As I told you last week, I’m going to start taking it kind of easy on Fridays. Obviously, the columns that publish on Friday aren’t actually written on Friday, but days before; this one, for example, was written on Wednesday afternoon. But that still works well, because when I travel it’s generally during the week, and the shorter Friday columns are the kind of things it will be easy to put together in hotel rooms, airports or even airplanes. It’s also really appropriate that I made this change at this time of year; the Dog Days (roughly June 24th-August 23rd) are the hottest, laziest part of the summer, and period in which my seasonal anxiety tends to be worst. Yes, it’s caused by the longer days, so one would expect it would be worst in June and July; however, that’s not accounting for my stubbornness. I tend to fight mood shifts for as long as I can (which is why I’ve been known to break down weeks, months or even years after a crisis is past); August is when I generally break down and succumb to the mood until the approaching autumn revives me. So if you look back in the archives, you’ll notice that it’s not unusual for me to feature at least a few short, easy, “phoned in” columns around this time of year; really, the only thing that’s changing is that I’m giving myself permission to do it every week now.
Archive for August, 2017
The Dog Days
Posted in Miscellaneous, tagged blogging, psychology on August 11, 2017| 2 Comments »
Isolation and Improvement
Posted in Miscellaneous, Q & A, tagged advertising, internet, Mentoring, sex work is work, sisterhood, Washington (state) on August 10, 2017| 1 Comment »
Although lucrative, this is a very isolating career. Your website eases that some, but I was wondering if you ever offer business coaching for providers? If not, perhaps you are aware of a reputable coach you could direct me towards? Although I’ve been in this business for a few years now, and I have a stellar reputation, I feel there is room for improvement.
You’re exactly right, this career can be extremely isolating; one of the reasons I moved to Seattle is because of the amazing sex worker community here, which is unlike any other I’ve ever seen in any other city. We communicate with each other, socialize with one another, help each other out and even date one another; I really wish it could be like this in every city, especially in criminalized regimes like the US where that kind of interpersonal support is vital.
Unfortunately, I’m actually a terrible person to ask for advice on this subject; though I’m a top-notch sex worker, I’m not a very good businesswoman and I’m pretty bad at internet marketing, too. If it weren’t for my natural gifts and talents, literally decades of experience and the attention my writing brings, I probably wouldn’t make enough to live on. As I wrote in “Teacher’s Pet” (which is worth reading in its entirety, BTB):
The market has changed considerably since I learned the trade, and I really haven’t kept up; the only reason I do as well as I do is that I’m Maggie Fucking McNeill, a widely recognized sex symbol. In other words, my brand is already built, and all I have to do is maintain it. But if I had to give someone else advice on web development, tailoring one’s ads to the clientele one wishes to attract, and all that kind of thing, I’d be utterly hopeless; unless you’re willing to devote over half your waking hours to become a well-known blogger for six years while making practically no money at all, I just don’t think my experience is transferable to your situation.
The only three ways in which I might be able to help are 1) I’m going to post this as Thursday’s column, and maybe someone may pop up in the comments to offer help; 2) If you like, I can forward your information to a screener/booker who may be able to assist; 3) I can pass your info on to a friend of mine who helps new girls get started in Seattle; I can’t promise she’ll be willing to help or that she’ll be able to tell you anything you don’t already know, but it’s a possibility. So here’s #1 (keep your eyes open to Twitter today, too) and if you want me to put you in contact with either of those other ladies, do let me know.
(Have a question of your own? Please consult this page to see if I’ve answered it in a previous column, and if not just click here to ask me via email.)
In the News (#763)
Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged agency denial, Amsterdam, asset seizure, Backpage, Backwards into the Future, censorship, cops, Dutch Threat, evidence, hysteria, illegal aliens, Lack of Evidence, language, law, male prostitutes, Minnesota, Netherlands, New York, Now They Notice, Ohio, Policing for Profit, Rooted in Racism, Safe Targets, South Africa, surveillance, Swedish model, The Mote and the Beam, The Widening Gyre, United Kingdom, violence vs. sex workers on August 9, 2017| 2 Comments »
My business was…illegal, but it shouldn’t have been. – Jeffrey Hurant
Naturally; they can steal more money from whores, and we don’t shoot back:
…Scotland Yard has been…threatening to prosecute women who work in brothels rather than pursue an armed gang of robbers who have been repeatedly targeting premises used for sex work…The shadow Brexit secretary, Keir Starmer…has written to the Metropolitan police in support of one of the victims…who is a constituent of his…Starmer said letters sent by the Met threatening women with prosecution…“could make it more difficult to stay in touch with victims of violent crimes”…The Met denies there is evidence of connected attacks on brothels and [pretends] that criminalising prostitutes is not a priority…
Sometimes “trafficking” just means “bringing in brown people“:
A huge human trafficking ring that has been flying hundreds of Iranian migrants, some as young as five, into Britain has been smashed…The alleged leader of the criminal gang was detained at Heathrow as he tried to escape justice by flying to Brazil. Another 14 gang members were held in Malaga…more than 200 people a year had been smuggled by the gang for around 10 years…Europol said the gang had run a “perfectly structured” criminal operation in which each migrant was charged around £22,000 and provided with accommodation, transfers and flights. There was no immediate information from the Home Office about how many Iranians have managed to enter Britain illegally or whether any of those detained have been removed from the country…
Notice the use of “ring” as dysphemism for “business”, and “gang members” as dysphemisms for “employees”; note also the pretense that just because a business violates stupid laws makes it somehow surprising that it’s well-run. Nobody would consider it newsworthy that an ordinary travel agency had only 200 customers a year; if anything, that qualifies as a rather small business. Note also the phrase “as young as five”, borrowed from “sex trafficking” propaganda; why are we supposed to be shocked that people moving to another country would take their children along? Personally, I think it’d be more newsworthy if they left them behind.
