cops, dirty, Down Under, drugs, Everything Old is New Again, Follow Your Bliss, gangs, Georgia, Germany, hysteria, Imaginary Evils, internet, Iran, Ireland, Islam, Legal Is as Legal Does, License To Rape, marriage, Massachusetts, Middle East, Never Call the Cops, Oregon, Original Sin, politicians, porn, prohibitionist myths, Property of the State, Prudesville, psychology, racism, rape, red-light districts, restaurants, stripping, surveillance, Swedish model, Taiwan, Texas, The Public Eye, The Widening Gyre, Traffic Jam, Uncommon Sense, underage, United Kingdom, universal criminality, Utah, Washington (state), What Next? on September 6, 2014| 11 Comments »
You would think they'd want an actual sex worker…but somehow that's not important because we're seen as victims; voiceless and having no agency. – Jules Kim
License to Rape
Cops raping sex workers is so ubiquitous, non-cop rapists often pose as cops to facilitate the crime:
…Desiree Patton said that her assailant, Guy Dietz, found her through online advertisements placed by the exotic dancing agency she works for…when she arrived at Dietz's…California home, he informed her that he was a police officer, placed her under "arrest," and handcuffed her hands behind her back…Patton claimed that Dietz said…he [could] arrest her and trump up charges…
Nick Olivas became a father at 14, a fact he wouldn't learn for eight years. While in high school, Olivas had sex with a 20-year-old woman…State law says a child younger than 15 cannot consent with an adult under any circumstance, making Olivas a rape victim…Then two years ago, the state served him with papers demanding child support. That's how he found out he had a then-6-year-old daughter…he now owes about $15,000 in back child support and medical bills going back to the child's birth, plus 10 percent interest. The state seized money from his bank account and is now garnisheeing his wages at $380 a month…
Follow Your Bliss
"…Florida youth pastor [Lucas Dillon Brandenburg] was arrested…after investigators said that they found a computer at his home "sharing" images of child pornography…"
Legal Is as Legal Does
Yet another example of why legalization is almost as bad as full criminalization:
Taiwanese authorities said…they busted a prostitution ring exploiting young Chinese women…Prostitution [was criminalized in 2001 due to American pressure] but the parliament in 2011 passed a controversial bill to allow red-light districts…no such district has been set up yet…
The report calls it a "romantic encounter" but I suspect otherwise:
…an Atlanta police officer killed a woman that he met online, then set her body on fire to cover his tracks. Tahreem Zeus Rana was arrested…[while] trying to board a flight to Mexico…Vernicia Woodward…was linked to Rana through her phone records...The two appear to have met on Backpage.com…
And in The Nation, others appear to finally be noticing what I've been screaming about for twenty years:
…sexual assault is a significant issue in police forces, as The American Prospect and Truthout have reported. According to the Cato Institute, more than 9 percent of reports of police misconduct in 2010 involved sexual abuse, making it the second-most reported form…Comparing that data to FBI crime statistics indicates that "sexual assault rates are significantly higher for police when compared to the general population"…Jen Marsh of the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network…said…"[cops are] targeting victims seen as vulnerable or 'less credible,' whether they're engaged in sex work or are committing a crime"…
Instead of commenting on this ridiculous nonsense:
Denver has evolved into a breeding ground…for sex-traffickers who lure young runaways, often in exchange for drugs…Tom Ravenelle with the FBI said he's seeing more print and online advertisements — chock-full of keywords like "4-20 friendly" — that attract young girls. "We're dealing with people who are pimping these girls who are sometimes gang-related. These are people with low morals"…
I'm going to let somebody else do it this time.
An Enormous Big Nothing (TW3 #33)
Another predictable result of "sex trafficking" hysteria:
After my family arrives on the Cape May ferry for our annual vacation to the Jersey Shore, I take pictures of our two daughters…as we leave the harbor. I've been doing this since they were 3 and 4 years old. They are now 16 and 17…Getting just the right exposure and interaction between the two has never been easy…But this year…a man came up beside me and said to my daughters: "I would be remiss if I didn't ask if you were okay." At first none of us understood what he was talking about…then it hit me: He thought I might be exploiting the girls…I told the man I was their father. He quickly apologized and turned away. But…the more I thought about [it]…the more upset I became. My wife and I, both white, adopted our two daughters in China when they were infants…we have often gotten strange looks and intrusive questions from strangers, but nothing like this…I walked outside to where he was standing and calmly said: "Excuse me, sir, but you just embarrassed me in front of my children and strangers. And what you said was racist"…He replied: "I work for the Department of Homeland Security. And let me give you some advice: You were standing there taking photos of them hugging for 15 minutes"…
Sydney Journalist and mother-of-two Amanda Goff has revealed her secret double life as…Samantha X…who started working as a sex worker two-and-a-half years ago…[in] a tell-all book about her experience. After working in British tabloids including The Mirror and Sunday People, Miss Goff came to Australia and worked as the health and beauty editor for Prevention Magazine and at New Idea…[then] became a TV spokesperson for health and beauty…she believes she can help save marriages…"I hear a lot about marriage from the man's point of view. They say they are not listened to, they aren't heard. I give them intimacy, it's not necessarily about sex"…
Down Under (TW3 #49)
Sex workers in Papua New Guinea (PNG) are hopeful that…the…Health Minister…Michael Malaba…will keep his public commitment to introduce legislation that decriminalises sex work and same sex relationships…Malaba stated that he recognised that the decriminalisation of sex work was a key reform essential to tackling HIV/AIDS and that he was committed to reforming PNG's "colonial era laws"…
Absolute Corruption
"[On September 2nd] Bernard Baran died suddenly at his home while talking with his partner, David, and his niece, Crystal…" The autopsy results are not yet in, but a heart attack or stroke (resulting at least in part from more than two decades of gross maltreatment by the state) seems likely. Perhaps now the utterly loathsome Martha Coakley will consent to allowing his record to be expunged.
Original Sin (TW3 #321)
Video games and "sexting" cause "sex trafficking"!
Real Battle Ministries is partnering to attack the rampant sex trafficking in our local communities! Drug cartels and gangs have nearly controlled the prostitution market, planting "bottom ho's" in our local schools, and utilizing social media & online games to "befriend" our kids for the sole purpose of entrapping them into slavery!…Porn addicted adults produces "Johns"…exposure to porn during childhood produces promiscuous children and kids who post sexually suggestive photos on social media. Pimps and…enslaved kids…target our kids, befriend them on social media and play online games with them, eventually luring them away for abduction into sex slavery…one pimp with 5 girls generate nearly $1 million in revenue annually. No wonder organized crime has focused on abducting one million kids yearly!!!!
These are the most insanely-exaggerated claims I've seen yet. Fight "sex trafficking" with exclamation points!!!!!!!!!!
A War for Peace (TW3 #323)
City of Lies features eight tales…all names have been changed, as have certain details…Each focuses on an individual, but [author Ramita] Navai uses these personal stories to observe how people live, love and survive in a society ruled by fundamentalists. Iranian youth read "Harry Potter," watch Hollywood films…smoke joints and listen to Metallica and Radiohead — all the while knowing that one misstep can ruin their reputations and lives…For women, sex outside marriage could mean "up to 100 lashes." If convicted of adultery, a woman could be executed…
Imaginary Evils
Remember, huge police operations have never found more than a single-digit number of "sex trafficking" cases in the UK:
…Greater Manchester's police chief [imagines that]…predators have changed their tactics and are now targeting Eastern European teens and trafficking them into the region for sex…some 180 men are currently under suspicion of child sexual exploitation…of 17 and 18-year-old girls – notably above the age of consent…
Yes, they're claiming the "child sex trafficking" of girls over the AOC.
