see more crazy cat pics
Friday, March 28, 2008
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Second new post -- feel the Ellen love!
Ok, I completely love Ellen and I don't care who knows it. By just being who she is, out there in front of all those soccer moms in the flyover states, she's doing a lot for the acceptance of gay rights in this country, IMHO. I hope that some tolerance and acceptance is seeping into the daytime TV viewing public's minds, courtesy of Ellen.
Also, I love Ellen because lately, she's not taking shit lying down. Check it out.
Also, I love Ellen because lately, she's not taking shit lying down. Check it out.
Yay new posts! Governor Bareback is up first!
I'm sure you've all heard by now about the unfortunate scandal the governor of New York has been caught up in.
This is showing up all over the blogosphere, and I wanted to comment and give my four readers a couple links. First of all, I personally would not have given one hoot if not for a couple issues -- I think prostitution should be decriminalized, and that people (men AND women -- that sex workers are portrayed by the media as exclusively female is a rant for another time) performing sex work should have the same protections afforded all other workers. I'm not sure of the exact answers, or how to fix the whole system, but the current system isn't working: women and men are being abused, are being killed, are being stolen from, and can't get out of the industry. They have little to no legal recourse if anything bad happens, and even in this day and age, judges refuse to believe a prostitute can be raped (don't click on that link if you value your sanity or want to keep your lunch down). The current system sucks.
Ok, so that's out of the way. The big problem for me is that part of how Spitzer got to where he was was by prosecuting prostitution rings. In addition to that, there is some evidence (it's the Post, people, so take with a grain of salt) that Spitzer's "unsafe things" he was asking the escorts to do was have sex without a condom. The "unsafe" comment is found in the original tapped conversation, which also seems to indicate that Spitzer was a generally "difficult" client.
So yeah. He prosecuted prostitution rings, got in front of cameras and vehemently decried them, and then proceeded to not only visit prostitutes but generally be an asshole to them and attempt to insist they put their own health at risk to satisfy whatever sick fantasy of degradation he wanted to have fulfilled.
The contempt he has for these women is palpable from here. It's sickening and makes me sorry I ever voted for him.
The ironies: This all happened right before Spitzer was set to speak to the Planned Parenthood convention regarding, you know, women's rights. In addition, the software used to catch him was in place in these banks because Spitzer, as Attorney General, insisted upon it.
Now for the educational part of my post. Who is out there really trying to help sex workers? Who is really trying to educate people on sex work and the issues surrounding it?
Go here:
Bound, Not Gagged is a sex worker's blog, which has many great posts regarding sex work and how it is portrayed in the media and society.
The Desiree Alliance is a diverse, volunteer-based, sex worker-led network of organizations, communities and individuals across the US working in harm reduction, direct services, political advocacy and health services for sex workers. (Ok, I snagged that blurb off their website, but how many ways are there to describe that?) Pretty much anything you want to know about current efforts in legislation, health care, etc. is there. They have many links to local groups and a donation page in case you want to get involved.
This is showing up all over the blogosphere, and I wanted to comment and give my four readers a couple links. First of all, I personally would not have given one hoot if not for a couple issues -- I think prostitution should be decriminalized, and that people (men AND women -- that sex workers are portrayed by the media as exclusively female is a rant for another time) performing sex work should have the same protections afforded all other workers. I'm not sure of the exact answers, or how to fix the whole system, but the current system isn't working: women and men are being abused, are being killed, are being stolen from, and can't get out of the industry. They have little to no legal recourse if anything bad happens, and even in this day and age, judges refuse to believe a prostitute can be raped (don't click on that link if you value your sanity or want to keep your lunch down). The current system sucks.
Ok, so that's out of the way. The big problem for me is that part of how Spitzer got to where he was was by prosecuting prostitution rings. In addition to that, there is some evidence (it's the Post, people, so take with a grain of salt) that Spitzer's "unsafe things" he was asking the escorts to do was have sex without a condom. The "unsafe" comment is found in the original tapped conversation, which also seems to indicate that Spitzer was a generally "difficult" client.
So yeah. He prosecuted prostitution rings, got in front of cameras and vehemently decried them, and then proceeded to not only visit prostitutes but generally be an asshole to them and attempt to insist they put their own health at risk to satisfy whatever sick fantasy of degradation he wanted to have fulfilled.
The contempt he has for these women is palpable from here. It's sickening and makes me sorry I ever voted for him.
The ironies: This all happened right before Spitzer was set to speak to the Planned Parenthood convention regarding, you know, women's rights. In addition, the software used to catch him was in place in these banks because Spitzer, as Attorney General, insisted upon it.
Now for the educational part of my post. Who is out there really trying to help sex workers? Who is really trying to educate people on sex work and the issues surrounding it?
Go here:
Bound, Not Gagged is a sex worker's blog, which has many great posts regarding sex work and how it is portrayed in the media and society.
The Desiree Alliance is a diverse, volunteer-based, sex worker-led network of organizations, communities and individuals across the US working in harm reduction, direct services, political advocacy and health services for sex workers. (Ok, I snagged that blurb off their website, but how many ways are there to describe that?) Pretty much anything you want to know about current efforts in legislation, health care, etc. is there. They have many links to local groups and a donation page in case you want to get involved.
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