The Honest Courtesan

Possession of marihuana [sic] is generally a private behavior; in order to find it, the police many times must operate on the edge of constitutional limitations. Arrests without probable cause, illegal searches and selective enforcement occur often enough to arouse concern about the integrity of the criminal process.  –  Report of the Shafer Commission, 1972

It wasn’t a slow week for links; they’re just all on topics that need to go into the news columns, which as I write this are stacked three deep.  Anyway, I decided to share another movie from the Paramount Vault: King Creole, set in my home town, which most critics agree is Elvis’ best movie.  And the King’s love interest?  A young and stunning Carolyn Jones, best remembered as Morticia Addams.  The links above the flick were provided by Popehat (“boogers” and “19”) and Scott Greenfield (“together”).

• Clearly, we need a War on Boogers.
• Your periodic reminder of the TSA’s pure awfulness.
• Government is just a word for the things we choose to do together.
• This tells me US cities have at least 19x as many cops as they should.

From the Archives

• Understatement, sequels, photobomb, Dr. Who, mutants, bureaucracy, cops, Etsy, images, super powers and Yakety Sax.
• It’s astonishing that supposedly rational adults in the Canadian government need this explained to them.
• Would anyone but a modern US “journalist” portray sex as a new & novel way to get pregnant?
• What was once the stuff of dystopian fiction has become a horrible reality.
• Power-mad politician uses excuse of “sex trafficking” to grow government.
• County bucks trend by claiming its “sex trafficking” rate has gone down.
• Study shows how safe people feel admitting to various sexual fantasies.
• Aspasia analyzes a painting that may have hung in a Storyville brothel.
• So much for barcode tattoos, evil clients & “controlled communication”.
• Cops break law trying to trick women into doing something not illegal.
• Maybe this guy thought it was a genital-equipped Polish stuffed horse?
• About as awful and tone-deaf as an anti-criminalization article can be.
• “Gay men and women should be the most vocal allies of sex workers“.
• US public schools allow religious fanatics to lie to students about sex.
• Cameron wants husbands to ask wives for permission to watch porn.
• Low-caste Nepalese women are criminalized in order to “save” them.
• In which I salvage an anti-prohibition article from the memory hole.
• Overreaction to “revenge porn” vs near-silence on mugshot sites.
• Officials imagine raids will force dirty whores to take menial jobs.
• As woman dies, cops argue about charging her with prostitution.
• Politician claims 25% of all “sex trafficking victims” are in Texas.
• Another example of the “limited hours for massage parlors” fad.
• Sweden mandates that video games “promote gender equality”.
• Florida cops use mass surveillance to send harassment letters.
• The beginning of the collapse of Somaly Mam’s edifice of lies.
• Another court rules against strip clubs’ exploitative practices.
• What do I do if I suspect my boyfriend is having a gay affair?
• When will guys learn cheating hookers is a really bad idea?
• Cops make competing stupid statements about Backpage.
• Posting jaywalker mugshots in order to deter car thieves.
• Norwegian politician wants prostitution fully criminalized.
• Do Polish stuffed animal toys usually come with genitals?
• Former mountie debunks Canadian “sex trafficking” lies.
• Another “sex trafficking” narrative typed with one hand.
• In which a common type of tattoo is recast as a “brand”.
• More anti-guest-post-spammer genius from Popehat.
• Why I sometimes wait to write about news items.
• Christopher Lee’s Omnibus of Evil and The Weird.
• How much higher can these nonsense figures go?
• Cops, PETA, Orson Welles and the honey badger.
• If only American celebrities were so principled.
• Another claim that disasters cause harlotry.
• The aftermath of a high-profile brothel raid.
• Another “sex trafficking” liar is exposed.
• The San Antonio Four are free at last.
• Another criticism of “sex ray” idiocy.
• “Deserve” has nothing to do with it.
• Pull the other one, Little Rock cops.
• Advice for would-be sugar babies.
• More on my first visit to Seattle.
• Do as we say, not as we do.
• On the awful SAVE Act.
• Rapist cop of the week.
• “Today I am a pimp“.