Just in case you were unsure about "sex trafficking" mythology's origin in racism and xenophobia, take a look at the kind of sites that gleefully quote the propaganda to promote their own agendas.
Clueless, ignorant old American continues to demand that other countries increase violence against sex workers in the name of "rescuing" them: "Former US president Jimmy Carter has written to the Taoiseach Enda Kenny and other members of the Oireachtas urging them to adopt a recommendation to criminalise the buyers of sex…"
Delusional authoritarian thugs presume that women have absolute control over our bodies:
…police reportedly "swarmed" a Texas high school because…a school custodian notified the principal…after finding a "possible fetus" in one of the bathroom stalls…The principal contacted police…Dallas Police Department's Child Abuse Unit detectives were investigating to find out who may have abandoned the fetus. The person involved was being considered a "suspect"…Alan Elliott of Baby Moses Dallas explained…that the mother could have avoided any criminal charges if she had taken advantage of Baby Moses laws by carrying the child to term, and then dropping it off at a safe baby site like a fire station…
"Abandoned". Seriously. By that standard, some 10% of the women reading this are "criminals".
Prudesville
The headline The Blaze put on this is infuriating; moronic cop masturbatory fantasies are cast as "knowledge":
The owner of controversial bikini coffee stands in Washington state banked more than $2 million in just three years because her baristas were also selling sex acts, [cops imagined]…Carmela Panico…was charged with promoting prostitution and money laundering by Snohomish County prosecutors, who allege she was the madam of drive-thru brothels…[where] baristas would expose their breasts and genitals and charge for sex acts…In a raid last year, investigators [stole] $250,000 [from] Panico's home. Her profit margin at times was twice that of well-run, established coffee stands…One barista [was bribed via a plea deal to tell] investigators she earned half a million dollars working at Panico's stands…
Traffic Jam (TW3 #432)
This scare story starts with the arse-backward claim that "sex trafficking" causes youth homelessness and then goes all over the map:
…those who study the issue believe any steps to address sex trafficking in Utah also will help solve the problem of youth homelessness…Tammie Garcia Atkin…of the…Office of Victim Services…said girls often are introduced into prostitution by men who they believe are their boyfriends…"It's all sweetness and likes [sic] and then it turns into this violent relationship"…[fireman] Fernando Rivero…said…he was able to recognize a sex trafficking business once when he visited an area doing a building inspection…Rivero is hoping to eventually steer Utah's thinking more toward a victim mentality as seen in other states…Kevin Donegan…at Janus Youth Programs in Portland…sends out a strict warning to parents who think their children are hanging out at the mall, because they could be…recruited into sex trafficking…Peter Thorpe…of the Oak Ridge shelter in Vancouver [Washington], said…the average age for a girl to enter prostitution…"just keeps going down and down…it is a renewable resource…you can sell a girl over and over again"…
The Widening Gyre (TW3 #433)
Three Sydney sex workers have staged a protest at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas over the representation of their profession in a panel discussion on the global sex industry called "Women For Sale"…they handed out pamphlets to festival goers and posed with a…sign that read: "I am a sex worker. I am not for sale"…Jules Kim…the acting chief executive of…Scarlet Alliance, applied to festival organisers…to be included on the panel…but had her request denied. However…the…journalist Elizabeth Pisani invited Kim to replace her on stage and she was allowed to take part…
Uncommon Sense (TW3 #433)
There's a word for people who try to control and profit from whores but disregard their welfare:
…It has…come to light that local Conservative politicians and elected representatives from the Christian Social Union (CSU) are…involved in…construction [of an FKK-Club in East Dachau]: developer…Wolfgang Moll; electrician…Helmut Erhorn; and architect…Heidi Lewald…it remains unclear why the…politicians didn't make their stakes in the project known earlier…
Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, The Dark Side, Tyranny, tagged Above the Law, acting, Africa, Argentina, Arizona, Blood on the Sand, bogus studies, Brazil, California, Catholicism, censorship, Check Your Premises, China, Comfort Zone, consensual crime, cops, Deafening Silence, drivers, ethics, France, Gorged With Meaning, guest columnist updates, Hard Numbers, harm reduction, hysteria, If It Were Legal, illegal aliens, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Juxtaposition, Latin America, Mexico, Middle East, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Orleans, New York, politicians, porn, prisons, psychology, rape, Real People, sex offender registry, sex work is work, Something Rotten In Sweden, South Carolina, streetwalkers, Swedish model, That Old Black Magic, The Course of a Disease, The End of the Beginning, The Missing Word, The Mote and the Beam, The Punitive Mindset, Three Steps Back, Traffic Jam, Washington DC, witchcraft on May 31, 2014| 12 Comments »
Preteens selling goodies, the police…lectured [her]…was unfair to establishments…like Starbucks. – Robert Fernandes
Popehat suggests we compare and contrast this:
Just days after Iran's president denounced Internet censorship as "cowardly," six young Iranians were arrested and forced to repent on state television…for the grievous offense of proclaiming themselves to be "Happy in Tehran," in a homemade music video they posted on YouTube…The arrest of the young dancers, and their televised public humiliation, angered Iranians at home and abroad…
U.S. Park Police arrested five people…at the Jefferson Memorial. Their offense? Dancing. The dancers were protesting an appeals court ruling…that the national monuments are places for reflection and contemplation — and that dancing distracted…
…Photographer Bénédicte Desrus spent six years…documenting Casa Xochiquetzal, a home in Mexico City for…retired sex workers…She only took photographs of the women who gave her permission and provided them with prints, which often inspired other women to participate…Desrus then teamed up with journalist Celia Gómez Ramos, who began interviewing and transcribing the residents' stories. They eventually decided to publish…as…Las Amorosas Más Bravas (The Toughest Lovers)…
…34-year-old…Vanessa Gumataotao of Sacramento…was arrested on suspicion of prostitution…as well as child abuse and endangerment for allegedly using [a] 17-year-old [boy] as her pimp. The…boy was arrested on suspicion of pimping…
If It Were Legal
Too bad he lost the suit; this kind of ethical breach is unforgiveable:
A top London solicitor who had sex with a Chinese law student [and sex worker]…has lost his claim for damages after she told his daughter and colleagues about previous affairs. The solicitor…identified only as AVB, sued the young sex worker, known as TDD, for breach of confidentiality…after she found information about past liaisons on his laptop. Senior…Justice Tugendhat…said TDD broke a duty she entered when she accepted money for sex. But…AVB…would not receive damages because although he experienced "some embarrassment" he "has suffered no real distress"…
Something Rotten in Sweden (July Updates, Part One)
Cops busting kids' lemonade stands isn't news any more, but this is a new low:
[San Francisco cops busted] two…lemonade stands…the 11-year-old proprietor of one…was informed that simply giving away the fudge brownies and lemonade the police forbade her…to sell would result in a $1,500 fine…Not long after police cleansed the…area of unlawful lemonade dispensaries…they returned due to complaints about "a live band." This stemmed…from a neighborhood tradition of setting up a drum kit during [a public event] and allowing local kids to keep the beat. At the time the police showed up, the unlicensed live bandmember was…a toddler…
The Punitive Mindset
Because obviously, female guards' delicate ladyfeelings are more important than men's lives:
…Bradley Ballard, a…schizophrenic [inmate at New York's Rikers Island] died…after he was confined to his cell…for seven days for making a lewd gesture at a female guard…Denied…his medication, the agitated inmate tied a rubber band tightly around his genitals… Ballard was found naked and unresponsive on the floor, covered in feces, his genitals swollen and badly infected. He died at a hospital of…[massive systemic] infection…
Two [Atlantic City cops] have been arrested on charges they sexually assaulted a 16-year-old in separate incidents…Andre Corbin and…Ralph Pereira…were…[each] charged with…sexual assault…endangering the welfare of a child and official misconduct…
A man was killed by a mob…in…Burkina Faso, after being accused of making another man's penis "disappear"…a local mechanic…claimed that his penis had been "stolen" by the second man, who was not from the district. The first man called the police. But by then…the residents decided to lynch the man in the middle of the street…
I've mentioned West African "penis stealing" hysteria before in Links #141.