A rare victory for sex workers against “sex trafficking” hysteria:
Amsterdam’s policy that prostitutes must share personal information with brothel owners, is in violation of the Personal Data Protection Act, the court in Amsterdam ruled…The court was dissatisfied with Amsterdam’s policy on various points, especially on the intake conversation brothel operators have to have with prostitutes before they start working there. The municipality made this intake conversation obligatory in 2013, with the idea that operators will notice [magical] signals of human trafficking during the talk…The intake forms also contain information about the sexual life of the sex worker and operators must store these forms and present them during inspections…
Almost nobody still believes cops’ pretense that this is about anything other than profit:
…Adrienne Chapa was arrested [in Minneapolis] and spent a few days in jail before she went home to Las Vegas…[but] the Hennepin County attorney’s office filed a lawsuit to keep [her] money through [legalized robbery]…It took two years to resolve the legal cases, and $21,000 is finally getting distributed [among various pigpens]…Minnesota legislators outlawed civil forfeiture in 2014…[but Chapa eventually plead guilty on condition that the conviction will be erased in two years]…her attorney, Avery Appelman, said seizing the cash was a “large motivating factor” for her prosecution and that police use forfeited property as a “slush fund”…
What’s that word for men who use force to take money that a woman earns via prostitution?
As long as these laws exist, all women are vulnerable to persecution by cops:
…New York Penal Law Section 240.37 has criminalized loitering in a public place by anyone the police determine is present for the purpose of prostitution. “Purpose” is not defined…thus the reason for one’s presence is ultimately decided by the opinions of arresting officers…A woman may be surveilled, searched, and detained, in part because an officer takes issue with her clothing…pre-printed affidavits…include “indications of prostitution,” such as: the defendant was standing somewhere other than a bus stop or taxi stand; the defendant was carrying money or “sexual paraphernalia”; the defendant was with someone known to have been previously arrested for prostitution-related offenses…The…N.Y.P.D…Patrol Guide…offers no objective criteria on what attire is suspect, thus failing citizens the ability to anticipate how their fashion could establish cause for their arrest…From 2012 through 2015, nearly 1,300 individuals were arrested in New York City under the law…85 percent of them were black or Latina. According to a class-action lawsuit filed September 30, 2016 by the Legal Aid Society of New York…transgender women are especially victimized…
A federal judge…sentenced Rentboy.com founder Jeffrey Hurant to a six-month prison term…Federal authorities [had] already [stolen] about $1.5 million that they claim was laundered money from Hurant’s company…[but] did not pursue a seizure of $101,000 from Hurant’s personal bank account…the…judge…also fined him $7,500. After sentencing, Hurant told reporters…that…sex work between adults should be decriminalized and destigmatized…
Backwards into the Future (#743)
Virtually no government “commission” will ever suggest taking power away from government:
…the South African Law Reform Commission chose fiction over facts…After taking two decades to draft its final report, it has recommended the continued full criminalisation of consensual adult sex work…The commission also included a last-minute secondary option of [The Swedish model]…These recommendations were made despite mounting evidence that shows that the full decriminalisation of sex work is the most effective and respectful model to ensure improved access to health, justice and support services for sex workers…We have had this apartheid-era model in South Africa for a long time now. What have the results been? High levels of violence and abuse, stigma and discrimination when sex workers attempt to access basic services, and high rates of new HIV infections…And this violence is most often committed by police officers, as illustrated by a review by the Women’s Legal Centre of cases reported between 2011 and 2015. Of the abuse reported to the centre by sex workers, more than 60% of cases identified the police as perpetrators…
I am so enjoying watching “sex trafficking” hysteria spin out of control of the “authorities”:
A Facebook post [reporting] illegal immigrants are trying to kidnap young girls for human trafficking…[states] Mentor [Ohio] Police are aware…that men are sitting in parked cars in…parking lots…Police [claim] they have received no reports of any human trafficking or related suspicious behavior. Police also [allege] they’ve reached out to security at Great Lakes Mall and the mall has not received any reports…
If Backpage is so awful, why do politicians need lies to attack it?
Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley claimed he has “new evidence” showing that the classifieds site “Backpage has directly and actively promoted illegal sex trafficking.” But the only thing new is Hawley’s level of desperation and deceit…Among the “new” evidence…is a January report from the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Despite the senators having access to all of the internal Backpage data and hosting a theatrical in-person inquiry, they found nothing sufficient to spur a criminal investigation or any charges. Hawley also submitted the transcript of an audio recording seized from Philippines company Avion, in which an Avion employee contacts a London sex worker…A state attorney general cannot attempt to prosecute foreign contractors for ads created and posted in foreign countries. And it is legal for Backpage contractors to generate adult ads abroad, where the rules governing web-publishing platforms and legal liability for content vary (and prostitution in certain forms may be legal). Hawley’s actions here should be seen for what they are: a sneaky attempt to build credibility in his illegal crusade…
…The underlying reason why no one’s been able to pin criminal charges on Backpage isn’t a “loophole” in federal law that lets Backpage knowingly profit from human trafficking but the fact that the evidence doesn’t support claims that it does so. If it did, Section 230 would be irrelevant, and Backpage execs could be charged under a number of laws—including one 2015 law crafted for just this purpose. The Stop Advertising Victims of Sexual Exploitation Act specifically prohibits the knowing advertisement of sex trafficking victims, under threat of a 10-year mandatory minimum prison sentence…Section 230 doesn’t apply to content that a platform has itself created “in whole or part,” nor to one that…”is directly involved” in the alleged crime. But a website operator “who edits user-created content… retains his immunity for any illegality in the user-created content”…If Backpage is more like the first category, it’s already punishable under criminal statutes and subject to civil claims. If it’s only the former, than opening up Backpage to criminal charges and civil payouts opens up all of the internet to the same…
Diary #371
Posted in Diary, tagged blogging, Sunset, Washington (state) on August 8, 2017| 4 Comments »
If you’ve been following my diaries recently, you know what a huge pain the move to Washington has been so far. But the radiator replacement was finally done last Wednesday morning (costing about twice what I anticipated), and Grace and Chekhov finally got back on the road a little after noon. That same day I realized that the coming heat wave would make it uncomfortably warm to work at my incall, so after buying and installing (with my own soft little hands!) a new air conditioner, I hit the road for Sunset and met the weary travelers with hot pizza. I had at first planned to stay overnight, but on the way down I realized how stupid that was; it made much more sense to unload in the cool of the night, then drive back through Tacoma in the wee small hours when there’s no appreciable traffic. So that was what I did; I only unloaded the back of the truck because my crew insisted that everything in the trailer was too heavy for my delicate princessness. By the time I was done they were asleep, and I returned to Seattle; I went back on Saturday to find everything unloaded and the place beginning to look a little like a home, including the two cats. And after dinner, I actually asked for the window to be closed because I was getting chilly. In August. While a heat wave was going on in Seattle. Internet service is due to be installed on Monday, and on Thursday the 17th they’ll be heading back to Oklahoma for the next load; let’s hope this trip goes without any problems! And by the by, I’ll be in San Francisco for the last three days of this month; if you’d like an appointment during that time, please let me know ASAP!
The Actual Cost
Posted in Biography, Perception, Philosophy, The Dark Side, tagged anecdote, BDSM, disease, drugs, language, psychology on August 7, 2017| 4 Comments »
My candle burns at both ends;
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends—
It gives a lovely light! – Edna St. Vincent Millay
I think I’ve said before, somewhere in this massive edifice of words, that I really hate it when other women respond to the realization that I have the figure I have without special dieting or exercising every day with “I wish I had your metabolism”. I used to simply reply with “thank you” or a Southern belle “I guess I’m just blessed that way”, but I’ve grown so weary of the hidden bile in such statements that I now reply with a cutting glance and a darkly-intoned, “You wouldn’t want what goes with it.”
Engineers, scientists and medical professionals understand what most people don’t: that every dynamic system (such as a human body) exists in a state of homeostasis, and that a gain in one part of the system can only be achieved by shorting another part of the system. Squeeze the balloon in the middle and the ends will enlarge at the expense of that middle, not to mention putting considerable pressure on the structural cohesion of the plastic if one squeezes hard enough. Burn the candle at both ends? Twice the light, but half the life. Yes, I have a great metabolism…and it’s so finely-balanced that I become completely non-functional if anything knocks it out of that balance. You know how most people can push themselves to go without sleep if necessary? If I try that, when I get to about the 20-hour mark I get dizzy, start shivering and vomiting (sometimes accompanied by diarrhea and/or hives) and then literally pass out. Some of my friends can walk around in public while high; I have to crawl to make it to the bathroom. And on the rare occasions when I succumb to some illness, it generally manifests as 24 to 48 hours of dizziness, vomiting, chills, weakness so profound I can barely move, and fever so high that those attending me (if they can handle all the screaming at them to shut up, go away and turn off every light in the house) get frightened. And that uncannily-high pain threshold some people envy? It’s because sensations below the “imminent threat of maiming” level just don’t register on my hyperactive nervous system. Consider what that does to my ability to sense pleasure, then tell me you still wish you had my physiology.