Traffic Jam (TW3 #51)
The acquittal of the 13 people "sex trafficking" fanatic Susan Trimarco implicated in her witch hunt provoked such an outcry among her disciples that two of the three judges were pushed into retirement, the third has been threatened with impeachment and the Argentine president swore to "reform" the judiciary because it is too objective and not sufficiently influenced by public opinion. A higher court then convicted ten of the 13 defendants on charges of running an "evil network of sexual exploitation…with…international connections, and satanic rituals." Still think this hysteria is different from the Satanic Panic?
The California Sex Offender Management Board…[recommends] that lawmakers…overhaul registration laws so that some offenders can be removed from the list after 10 or 20 years. The list — which currently includes almost 100,000 registered offenders — is too large to be useful to law enforcement or the general public. Under current laws, all sex offenders must register for life regardless of the offense they committed…[the list] includes…almost 900 [people] who have not committed a sex-crime in more than half a century…Ninety-five percent of sex-crimes are committed by individuals who are not on the registry, and the existence of the registry has not worked as a deterrent…
Comfort Zone (TW3 #320)
The endgame of "sex trafficking" hysteria:
…U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) said the debate over…immigration reform is prompting undocumented minors to enter the United States… "And…you know that some get sucked into sex slavery," Gohmert said…adding…"This administration, and this Congress also, is complicit in helping lure people into sex trafficking"…
The Course of a Disease (TW3 #349)
The [French] National Consultative Commission on Human Rights (CNCDH)…has [rejected] the law…which seeks to punish "the purchase of sexual acts"…[The Commission] consulted many experts…and…[outlines] the three-point position of the committee:
"Chosen prostitution" is legal, so clients are not criminals.
Legal prostitutes should be easier for clients to access.
Victims of trafficking and exploitation need better support…
Hard Numbers (TW3 #351)
Mobs with torches are back in fashion, it seems:
An international association of Catholic nuns has launched a public awareness campaign to combat human trafficking and prostitution during the World Cup in Brazil. The nuns will use social media, billboards and rallies…to draw attention to the heightened risk of exploitation…Sister Gabriella Bottani said…that for previous World Cups in Germany and South Africa, the level of "exploitation" had gone up by 30 per cent and 40 per cent respectively…Among past and upcoming initiatives will be…a torchlit procession in Brasilia…and handing out pamphlets at…beach resorts…
Naturally, the usual predators are taking advantage of the anti-whore hysteria:
…police…invaded…a building where…prostitutes operated…in [the suburbs of]… Rio…Without a warrant, police…[arrested] more than 100 women…and seized their goods. Women were attacked and raped – police forced them to perform oral sex and put their hands on the women's genitals…One woman…had…[her] whole week…[of] money…robbed, including any money to take the bus home…
Guest Columnist: Sarah Woolley (TW3 #406)
Amnesty International has urged Northern Ireland's politicians to ditch plans to criminalise the purchasing of sex. The human rights organisation wants a clause contained in a bill against human trafficking to be excised because…it would create a "hierarchy of criminal liability" among sex workers…Amnesty stressed it was not taking sides on the debate over sex work and prostitution, but said sex work and human trafficking were "two very complex social phenomena" that required different laws…
"Those who…sit on the fence do indeed side for a political party: The ruling party." – Max Frisch
Sex Work is Work (TW3 #407)
Another blow against the absurdity of consensual crime:
…Italy's national statistics office, will include estimated dealings from drugs, arms trafficking and prostitution in its GDP figures from now on…This move should increase Italy's economy by at least 1.3 per cent in the first year, helping it to comply with EU rules on indebtedness, which limit member countries to spending no more than 3 per cent of their GDP…the calculation would also include revenues from contraband tobacco and alcohol…The Bank of Italy estimated the value of the criminal economy at 10.9 per cent of GDP in 2012…The move…is motivated by the EU's desire to measure its member countries' economies more closely…
…community members carrying information and harm reduction supplies were threatened with arrest and were not allowed to communicate with sex workers…who had been…forcibly transported to Project ROSE…[which has] come under intense scrutiny because of a long list of rights violations…advocates from the Best Practices Policy Project and SWOP Phoenix traveled to the United Nations to raise concerns about these abuses to the Human Rights Committee…a group of social workers, Social Workers United for Justice, is petitioning the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) and the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) to "demand an end to Arizona State University School of Social Work's involvement with Project Rose" because it violates socials work's core professional principles…
Gorged With Meaning (TW3 #410)
Unfortunately, not every outed sex worker has Belle Knox's incredible strength and resolve:
Nineteen-year-old Alyssa Funke…bought a shotgun, drove to her family's boat, and killed herself there on April 14. Students at her former high school had outed her as the star of a "casting couch" porn video, and her parents say the subsequent online harassment contributed to her suicide. Funke…did her first and only porn video…earlier this year…Soon after the video went up, Funke started getting nasty Twitter and Facebook messages from students at her former high school in Minnesota, calling her a slut and worse…Funke's parents said she had long suffered from depression, but they believe the harassment…played a major role in her [suicide]…
Belle also wrote an open letter to Alyssa after hearing of her death.
Deafening Silence (TW3 #413)
…discussion of whether the sex trade should be legalised [in China]…came to the fore…after Huang Haibo, a 39-year-old actor best known for his "nice everyman" roles, was arrested…for allegedly soliciting prostitutes…The news led to a surprising outpouring of sympathy on social media…after the crackdown in…Dongguan…[there were many] online comments like "Dongguan, hang in there" and "the public has your back"…
Silly preacher, only politically-connected companies are allowed to do this:
A South Carolina pastor has been accused of turning his Bible College into a forced labor camp for foreign students. Reginald Wayne Miller…made the teens toil for no or little pay for more than 50 hours a week while housing them in rooms without hot water, heating or air-conditioning. He…threatened to revoke their student visas if they complained or failed to comply with his demands…Students reportedly told [federal] investigators that classes "were not real" and that the main focus of the school was to have them working full-time at its campus and Miller's home…In 2006, [Miller] was…detained on charges of lewdness and prostitution for exposing himself to an undercover cop in a bathhouse…
Three Steps Back (TW3 #418)
A bill designed to help New Orleans police crack down on prostitution is headed to Gov. Bobby Jindal's desk…The legislation…makes it illegal…to solicit money or rides with the intent to exchange it for sex acts. Marjorie Esman [of the ACLU says the law]…does nothing that isn't already covered by Louisiana law. Esman also had problems with an earlier version…[that banned] solicitation for any purpose…which…would have effectively outlawed panhandling…the bill gives police a mechanism to [harass] suspected prostitutes…enough so they might move on…
The Mote and the Beam (TW3 #419)
The US House of Representatives passed all five of the "sex trafficking" bills before it; most of them are the usual political boondoggles, but one creates a "criminal advertising" crime to stack on people being railroaded for "sex trafficking", and the most dangerous one allows the federal government to give even more money to local cops for sex work stings under the guise of "fighting sex trafficking". But the most shocking example of political hubris comes from Representative Randy Hultgren of Illinois, who seems to imagine that the U.S. Congress has the power to criminalize prostitution in foreign countries; he supports this with a lot of nonsense including the discredited Neumayer, Cho & Dreher report.
…[Vanessa] Stiviano…is now the subject of a criminal probe…[due to] accusations that Stiviano sought money from Sterling to stop her from releasing more recordings…Stiviano's attorney has denied she leaked the recordings that set off the scandal, saying a friend did it without her permission.
Posted in Current Events, History, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, The Dark Side, Tyranny, tagged agency denial, Arkansas, asset seizure, blogging, brothels, Cambodia, Canada, cell phones, censorship, Chauvinism, China, Coming and Going, Confined and Controlled, consensual crime, cops, cult of the child, Deafening Silence, dehumanization, dirty, diversion programs, drugs, East Asia, end demand, Europe, evidence, Eye of the Beholder, Florida, gangs, gay rights, Gullible's Travels, Hall of Shame, harm reduction, hotels, hysteria, internet, Iran, Ireland, Italy, King of the Hill, Latin America, law, lawheads, Lying Down With Dogs, Middle East, Moloch, nanny state, neofeminism, North Carolina, Obfuscation via Dysphemisms, Oklahoma, Only Rights Can Stop the Wrongs, Opting Out, Policing for Profit, porn, prisons, prohibitionist myths, red-light districts, rescue industry, Russia, screening, serial killers, Sex Lies and Busybodies, sex offender registry, sex work is work, Sold Out, sporting events, streetwalkers, Surplus Women, Switzerland, Texas, That Old Black Magic, The Public Eye, Uncommon Sense, Under Every Bed, United Kingdom, universal criminality, Universally Criminal updates, violence vs. sex workers, Virginia, Washington (state), What Were You Thinking?, Wisconsin, Wise Investment, witchcraft, Worse Than I Thought, yellow journalism, Zurvivor on August 31, 2013| 17 Comments »
The Olympics are always a chance for hosts to do some moral cleansing, and drive away undesirables by brute force. – Scott Long
"The lawyer of a man convicted of building and promoting pornographic websites [in Iran] says a death sentence against his client has been converted to life imprisonment…blogger Saeed Malekpour will spend the rest of his life in jail…" There aren't too many other countries barbaric enough to sentence a man to life in a cage for "dirty" pictures, but I can think of at least one other.
The Eye of the Beholder (June Updates)
"The [Arkansas] Senate passed a bill…that would ban non-traditional…body art procedures, particularly scarification and dermal implants…"
Pay attention, sex worker activists:
The children of three women who were murdered by Robert Pickton have filed lawsuits against the police and the serial killer…They allege the Vancouver police and the RCMP failed to properly investigate reports of missing women and failed to warn women in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside that a serial killer was likely at work, despite having evidence implicating Pickton in the disappearance of sex workers as early as 1997 and 1998…
Surplus Women
The suspicious deaths of two prostitutes…has sparked a major investigation…The bodies of Jill Lyons and Karen Nabors, who both worked as online escorts, were discovered in an apartment building in Vancouver. Ms Lyons, 45, was discovered dead in her own apartment on August 12…The body of Ms Nabors was discovered on August 25, also in her own apartment, and police…suggest…the 48-year-old was murdered…
Gullible's Travels
Another ludicrous mini-panic from the clowns who brought you idosing, jenkem and vodka-soaked tampons:
"Parents, lock up your shower supplies"…is an actual quote from an announcement made…at a middle school just outside of Richmond, VA…of…a new practice called "shamboiling"…where shampoo is brought to a rapid boil and then the fumes are inhaled for a hallucinogenic effect…one thing is certain…shamboiling is catching on quickly and…is potentially deadly…The Sheriff's department is urging parents to check their shampoos for [ammonium lauryl sulfate] and to take the necessary precautions to keep these chemicals away from children…
Here's the debunking on Snopes.
Universal Criminality
A perfect example of how laws against consensual behavior are used by repressive governments to harass those they dislike:
Police have detained a Chinese-American…on suspicion of visiting a sex worker in Beijing as authorities crack down on bloggers. Charles Xue [AKA Xue Manzi], who has over 12 million followers on Sina Weibo…regularly reposts reform-minded content…Among those questioning the motive behind the arrest was the editor of the state-run Global Times newspaper. "Cannot rule out the possibility that authorities are arresting Xue Manzi…to give him a hard time," Hu Xijin wrote…in a blog posting that later disappeared…
Sex, Lies and Busybodies
Yet another "sex trafficking" opportunist exposed:
The founder of…anti-human trafficking NGO Sisha, Steve Morrish, announced…he was stepping down from his position due to a raft of allegations accusing him of financial impropriety…Sisha's alleged financial problems were revealed publicly…on August 8 in…the Cambodian blog Penhpal. The posting alleged that money donated to Sisha…"has instead been siphoned off to pay for the NGO's operating expenses"…
Is this idiotic enough yet? Can we stop now?
A 10-year-old girl…identified as "Ashley," was charged by police for aggravated sexual assault…[for] playing doctor…a neighbor saw the children and called the mother of a 4-year-old boy…[whom] Ashley was inappropriately touching…Ashley's mother…was not allowed to sit-in on the 45-minute questioning of her daughter…
Gail Dines threatens Radisson hotels
Confined and Controlled
If this were intended to increase sex workers' range of options, it's would be fine; however, it's clearly intended as a confinement system: "Several communities in Italy have launched a campaign to ban street prostitution and reintroduce brothels, which have been banned since 1958…"
Worse Than I Thought
As I predicted last year, the cancer keeps spreading:
…[new] legislation…in North Carolina….increases punishments for sex traffickers, i.e. pimps, as well as for purchasers, i.e. johns. It also focuses on "treating minors involved in prostitution as the victims they are, instead of criminals," [the bill's sponsor] said…"The legislation also offers hope to women who escape a life of prostitution by allowing them…relief to expunge their criminal pasts once they get treatment and help"…[another law] requires pimps to register as sex offenders…
As I've explained before, "safe harbor" laws are bullshit that help almost nobody; "treatment" means (usually religious) "re-education", and a "pimp" means just about anyone prosecutors decide to railroad.
Obfuscation Via Dysphemisms
Tulsa cops continue to justify persecution of adult women by pretending they're "trafficked": "Human trafficking has developed into a booming enterprise in Oklahoma…on a given night, the Vice Unit may deploy undercover police officers to respond to as many as 40 online advertisements posted by 'escorts' in preparation for prostitution stings that sometimes uncover cases of human trafficking…" Note the misplaced scare quotes, around "escorts" rather than "trafficking".