And while we’re on the subject, let’s talk about that hyperactive nervous system. On the good side: extremely high intelligence, quick wit, lightning-fast reflexes, and hyper-awareness. On the bad side: debilitating vertigo, OCD, ADD, insomnia and anxiety (the latter three all aggravated by long summer days). That prolificity and vocabulary envied by other writers? Paid for by a nigh-complete inability to shut up (ask my long-suffering friends how literal this is) unless I’m deeply drugged or unconscious. And that superhuman memory of mine, the one everybody thinks is so bloody wonderful because I can pull up facts faster than Google and order them in a way no machine yet built can manage? While the joy of good things fades with the neurochemical changes generated by those experiences, the emotional damage done by the bad ones remains and never completely heals, if it heals at all. It has been said that no woman would ever have more than one baby if she could actually remember how it felt to have the first one; if that’s true it’s probably best I couldn’t have children, because I remember pain – whether physical or emotional – every bit as vividly as I remember facts. Every laceration and every rejection; every broken bone, and every broken heart.
I’m not saying I would have it any other way; I am who I am and what I am, and it’s all I know. What I’m saying is, when you look at someone else’s life and human condition, please apply at least as much thought as you apply when shopping for a new piece of technology, and consider the actual cost of what’s in front of you.
Links #370
Posted in Current Events, Links, Miscellaneous, Music, Tyranny, tagged BDSM, Canada, Catholicism, cops, imaginative fiction, Iowa, Italy, language, Never Call the Cops, New York, politicians, serial killers, United Kingdom, video on August 6, 2017| 1 Comment »
I regret that we had not sufficiently understood that others would see this event so differently. – Archbishop Terrence Prendergast
Longtime readers will appreciate this video…what if one of my favorite musicians did a version of the theme music of one of my favorite shows? The links above it are from Tim Cushing (“does”), Clarissa (“pro”), Tushy Galore (“headline” and “never”), Walter Olson (“books”), and Brooke Magnanti (“tender”).
- As one does.
- Hire a pro, guys.
- Headline of the week.
- A masterpiece of pure stupidity.
- 6000 historical children’s books, free online.
- They’re especially nice when young and tender.
- Why is “never” such a difficult concept for people?
From the Archives
- Remember the guy who was charged with “sex trafficking” because he dragged a girl off of her bicycle in a rape attempt?
- If “prostitutes, pimps [and] drug dealers” weren’t criminalized, we’d easily be able to contribute to your system.
- More reporters should be ashamed of their attempts to shame sex workers.
- Imagine if $100,000 was spent on giving services instead of spreading lies.
- Say you’re “fighting sex trafficking” and stupid people will give you money.
- Amazon’s not a library, but given prominence this is a censorship attempt.
- The girls who did this better hope no other whores ever learn their names.
- I’m sure you feel safer now that police “investigated” this “sexual assault”.
- Irish judges love stealing whores’ money & giving it to our worst enemies.
- Minnesota tries to cash in on “sex trafficking” hysteria before it vanishes.
- Cops “explain” their versions of events, but the rest of us merely “claim”.
- Are politicians really stupider than other people, or does it just seem so?
- Yet another rescue industry “hero” is revealed as an opportunistic fraud.
- Marketing for this film makes it look more like lurid drama than fantasy.
- A short biography of the famous Old-West madam, Squirrel Tooth Alice.
- Being a “legal” sex worker doesn’t protect you, so stop your bootlicking.
- Pompous ass seems committed to braying out of both sides of her maw.
- Sometimes land grabs are more subtle, even if reporters’ language isn’t.
- I’m glad to see well-spoken & “out” sex workers appearing on podcasts.
- Sweden emasculates its men, wonders why Swedes are having less sex.
- Once again, Liz Brown exposes the tyranny of “fighting sex trafficking”.
- I’m sure kidney patients are happy to die in support of this “principle”.
- Nearly all “sex offender” laws are this unconstitutionally overbroad.
- More groups are speaking up in favor of sex work decriminalization.
- How does this dude think he’ll get around UK brothel & avails laws?
- Why do economists make such dumb assumptions about sex work?
- Polaris Project says the more broad & carceral laws are, the better.
- You’re supposed to be a libertarian, Gary; this ain’t rocket science.
- Empty-headed actresses champion denying people self-ownership.
- Despite its appearance in Rolling Stone, this is an excellent article.
- Putting extraordinary restrictions on cops is not remotely unfair.
- My friend Savannah Sly on the Hollywood response to Amnesty.
- It’s rare to see an essay like this in the US, but not in Canada.
- Could be worth looking into for non-porn sex workers as well.
- Spanish police will no longer accept donations from brothels.
- Hawk Kinkaid urges queer folk to support sex worker rights.
- Another of those cases whose reported details don’t add up.
- To what extent is sex work criminalization tied into racism?
- Cops are only allowed to rape whores, not treat us fairly.
- Satan, vindication, cops, laws, Sweden and much more.
- Another health organization issues a pro-decrim report.
- Hey Cosmo, are you ready to speak out for decrim yet?
- In which I announce the return of my ability to travel.
- Not a bad introduction to the concept of whorearchy.
- Actually, this does give an inaccurate image of cops.
- DARE accidentally endorses marijuana legalization.
- Yes, they actually sent a SWAT team after whores.
- Too much for the tiny, narrow minds of politicians.
- Authoritarians will try anything other than decrim.
- This one’s hilarious even by CNN’s low standards.
- The government is culpable in these assaults.
- In other news, Pope announces he’s Catholic.