Jessica Land interviews Dr. Melissa Ditmore, a prominent academic ally, on her research, The Encyclopedia of Prostitution and Sex Work, sex worker projects and organizations, and international issues.
Here's an interesting article on the connection between harlotry and witchcraft:
…Prostitutes were widely believed to be specialists in erotic magic, especially the use of philtres to sway the feelings of those around them…For example, a woman may resort to a binding spell, to handicap rivals in the trade or lock down a steady client…These women were also sought by those outside the trade for their magical expertise. Those in troubled marriages might consult a prostitute to concoct a love potion to rekindle the affections of a wayward spouse…
Most of this CNN story is the usual lurid "sex trafficking" rubbish, but I want to call attention to a fascinating new development: "king of the hill" stories are now specifically claiming their subjects are the "third-busiest area for sex trafficking in the United States" (see also "Under Every Bed" below) rather than just "one of the busiest" or "in the top ten". As usual, the Department of Justice is credited for the "statistic" despite the fact that neither it nor any other agency keeps any kind of state-by-state "trafficking" statistics. I suspect the "third largest" designation arose through confusion with the claim that "human trafficking is the third-largest criminal enterprise" (though that one's been upgraded to second), but it will be interesting to see how many claim to be the "third largest" before anyone in the mainstream media starts to awaken.
What the Hell Were You Thinking? (TW3 #135)
A new Irish company named Safe IQ "develops safety products and services for sex workers…and raises awareness of the need for [them] to have the same protections as other workers." Here's its first product:
Ugly Mugs for Android is a [free] mobile phone app that automatically screens incoming and outgoing calls and text messages and alerts the phone user if the…number…is listed in the UglyMugs.ie database…When a sex worker encounters a dangerous person, they [sic] can report the incident to the ugly mug scheme, and a warning will be made available to all sex workers…
Only Rights Can Stop the Wrongs (TW3 #312)
Only a hopeless lawhead could imagine that closing red-light districts will make prostitution go away:
Hundreds of sex workers confronted the mayor of Indonesia's second-largest city…angrily denouncing the closure of the Klakah Rejo district…The crowd later tore down a "Prostitution-Free Town" billboard erected by officials…"What's going on?"…the mayor [said]…"We're trying to help but they are refusing." Surabaya is also home to Dolly, reputedly the largest red-light district in South-East Asia. The mayor said that one and other red-light districts would be closed as the city aimed to be prostitution-free by 2014.
Under Every Bed
Wisconsin is one of "the top three states" for sex trafficking, according to…Michelle Mayefske… Not all prostitution is trafficking. Some women, referred to as "renegades," simply decide to sell sex and are not controlled or managed by anyone, but "that is very, very rare," she said…"Gangs are now turning from drugs to human trafficking…[because] drugs can be sold only once and then they're gone, whereas…a woman or a child can be sold over and over and over…Georgia, California and Wisconsin have the highest rates of sex trafficking in the United States, so we are in the top three"…
1) This is the second time I've heard this "renegade" bullshit; neither I nor anyone I asked knows where it comes from. 2) I think Mayefske is extremely confused about the concept of "sale". 3) She needs to talk to Florida.
Veteran human rights activist Scott Long argues that activists who compare Russia's anti-gay purge to the Nazi campaign against Jews are not only wrongheaded, but missing the most obvious comparison:
If Western gay…activists want to know what Putin's decree will mean in practice: ask a sex worker…Before every big sporting event, the same rhetoric reverberates: Prostitutes are going to take over this town…The predictions are nearly always couched as concern for "trafficked" women, but they…come down to…anxieties over nuisances to "normal" neighbors, and…the reputation of the host city…What major sporting events bring is not an "explosion" in prostitution, but an explosion in repression…not in evil Russia, but in liberal Canada and the UK, countries that value human rights, except for sex workers, who aren't human…Yet in London, few powerful voices opposed the Olympic rollback of sex workers' freedom — and certainly few LGBT activists…
Deafening Silence
"The treatment of sex workers in Cuba, including confinement for the purpose of 're-education', was raised by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women…the…committee said it was "deeply concerned" about Cuba's reluctance to address the issue of prostitution…" The United States' confinement and "re-education" of sex workers, however, causes the committee no concern at all. Funny how that works.
…two of the largest and most well funded LGBT rights groups in the US have stayed quiet about Manning…whose revelations about the US Army's actions epitomize social justice in action…the [silence of the] Human Rights Campaign and GLAAD…has been deafening… the HRC…[has] the financial backing of…Lockheed Martin…Booz Allen Hamilton…[and] Northrop Grumman…GLAAD has…Goldman Sachs…and Verizon…
Coming and Going (TW3 #331)
Kate Zen takes a long, thorough look at Texas' "prostitution diversion" program and its founder, Kathryn Griffin; she examines the program's lack of any of the normal benefits of such schemes, its close relationship to the rescue industry, its pervasive Christian moralism and its ignoring all of the actual reasons women turn to prostitution in favor of a sin and victimization narrative.
Federal and state law-enforcement officers poured into Tukwila [Washington]…seizing three motels whose operators are suspected of participating in illegal drugs and prostitution…U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan…said that the three hotels…have accounted for 17 percent of all calls for police services in the past year…investigators believe the owners actively profited from criminal activity…Durkan said…[her] office will…actively use…seizures to force compliance…
Uncommon Sense (Extra Edition)
Though most English-language media is pretending Zurich's tippelzone scheme is something new, it is nothing of the kind; this article lists a number of other cities in Germany, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands with similar setups.
Zurvivor (Extra Edition)
…Donald Hill was acquitted…on a charge of [paying]…Alexis Wright, after a judge ruled prosecutors were not able to prove that money was exchanged. The ruling could affect any additional charges of individuals alleged to have engaged Wright's services…
An example of why "porn filters" are a spectacularly bad idea:
A man using the British Library's wi-fi network was denied access to…Hamlet because the text contained "violent content"…the…library said the fault was caused by a newly installed wi-fi service from a third-party provider. One security expert said the incident highlighted the "dysfunction" of internet filters…Prof Ross Anderson…[said] internet filters were "pointless" and that it was "completely inappropriate" to have one in the British Library…
Posted in Current Events, History, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Philosophy, Q & A, Tyranny, tagged Above the Law, Africa, agency denial, Another Small Victory, Australia, bogus studies, brothels, Canada, censorship, Central Asia, China, Colorado, consensual crime, cops, cosmetic surgery, cult of the child, Deafening Silence, dirty, disease, Do As I Say, Europe, evidence, FBI, Florida, Follow Your Bliss, France, hysteria, illegal aliens, internet, Iran, Islam, Korea, Lack of Evidence, Latin America, law, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Middle East, Mind Reading, Minnesota, nanny state, Nevada, New York, Not To Be Taken Internally, Only Rights Can Stop the Wrongs, Pimping the Pimp, pimps, politicians, porn, Presents, prisons, Profound Ignorance, prohibitionist myths, racism, rape, Rome, Russia, Rwanda, screening, sex offender registry, Somehow I Doubt..., streetwalkers, surveillance, Sweden, Texas, The Crumbling Dam, The End of the Beginning, The Enlightenment Police, The More the Better, The Widening Gyre, Think of the Children!, TSA, underage, United Kingdom, vaccines, video, Virginia, Washington (state), What If They Threw a Party?, Where Are the Protests?, Where Are the Victims?, Zurvivor on June 22, 2013| 23 Comments »
The idea that [no coerced prostitutes] ever indicate their plight to any of the hundreds of thousands of men who make up their clientele, or that if they do none of those men reports it to police, is simply fantastical. No one with any experience of real live human beings could possibly believe it. – Tim Worstall
…For the past two decades, parents who've lost children in horrible ways have tried to memorialize them in law…But…support for… "apostrophe laws"…is waning…recession…made officials…hesitant to increase costs…from…more prisoners and longer sentences…the drop in the crime rate…made tougher laws…less politically compelling…[and] the lower-hanging fruit has been picked…
Lack of Evidence
"A [West Australian] businesswoman claims…police have stopped her repeatedly…in the crackdown on street prostitution. Rebecca Williams says…officers…[demanded] to know what she was doing and [checked] her identification…" Of course she's wholly clueless, protesting that she doesn't "look like a prostitute".
Must…resist…snark…
A [Las Vegas] police officer is facing five counts of soliciting…while he was investigating crimes of prostitution…Investigators followed [Peter] Connell for months and witnessed him…visiting the apartment of Mary Anne Moore, who had previous prostitution arrests…
Somehow, I Doubt He Thought This Through
A man…dialed 999 to complain about a prostitute's looks…[saying] he "wished to report her for breaching the Sale of Goods Act"…Officers…sent…a letter warning him about wasting police time…
The Enlightenment Police
A young Muslim woman miscarried after being attacked by two Parisian champions of women's rights: "first [they] tried taking her headscarf off and later cut off her hair…After she screamed out that she was pregnant, one of the attackers started kicking her in the stomach…[shouting] that the veil was no longer acceptable in France…"
The Crumbling Dam
This article entitled "Faith Groups Oppose Legal Prostitution Because They Care About Women's Lives" is just the usual collection of sin-and-degradation prohibitionist control freak myths; the comment thread, however, is a thing of beauty.
Mind Reading (November Updates)
Why do so many politicians think sex overrides the Constitution?
Pierce County [Washington] might make it illegal for suspected prostitutes and their customers to attempt to detect undercover officers…by "exposing oneself or asking another to do so; by asking to be touched sexually; or by requesting to touch or touching another sexually"…
Where Are the Protests?
Notice what words we aren't seeing here:
Agents from the Department of Homeland Security raided [several] 7-Eleven shops in New York and Virginia…Nine store owners and managers have been arrested on charges of harboring and hiring undocumented immigrants…the raids are a part of an investigation into human smuggling, identity theft and money laundering…authorities described the alleged situation as a "modern day plantation system"…
Not To Be Taken Internally
…Suyima Torres…[died 10 hours after receiving buttocks injections] at…Cuerpos Health and Aesthetics on April 11…she…was rushed to the hospital…by the center's owner, Ruth Planas…the Venezuelan doctor who performed the surgery…is thought to have fled the country…Torres died only 16 days after…20-year-old Dailen Garcia, received butt implants from the same facility…[and] was hospitalized …for vision problems and bleeding lungs…
Presents, Presents, Presents!
Reader George sent me a copy of Meet the Fokkens and a gift card, with the suggestion I use it to buy the movie Diamond Men (which I did). Thank you so much, George!
Texas jailers…"repeatedly raped and humiliated female inmates"…[who've now] sued Live Oak County and its…jailers Vincent Aguilar, Israel Charles Jr. and Jaime E. Smith…All three…were arrested in August 2010 and charged with sexual assault…Smith and Aguilar are in…prison…"these guards would withhold food and water, engage in physical abuse, restrict privileges and verbally and emotionally abuse the women – even threaten to kill them in order to compel their compliance"…
In which we learn that nail parlors are havens of "sex trafficking":
…the advocacy group ECPAT estimates 100,000 minors are forced into prostitution or pornography each year — but no one knows how vast the problem is because it's under reported and underground, said Kathy Maitland of the Michigan Abolitionist project…"It's the second-largest-growing activity in our country"…She says Michigan is especially vulnerable because of a large agricultural industry…and its location along an international border…Lt. Wendy Reyes…said…"If we had more manpower we…could get online…and find these victims"…trafficking is often linked to online and street prostitution, ethnic restaurants, masseuse businesses, pornography and nail salons…iEmpathize founder Brad Riley…called…the proliferation of pornography…a "super fuel" that promotes trafficking…
Beside the usual rampant illogic, mathematical illiteracy, blatant racism and "King of the Hill" foolishness, you've got to love Wendy's claim that cops need to web surf all day to "find victims".
The More the Better (TW3 #27)
French footballers Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema go on trial in Paris…accused of paying…Zahia Dehar…for sex in 2008 and 2009…Algerian-born Dehar, now 21, has since become designer Karl Lagerfeld's muse and protégée, launching her own lingerie line…State prosecutors have requested that the case be dropped, however, arguing the footballers did not know Dehar was a minor…
Follow Your Bliss (TW3 #44)
"A…top [TSA] officer…[named Miguel Quinones] was arrested on child pornography charges after items were seized from his locker at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport…" As explained in the referenced column, the TSA is well-known for attracting pedophiles.
Q & A (TW3 #134)
"Twenty-two female escorts were arrested last week during a two-day sting in…Denver…The women were advertising on two websites — DenverBackPage.com and Preferred411.com…" Despite the involvement of the FBI's lugubriously-named "Innocence Lost" project, note that verified professional adult escorts were targeted via P411; these cops had no illusions they might find "trafficked children". In fact, the sting was enabled by one creating a fake profile and then arranging several "coffee dates" with escorts and asking for "OKs", which the escorts gave in violation of P411 rules; their accounts were suspended for their negligence in enabling predatory monsters to hurt other sex workers. Ladies, ONLY give OKs to men you actually see behind closed doors; how can you possibly know whether a man is dangerous if you've only seen him in public?
Profound Ignorance (TW3 #310)
A scathing demolition of the horrendous "study" which claimed legalized prostitution increases "sex trafficking", and also of the "sheer implausibility of the claims that 30% of all prostitutes are trafficked…":
The…scare campaign…over "sex trafficking"…becomes a complete and total mess…because [campaigners confuse]…the transport of unwilling people…into forced prostitution…and…the illegal movement of willing people across borders to enter the sex trade…people from poorer countries…wish to…move…to richer countries. And such is the system of immigration laws that many of them will be unable to do this legally…
Cathy Reisenwitz also had a few things to say:
…The Guardian recently quoted UK solicitor general Oliver Heald QC describing "victims" of trafficking as people who pay a lot of money to escape their home countries and then are forced to pay it back…That's not slavery, it's indentured servitude, and it accounts for two-thirds of immigrants to America from the British Isles in the 17th century. Anti-prostitution and anti-immigration campaigners have hijacked the term "human trafficking" to describe any instance of a person crossing a border to do sex work…It requires buying into the rather insulting idea that women aren't capable of choosing to leave their homes and do sex work abroad…once you establish that women aren't capable of making their own choices, you can justify taking all kinds of rights and liberties away from them…
Corrections officials are refusing to remove a sex offender's name from the state's public database, defying [the] order…[of] The Court of Appeals [which] ruled…that [Robert Merle Haines Jr.] should not be named on the…registry because [it] did not exist at the time of his crime and registration would be a form of retroactive punishment, which the Maryland Constitution doesn't allow. Corrections officials say federal…requirements prevent them from complying with the ruling…
Meanwhile, in Minnesota:
…Minnesota's Sex Offender…Task Force…[is] redesigning the…program…each of the state's 687 committed sex offenders [costs]…about $120,000 a year…with…50 more…each year…The task force came into existence as part of a lawsuit filed by the committed sex offenders, who argue the…program is unconstitutional because…no one is actually treated and released, thereby creating an indefinite incarceration system even after the offenders have served their criminal [sentences]…
Another Small Victory (TW3 #317)
As expected, the "anti-prostitution pledge" was struck down in the SCOTUS. This is not actually a victory for sex worker rights in the big picture; it was decided wholly on first-amendment grounds and the "allies" were at best ones of convenience. If you'd like to read more about the details and implications, I recommend Melissa Gira Grant, Popehat and Mike Siegel.