- How can I arrange to see you professionally?
- Cops, blasphemy, money and much more.
- A week at the ranch, but not a slow one.
- My two previous columns for Lammas.
- Another abomination from Alabama.
- A week of highs and lows.
- Rapist cops of the week.
- The stupid, it burns!
- Sex rays!
In the News (#762)
Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged All Wet, Bad Fantasy-Good Reality, bogus studies, California, Cambodia, Catholicism, censorship, Change a Few Words, Cyprus, drugs, hotels, hysteria, law, Lower Education, Minnesota, Original Sin, pathologization of males, politicians, prohibitionist myths, racism, rescue industry, Rooted in Racism, Shift in the Wind, Signs, The Mote and the Beam, Total Eclipse of the Brain, underage, Wyoming, yellow journalism on August 5, 2017| 1 Comment »
In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. – Allan Gatt
Sometimes “trafficking” just means “bringing in brown people“:
Defend Europe, an anti-immigrant group that attempts to disrupt humanitarian search and rescue missions in the Mediterranean Sea, recently chartered a boat that was stopped in a Cyprus port, where several members were arrested for forging documents and engaging in potential human trafficking…members were stopped in and deported from a sea port in the self-declared Turkish state of Northern Cyprus…after spending two days in detention for document forgery and potential human trafficking of 20 Sri Lankan nationals who were aboard the C-Star, the campaign’s ship…Refugee Rights Association advocate Faika Pasha…[said] some of the Sri Lankans on board reported having paid a trafficker to be taken to Italy and confirmed that five Sri Lankans remained in Cyprus to claim asylum…
Senator Cory Booker…introduced legislation that ends federal marijuana prohibition…The Marijuana Justice Act would…Remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act…Cut federal funding for state law enforcement and prison construction if a state disproportionately arrests and/or incarcerates low-income individuals and/or people of color for marijuana offenses…Prevent deportations of individuals for marijuana offenses…Provide for a process of expungement [and resentencing] for marijuana offenses at the federal level…
Pro-decriminalization essays in newspapers are no longer a rarity:
…this Swedish model strips women of agency and autonomy and regards men as morally superior to women because they remain culpable for their decisions, whereas women are not…People who cry crocodile tears over prostitution and claim that it demeans sex workers seem to ignore the countless office workers, electricians, plumbers, janitors and garbage collectors who…work…out of sheer necessity to provide for their families. How is their job any less demeaning than sex work and, more pertinently, why is sex work demeaning in the first place?…the people making these accusations are ashamed of their own bodily functions…Pathology is not determined by what some find offensive…sex workers are the only women who are honest about female sexuality and about the real standing relationship between men and women at any time in history…
…Zoe Katz, the captain of USC’s women’s tennis team, is accusing the university of not only ignoring her protestations that her boyfriend Matt Boermeester didn’t assault her, but threatening her for speaking up. Boermeester, a redshirt junior kicker, was suspended from USC in February after a neighbor [claimed to have seen] the football player…assault Katz a month earlier. That claim was repeated to a coach and then to the university Title IX office…The following “six-month”…inquiry took the form of “repeated interrogations” plagued by “agendas, intimidation and falsehoods,” Katz wrote in a two-page statement…The allegations closely resemble those made in a lawsuit against Colorado State University–Pueblo by athlete Grant Neal, who was found responsible for rape after his girlfriend, an athletics staffer, said their sex was consensual…
…University of Minnesota researchers for the first time have studied the demand for commercial sex in Minnesota and who the typical client is. A 121-page report…uses a national study to estimate that 26,000 Minnesota men — 1 percent of the state’s men — may have purchased sex in the past year, while 380,000 men — 14 percent — have done so at least once…Researchers, who combed through court records and media reports and interviewed more than 150 experts statewide, found that most sex buyers in Minnesota seek quick and anonymous sex with young-looking girls or women…
Yes, these idiots are claiming that the average sex worker subsists on three clients per year (and that’s not even counting all the “trafficked children”). But then, what can one expect from a “study” that doesn’t bother to interview the people being studied, but instead just records the wanking fantasies of cops & other prohibitionists?