"The Ionian Dance" by Sir Edward John Poynter (1895) was recently rediscovered after being "lost" since 1915. It depicts a scene from ancient Pompeii.
If anyone really believes this is anything but an attempt to save face, I have some lovely beachfront property for sale:
For the first time, the State Department on Wednesday declared China and Russia among the worst offending countries…a designation that will lead to sanctions against both…the…2013 report on Trafficking in Persons (TIP)…officially downgraded China, Russia, and Uzbekistan to the lowest possible rating…along with Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Sudan, and Zimbabwe…
What If They Threw a Party and Nobody Came? (TW3 #321)
The prevalence of dangerous strains of the human papillomavirus…has dropped by half among teenage girls in recent years, a striking measure of success for a vaccine…that was introduced only in 2006…The magnitude of the decline…surprised…experts because only about a third of teenage girls in the United States have [received]…the full course of three doses. By comparison, vaccination rates in…Denmark…Britain [and]…Rwanda…[have] reached 80 percent…
When this happens in India, it's a media circus; in Sweden…{cricket sounds}: "Six teenage boys aged 15 to 17 were convicted on Friday after raping a 15-year-old girl in…Stockholm…The case was the third…gang rape to take place in the Stockholm area…this year…"
The Mills of the Gods
Despite the annoying visuals and a few clumsy phrases in the first third, this is an excellent argument against prohibition of sex work.
Where are the Victims? (TW3 #322)
A novel attempt to use New York State's sex trafficking law…ended with mixed results…as the men were convicted…of promoting prostitution and of money laundering, but…acquitted of…sex trafficking…The law defines trafficking based on the methods the pimps use to control the prostitutes, rather than whether the prostitutes view themselves as victims…prosecutors…presented an expert to testify that women working as prostitutes are often not aware that they are victims. But three of the women themselves testified for the defense…and…were upset…at the…[suggestion] they were not to be believed…
Consider for a moment the incredibly dangerous precedent a prosecution victory would have set; state "experts" would be allowed to define any person as a victim in any crime regardless of that person's viewpoint.
Zurvivor
"The owner of a Lawrence [Massachusetts] massage parlor coerced employees to perform sex acts on…customers, some of whom were videotaped without the clients' knowledge…Authorities said Barron used the videotapes to blackmail employees to keep working for her…" Dear ethically-challenged sex business owners: Stop videotaping clients, you moron. See, there's this thing called "evidence"…
Pimping the Pimp
More egregious use of "pimp" mythology to justify Nevada's draconian "sex trafficking" law:
Because of their age, they will have difficulty working inside most [hotels]. For most, that means hitting the streets under the eye of a pimp and more experienced prostitutes. And the more they must rely on the pimp, the more difficult it is to pry them from his clutches…So when Assembly Bill 67 surfaced…earlier this year, the police welcomed it as a way to send a message to pimps that there would be a higher price to pay for running young girls…
Once again: teens don't turn to sex work because a "pimp" abducts them from their loving families, and 84% of them have never as much as met one.


text:
TechRadar pro
IT insights for business
Toshiba Portege R700 review
The latest generation of the Portege ultraportable looks to be the best
By Tech staff 2010-07-29T10:00:00.209Z Laptops and netbooks
Despite the small and light form factor, Toshiba have crammed in some seriously powerful components
Small and light
Core i7 CPU
Decent build quality
Spongy keyboard
The Portege R600 has long been one of our favourite ultraportables and it has now been upgraded with the Portégé R700 – the lightest Intel Core-powered laptop we've seen at 1.1kg.
Toshiba claims up to nine hours of battery power will be on offer, but since our review sample was a pre-production unit, we were unable to confirm this.
Despite its tiny form factor, the review sample we saw featured a high-powered Intel Core i7 620M processor and 4096MB of DDR3 memory. Core i3 and i5 models are also planned for release and even at this pre-production stage this is one of the most powerful ultraportables we've seen.
During preliminary testing, we found the laptop extremely fast to use, running standard office applications and more demanding programs with ease.
The use of an integrated Intel GMA HD graphics card means even basic multimedia tasks such as photo or video editing are also possible.
Toshiba and Intel have developed what they call Airflow Cooling Technology. This places the core components near the chassis' edge so that a fan can continually draw cool air into the chassis to be blown over the components to keep them cool.
The system works well in allowing such powerful components to be used inside such a small laptop, but we did notice the left side of the chassis gets quite hot during intensive use.
As well as being thin and light, the chassis is incredibly tough. Only the lid feels flimsy, but is in fact designed to flex under pressure, reducing the risk of cracking.
The 13.3-inch screen uses transflective LED screen technology for optimum visibility indoors and out, and the panel provides great colour and contrast.
Usability is less impressive, although this could be a result of our pre-production test machine, with the isolated-style keyboard proving one of the spongiest we've used.
To keep the chassis as light as possible, a 128GB Solid State Drive (SSD) has been used rather than a standard 2.5-inch hard drive. While SSDs are less prone to data loss caused by knocks and bumps and also provide very fast access to your data, the limited storage space is an unfortunate trade-off.
More pleasing is the fact that Toshiba has managed to squeeze a DVD rewriter into such a small laptop, for read/write access to CDs and DVDs.
Connectivity is also top-notch, courtesy of 802.11n Wi-Fi, Gigabit Ethernet. There's also a 3G module for wireless broadband access.
Even at this pre-production stage, we're very impressed by the Portege R700. While there are a few minor niggles, we're confident they will all be resolved for mass-production and this is sure to be a big winner for Toshiba.
Follow TechRadar Reviews on Twitter: http://twitter.com/techradarreview
Free to Access, Read and Share
Build Your First Website eBook
In association with GoDaddy
Techradar Pro has teamed up with GoDaddy to produce a website-hosting tips eBook, looking at how to plan your website, picking the right domain name and great ways to promote your website.
READ MORE TODAY
Have a read and let us know what you think. The aim is to inform and provide insight to those interested in building their first real website.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Last week, a man won a rather unusual prize in a raffle: a bookshop. This story from Britain is rather heartening because it's a nice little tale of business owners not being driven by greed.
The owner of a bookshop in the West Wales town of Cardigan decided on this novel way to dispose of his business after he decided to retire due to his worsening osteoarthritis.
Paul Morris, 52, says he decided against selling the shop because "I thought instead, let's give someone an opportunity in life which they otherwise might not have had. The principle was to make sure the shop continues in good hands".
The shop, called Bookends, is a profitable business which, reportedly, would have sold for around £30,000, yet Morris opted to raffle it off because it was important to him that he be sure that it would "continue in good hands".
He organised this process over three months so that during this period any customer who spent more than £20 was eligible to be entered in the draw. The lucky winner (picked out of a hat from 60 names) is a Dutchman named Ceisjan Van Heerden, who was a regular customer at the bookshop.
Van Heerden is a lover of books, and is now looking forward to running his own bookshop. Morris says that he is happy with his decision to raffle off the business, and glad that the bookshop will be run by somebody who was a regular customer, and is a lover of books. He also says he would not have retired had it not been for his worsening arthiritis.
Morris's decision is both bold and intriguing. It is bold because it is rare for people not to choose the more lucrative option in a scenario like this. And it is intriguing because it illustrates that some people are still passionate enough about their work to care about whether the business then "goes to a good home".
I actually feel a degree of envy for the owner who raffled off his business. He seems to have formulated an answer to one of the most difficult questions: when is enough money actually 'enough'?
Morris is unusual in that he decided on an option that did not make him any great profit. Twenty to thirty thousand pounds could have been a useful sum for a man suffering from osteoarthritis in his early 50s, yet he and his wife appear to have decided that they would be fine without the money.
It's unusual behaviour because where money and assets are concerned most of us seem to be suffering from deep insecurities and anxieties. The whole question of what constitutes 'enough' — i.e. when is enough wealth actually enough is, in reality, a very difficult one, and one where most people would say that it was their duty not to behave in an irresponsible financial manner.
It's on questions like this that most of us get entangled in anxieties about the inheritance you should (apparently) be providing your children or grandchildren. There are very few individuals whose families are willing to allow them to give away wealth and property. Of course you do have cases of people giving away most of their assets in their lifetime, but these are few and far between.
So while in the story of 'the man who won a bookshop in a raffle', most people would envy the winner of the raffle, I actually feel a degree of envy (and admiration) for the owner who raffled off his business. This is because he seems to have formulated an answer to one of the most difficult questions we should keep asking ourselves: i.e. when is enough money actually 'enough'?
Most people would answer 'never'!


text:
Stegmania is a HIT and Quavo's performance is a SLAM DUNK
Coby Serina
Sports UGA Basketball No Comments
In an electric pre-season showcase, the Georgia Athletic Association and its men's and women's basketball teams showed up and showed out in front of a packed house for the return of Stegmania.
Three-point competitions, dunk contests, and a performance from Athens native and hit rapper Quavo hyped up the crowd, sourcing the energy needed to give the basketball teams and coaches a proper welcome.
Quavo, a member of Atlanta rap trio Migos, headlined the evening, performing only a few songs but making his presence felt in every way possible. The artist could be seen jumping around with the basketball teams getting them hype and even climbed into the stands to give fans a real close-up. He also made sure to Call the Dawgs and prepare the crowd for the upcoming football game against Auburn.
Another notable appearance was Maria Taylor, a former Georgia athlete and graduate of the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. She gave a short pep talk and, alongside four others, served as judges for the men's dunk contest.
The energy in the building during Stegmania was impressive, to say the least. Multiple players who were interviewed after the event continued to emphasize the importance of turnout to keep vibes high and, in turn create a hostile home environment for opposing teams. Senior transfer Diamond Battles said she was "excited" after seeing the crowd at Stegmania.
It's a new era of Georgia Basketball. With new men's and women's coaches and teams that look much different than last year, it's hard to come up with expectations for what's to come this season. The potential is there from both the teams' side and the fans' side. We'll just have to show up and watch for ourselves.
Coach Abe Coach White Qauvo Stegmania Quavo StegMania UGA basketball UGA men's basketball UGA migos UGA women's basketball
prev KNOX CULPEPPER III – JUNKYARD DAWG WHOSE ACTIONS DID THE TALKING
A View From…Auburn next


text:
Q: when I call Gatsby develop in local, I can not access the localhost:[port]. What's the problem? I installed the gatsby websites from gatsby-starter-drupal-websites. I installed npm modules and call "gatsby develop" in terminal. My System is windows. When I visit the localhost:[port] on my browser, I can see the message as following. "This site can't be reachedlocalhost refused to connect." The console echo no issues and everything is oky. but I don't know the reason. Could you help me? Regards
I should visit the localhost:[port].

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
New cargo tariff appears to be bringing some…
New cargo tariff appears to be bringing some early compliance at the Port of LA
A train load of containers heading to the Port of Los Angeles on Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 13, 2021. (Photo by Dean Musgrove, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
PUBLISHED: November 4, 2021 at 5:49 p.m. | UPDATED: November 5, 2021 at 6:43 a.m.
A pending tariff that will charge ocean carriers for containers left too long on terminal property appears to be motivating faster movement of cargo before any fines have even been assessed.
Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka gave a report to the LA harbor commission on Thursday, Nov. 4, during which he said he was encouraged by what appears to be a proactive move to comply with the new regulation.
The new fee was announced on Oct. 25 and approved by commissioners four days later. The Port of Long Beach also has the same policy in place.
The "Container Excess Dwell Fee" is designed to clear docks needed to unload the large backup of ships outside the twin ports.
When the new fees — which are to be in effect for 90 days as of Nov. 1 — were announced, there were 91,300 containers in the LA port. Nearly 39,000 of those — or about 40% — had sat there for nine days or more, Seroka said.
As of 9:30 p.m. Wednesday night, Nov. 3, imports (on dock) were at 73,500, with cargo that had been sitting there for nine days or longer cut to 34,500.
"If we look back and compare that to Oct. 26, we see that the total number of containers on our docks has been reduced by 20% from that peak of 91,300 down to 73,500 containers," Seroka said. "This is definitely starting to head in the right direction."
A Port of Long Beach spokesman said there were about 25,000 containers at its terminals on Oct. 28 that would qualify for the fine. That number was 19% lower a week later, on Thursday.
While the program launched Nov. 1, fees won't be levied until Nov. 15, port officials said, in order give companies time to adjust and make the necessary changes to clear out old cargo.
Under the joint policy, the ports will charge ocean carriers for each import container that falls under one of two categories: those being moved by truck that remain on dock at least nine days and containers leaving by rail that remain for at least six days.
Harbor Commissioner Anthony Pirozzi said news that older cargo already was being moved out was promising.
"We really don't want to charge anybody the fee," he said. "We just want them to pick up their cargo.
"I'm encouraged by what we've seen over the last 10 days but there's still work to do," Pirozzi added. "While recently unloaded cargo is moving out faster, older cargo still isn't moving as fast as it needs to."
Worker dies in accident at Port of Long Beach


Tokai Forum - a subsidiary of TokaiRegistry.com :: View topic - Whaaaaat? E bay howlers and general silliness.
Whaaaaat? E bay howlers and general silliness.
Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2010 7:52 pm Post subject: Whaaaaat? E bay howlers and general silliness.
http://www.gumtree.com/london/04/66042504.html You couldn`t make this up! Gabe.
OMG!!! Major GAS outbreak! I've been looking for one of these to go with my cassette player.
Crap?? But it's a Tokai!!! What are you saying man?
It's probably rather more rare than a typical Goldstar, yet these are often described as "rare", even in the UK, where we have quite a lot of them.
Fine, get it wax potted.
You may mock Mr. Gabe, but wait until you hear the tone on these babies.
According to a comment on YouTube, it's a "magical singing japanese sperm monster".