COSWAC mocks the absurdity of “signs of sex trafficking” in hotels:
…according to a checklist provided to hotel employees by the Department of Homeland Security, I displayed at least three “general indicators” of human trafficking…Few or no personal items when checking in…The same person reserving multiple rooms…“Do Not Disturb” sign used constantly. Oh, and the fellow activist who paid for my hotel room? They hosted get-togethers in their suite throughout the weekend…another red flag: “Constant flow of men into a room at all hours”…several…are so vague or subjective that…[they] could lead to invasions of privacy and false accusations…
The Pope continues to recklessly promote “sex trafficking” hysteria:
Human trafficking is “brutal, savage and criminal,” Pope Francis said…“I want to call everyone to make a commitment to seeing that this perverse plague, a modern form of slavery, is effectively countered”…After reciting the Angelus with thousands of people gathered in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis asked them to join him in praying a “Hail Mary” so that Jesus’ mother would “support the victims of trafficking and convert the hearts of traffickers”…
Bad Fantasy, Good Reality (#722)
As the hysteria collapses, you’re going to see this happening much more often:
Cambodia’s premier Hun Sen…ordered a Christian [rescue industry group]…to be shut down, after it featured in a recent CNN report that…featured three girls who were [supposedly] rescued from the sex trade by Agape International Missions (AIM)…American pastor Don Brewster [has repeatedly refused to accept studies that show only a small number of Cambodian sex workers are now minors, and] was quoted [to that effect on CNN]…Hun Sen and [others pointed out that]…an early version of CNN’s online report…described the girls as Cambodian, when in fact they either spoke Vietnamese or Khmer with a thick Vietnamese accent. CNN later removed the word Cambodian from their headline…
The censors who want the internet destroyed are at it again:
…the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act of 2017…would amend the Communications Decency Act in order to hold websites liable for “publishing information designed to facilitate sex trafficking.” It was introduced…by Sen. Rob Portman…and…sponsored by a bipartisan group of 19 senators…The Internet Association, which represents Silicon Valley giants like Facebook, Twitter and Amazon, said…that the act would unfairly make companies responsible for what third parties publish on their sites…Sen. Ron Wyden…[said] “Section 230…is…the legal basis for all of social media and it has been vital to the expansion of affordable internet access throughout the country…This proposal takes a wrecking ball to that foundation without so much as a committee hearing. It is yet another example of the technical ignorance of Congress threatening the jobs, lives and economic opportunities of millions of Americans.”
I have a strong feeling that this will be the nadir of the “gypsy whore” myth:
Cheyenne police say the solar eclipse passing over Wyoming on August 21 could be a hotbed for sex trafficking…Sgt. Tim Meyrick [fantasized that] “In this region, a pimp will make approximately $1,000/day per girl”…[while] Kevin Malatesta [masturbated while drooling] “…prostitution…has a much darker side to it”…
Feeling Small
Posted in Diary, Philosophy, tagged Aphrodite, blogging, psychology on August 4, 2017| 11 Comments »
I am, as Paul Simon wrote, weary and feeling small. When I look at this vast edifice of a website I’ve created, stone by stone, day by day, over the past seven years, it sometimes overwhelms me; I almost ask myself, “How the Hell did I do all that?” And then I remember: it was through countless hours spent at the keyboard, typing literally millions of words (almost 2600 posts x an average of 1000 words each = 2,600,000 words). And that doesn’t even count all the tweets, articles, and other content. For the past five years, and especially the last two, I’ve been slowly decreasing the amount of work I have to do to maintain it; I’ve relaxed my length requirements, instituted features (like diaries, links columns and back issues) which take less work, brought in more guests, eliminated some time-and-labor intensive regular features, split the weekly news column into two parts and otherwise stretched my labor while lessening the amount of it required to give myself more free time. And now I need to do that again. When I first started The Honest Courtesan, I was releasing a decade of pent-up self-expression and trying to distract myself from a disintegrating marriage by burying myself in work (which is pretty much what I always did back before I realized what a tremendously stupid idea absolute sobriety was); now I’m older, wiser, sadder and wearier, and I just can’t maintain the pace I could then (which, to be honest, wasn’t really healthy back then either). I’m worn thin and threadbare, and I need to devote more time and energy to paying work and to self-care (which includes spending quality time with people who love me). So I’m making another small adjustment to my procedures: since Friday is the day sacred to Aphrodite, I’m going to start taking some Fridays off. That doesn’t mean you won’t get content on Fridays; I’m absolutely committed to providing my readers with new material every day as long as it’s physically possible for me to do so. What it means is that a lot of Friday columns are going to be light and very low-effort, like the collection of pictures from Ireland I gave you two weeks ago. That will reduce my stress levels, decrease my energy output by almost one-seventh (fitting, since I’ve been doing this now for almost a seventh of my life), and make more time for travel (both for business and pleasure). And since a lot of you have been urging me to do something like this for years, I’m sure most of you are glad to hear it.
The Maze of Consent
Posted in Perception, Philosophy, Tyranny, tagged agency denial, cops, neofeminism, politicians, psychology, sex work is work, slavery, The Maze of Consent on August 3, 2017| 11 Comments »
I don’t think it’s any secret to anyone who has read more than a couple of my essays, or known me in person at all, that I am profoundly independent, free-spirited and anti-authoritarian. I consider the idea that some stranger has even the slightest “rightful” authority over me due to his birth, title, fancy costume, magical talisman, mob consensus or ability to inflict violence upon my person to be ludicrous at best and an abomination against the gods at worst, and the most efficient way to get me not to do a thing is to tell me that I “must” do it, or to “order” me to do it. And yet, seemingly paradoxically, I rarely turn down a request for a favor from a friend, and if I love someone deeply enough I’ll do almost anything they ask. As I recently wrote on Twitter, “If you’re sure I love you, you can raise your hand to me & I’ll roll over for petting. But if not, expect that hand to be bitten off.” What’s the magic formula that transforms me from a tigress to a kitten, from an uncontrollable spitfire to a gentle, kind angel? Consent. People who demand, assume or don’t even bother to seek my compliance will never, ever get it, but those who approach me in a friendly and respectful way often will. And if a person invests the time and effort to win my heart, my freely-given loyalty is extremely difficult to break.
This right to decide who to submit to and who to snarl at belongs not only to me, but to every sentient being. We all own ourselves, body and soul, and absolutely nobody else has the right to claim ownership over us, to tell us what we can and cannot do with our bodies and lives, or to determine what is best for us; the concept that the “majority”, some “authority”, or the nebulous “state” has the right to use violence to abrogate our self-determination or punish us for our free choices is a moral abomination on par with slavery, and future generations will look back upon prohibition with the same disgust as we view the idea that one human being can literally own another. Every free-willed being has the right to consent, to refuse to consent, or to revoke consent to any request or action of another, and nobody has the right either to force consent via threat or violence, or to overrule anyone else’s consent. And yet, the evil, confused and morally retarded claim this right over others every single day; modern states have a vast apparatus of surveillance designed to spy on the private, consensual acts of sane adults and inflict violence upon them if those acts conflict with the diktats of the State. And there is a vast and growing cult which plays a Kafkaesque game with the very concept of consent, attempting to turn it from the free exercise of free will by free beings into a convoluted and bureaucratic prison, in which “authorities” impose their will on individuals and negate their consent by pretending that it wasn’t “true” consent under byzantine, ever-changing and ever-expanding rules determined, naturally, by the “authorities”. In other words, these evil hypocrites overrule the consent of others in the name of “protecting” it. It isn’t enough that consent be given; we are told it must be explicitly verbal, ongoing, and “enthusiastic”, and that it must be bureaucratically and tiresomely re-ascertained over and over and over again no matter how clearly it was expressed in the first place. Some “authorities” choose to add even more adjectives to the list, insisting that consent be “creative” and “honest” (presumably, the one seeking consent must cart around a polygraph machine to fulfill the latter condition).
Others insist that consent is compulsory under certain conditions, and those who wish to inflict violence upon others for sex acts they consider “deviant” (including sex work, BDSM and in the past, homosexuality) claim that people who make these choices are suffering from mental disorders such as “Stockholm syndrome“, “trauma bonding” or the Marxist fantasy of “false consciousness”). Possibly the most bizarre of these, popular among neofeminists for years but now gaining momentum among tyrants pretending to be “progressive”, is the idea that if a person is paid to do something he wouldn’t do for free that constitutes “coercion” or even “violence”. This dogma is, frankly, deranged; it sounds more like something that might be ejaculated from a Maoist circle-jerk than something an official in a Western capitalist nation (whom, we might note, does not do HIS job for free and is therefore equally coerced) would say in public with a straight face.
Consent is never absolute; it is always conditional and contextual. But only the free individual has the right to determine the conditions for their consent; that could be anything from “if you say please” to “if you pay me x amount” to “if you do this other thing for me”. And nobody but the individual has the right to add extra conditions to that, nor to forbid any particular condition from among the individual’s choices. To do either is to negate the entire concept of consent, which is the same as negating free will. And an entity without free will is not a human; it is an object, owned by whichever other entity can hold onto it. The abrogation of consent doesn’t “protect” anyone, no matter what the fanatics claim; it merely disguises an ugly, savage system of might makes right.
In the News (#761)
Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Perception, Tyranny, tagged agency denial, Backpage, brothels, California, Case Study, cops, Devil's Advocate, dirty, hysteria, illegal aliens, Illinois, Ireland, Italy, Kentucky, language, Moving Pictures, neofeminism, No Escape, politicians, Power Play, prisons, racism, rape, rescue industry, robots, scams, Thailand, The War Goes On, The Widening Gyre, Theatrics, Too Close To Home, Torture Chamber, United Kingdom, Washington (state), yellow journalism on August 2, 2017| Leave a Comment »
The cops are the villains of this story, not the heroes. – Elizabeth N. Brown
It’s unusual to see them actually use the word “rape” in this context:
A deputy jailer at Hardin County [Kentucky] jail has been arrested after…inmate Amanda Chambers [reported] that Deputy Stephen Renfrow provided her with tobacco dip in exchange for sex…He was arrested on Friday and is facing charges for rape, promoting contraband, and official misconduct…
If it was a true “exchange” as the story suggests, why did Chambers report him, and why the charge of rape? It seems more likely he raped her and then gave her the tobacco in an attempt to bribe her into silence.
Is it sexist of me to wonder why men seem to be pearl-clutching even more than women these days?
There are two brothels operating…[in an apartment building]…each containing several “sex workers”. They advertise their services openly on websites. Clients pick a woman from a menu of hundreds and make a phone call to get directions…A garda familiar with the case confirms there are several brothels operating out of apartment complexes in the area, as well as “pop-up” brothels in the local hotel. He says there is little that can be done unless they witness cash been handed over…Street prostitution still exists but the vast majority of prostitution is now advertised on the internet. Ruth Breslin of Ruhama, an organisation [that persecutes sex workers]…estimates there are no more than 70 prostitutes working on the streets in Dublin…“Women are moved around an awful lot in the indoor trade because the market is all about new girls. Buyers are often not interested in going back to the same woman,” Breslin says…
Scare quotes for a job title. Advertising being described as “open” as though there were another way for it to be effective. Can you imagine a site featuring ads for physicians or lawyers being described as a “menu”? Ruhama interviewed instead of sex workers. Women described as passive objects who “are moved” rather than being able to move themselves. And it goes on from there…
“It’s all a lie. It’s all a big lie.” That’s how director Josie Swantek Heitz, her face stunned and expressionless as she leans against a wall, informs director/cinematographer Dave Adams that they have been hoodwinked. This discovery occurs moments into the intro of their film The Wrong Light…[first intended to be a fakumentary] about trafficked girls in the stateless Hill Tribe communities that border Northern Thailand. After this initial confusion…we are suddenly plunged headlong into the world of Mickey Choothesa and COSA (Children’s Organization of Southeast Asia), a [rescue profiteering] organization…A half hour in, the film flips to include an intricately woven fiction that fooled everyone, including both filmmakers, the producers, a slew of international donors, a parade of interns, and even foreign correspondent Adam Ramsey…It is as though the [fantasy] of witnessing pretty girls being trafficked…[turns moralists on so much that they]…open…their…wallets without further investigation…
Readers with long memories will remember that I debunked COSA in this blog five and a half years ago.
People who can’t admit their kinks unknowingly display them to the world:
The group ‘Yet She Rise’ hopes people will see their human trafficking displays this weekend in [Chicago’s] Wicker Park and feel uncomfortable…there is a box with two child actors inside it, tape over their mouths and wrists. “In a box, you know, roped and tied, with tape across their mouth, just to show how [sexy], and how [arousing], this situation is,” sa[livate]d Lamar Flowers, who’s with the organization…
This is at least the fourth iteration we’ve seen of this same inane stunt.
Italy’s prime minister, Paolo Gentiloni…announced…that the Italian navy would be patrolling with Libyan ships just off the Libyan coastline…to curb human trafficking and [turn] migrants back…to Libya…Italy has already threatened to stop allowing boats carrying rescued migrants to dock in Italian ports…Most of the migrants are from African countries, and many try to travel on to France…However, the border is being policed by French officials. Migrants who are caught are sent back to Italy. Austria has announced that it too will close its border with Italy if the number of migrants starts to rise…The interior ministry has…announced that it will reinforce repatriation programs…
“Repatriation” is the currently-fashionable euphemism for “deportation”.
…Like racism, homophobia, transphobia, and all the rest, casual whorephobia and anti-sex work sentiment and views — even among so-called progressives — is endemic…The latest and most vivid example of this is the growing popularity of superstar Democrat Kamala Harris…[who] has been called a “liberal hero” and a “rising star” in the party…There are lots of good reasons to root for Kamala Harris…But the fact that Harris was an active force behind a campaign that endangered the lives of sex workers makes it understandably difficult for people with experiences in the sex trades to throw her our support…
No, there are no good reasons to root for Harris; she’s a corrupt, self-serving, two-faced demagogue who, in addition to her anti-whore campaigns, participated in political cover-ups and actively campaigned against prison reform because, she claims, California needs the slave labor prisoners are forced to do. She is a vile, loathsome monster even by the standards of politicians, and that’s saying something.
Your periodic reminder that a child-shaped toaster is still a toaster:
A surge in the number of seizures of child-like sex dolls by border officers has led investigators to identify dozens of previously unknown suspected paedophiles. The…dolls…are a “relatively new phenomenon” in the UK and should be criminalised, said Hazel Stewart [a sex cop]…those who order them can be prosecuted under a specific charge of importing an indecent or obscene article…[but] it is not illegal to own a child sex doll…Stewart said: “I think it’s got to be through the full range of this criminality, from manufacturer to sale, to import, to possess – the full range. And we need to make sure it’s future-proofed in case there is the introduction of…sex robots”…
I’m sure you guessed this would merge with the sex robot hysteria.
For pimps and prostitutes, gift cards have become a currency to pay for sex ads on Backpage.com, anti-prostitution activists say…Credit card companies [were illegally threatened into cutting off] business with the website two years ago. People could still buy Backpage ads, but it became more difficult: They had to mail in checks or use complicated digital currencies like bitcoin. But now, Backpage has begun accepting gift cards from major retailers…that means a pimp could walk into any local grocery store and pick up a convenient, untraceable way to pay the site to post ads selling women…[prohibitionists publicly masturbate to the fantasy that] Backpage’s new payment system will make it easier to sell vulnerable girls online…
What’s also fascinating is the number of anti-sex women who insist that other women are far too stupid to do anything as simple as pay for an online service by themselves, without an all-powerful male doing it for them.
Liz Brown on the warped thought patterns of Seattle prosecutor Val Richey:
In Seattle, sex must be a “leisure activity” for both parties or it’s nonconsensual, according to…Val Richey—a senior deputy prosecuting attorney for King County…”What you have is someone paying this person essentially to turn a ‘no’ into a ‘yes,'” Richey [said]…”these women, as a leisure activity, are not looking to have sex with 10 guys in a day. They’re doing it for the money.” By that logic, anyone who wouldn’t perform their job without remuneration is a victim of labor trafficking! But Richey is “adamant”…that what Korean sex workers…”were doing could not be called consensual because they were being paid”…
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