tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post4197275006977011499..comments2024-03-25T20:06:39.794-05:00Comments on Grits for Breakfast: Save journalism, legalize prostitutionGritsforbreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-44075462785600640162012-04-05T10:59:13.329-05:002012-04-05T10:59:13.329-05:0010:33, once we do that, what is the solution? That...10:33, once we do that, what is the solution? That's the outcome under the current, blanket legal ban. Read the account of prostitution in Hawaii and tell me if you think it isn't preferable to what you discovered on your Google search.Gritsforbreakfasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-10429998120031698512012-04-05T10:33:23.074-05:002012-04-05T10:33:23.074-05:00Google sex slaves USA.Google sex slaves USA.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-59200284659368102312012-04-05T09:54:43.517-05:002012-04-05T09:54:43.517-05:00And...have you seen their want ads. Lot's of l...<i>And...have you seen their want ads. Lot's of ladies on there advertising personal massages.</i><br /><br />brb<br /><br />RageAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-13886097559507342882012-04-05T09:43:33.109-05:002012-04-05T09:43:33.109-05:00I don't know when they closed down, but I know...I don't know when they closed down, but I know that houses of ill repute operated openly in Amarillo up until about 1950. How I know this is my business.ckikerintuliahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02670661043872744115noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-17811530200606893622012-04-05T09:00:50.271-05:002012-04-05T09:00:50.271-05:00Ann, let's not besmirch prostitutes by compari...Ann, let's not besmirch prostitutes by comparing them to Bernie Madoff. He was a thief and a con man. Whatever else one may say about prostitutes, those gals work for their money. ;)<br /><br />For those not familiar with the case study, I'd encourage you to read the relatively <a href="http://evols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/handle/10524/138/JL34191.pdf;jsessionid=E3F3DE775A555A0FF58A6002281A5779?sequence=2" rel="nofollow">brief paper</a> (pdf, 18 pages) linked in the post from an historian on Hawaiian prostitution regulation before and during WWII. The episode is unique both for the longevity of the regulated scheme, mostly non-coercive recruitment, and general positive outcomes related to both disease and public order. From the paper: "In 1941, Dr. William P. Snow of New York visited Honolulu to study the situation and inspect the houses, which then paid rents ranging from $200 to $500 a month. His verdict: He had never before seen such a common-sense setup and was astonished at the low venereal disease rate among Army and Navy personnel."<br /><br />Fascinating stuff. I'll bet if you checked the (late) Honolulu Advertiser from that era it would be filled with ads for prostitution services. The Advertiser closed in 2010. Would they still be in business if prostitution were legal in Hawaii and purchased significant advertising in the local paper? The examples cited by Kristoff in the NY Times show you can finance a lot of reporters' salaries with the proceeds from such revenues, and the regulated Hawaiian model was inestimably safer and more hygenic for everyone, including the women, than what's going on today in the world of black market sex trafficking.Gritsforbreakfasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-66021562286249072292012-04-05T08:29:23.454-05:002012-04-05T08:29:23.454-05:00Sweden has an interesting model for legalized pros...Sweden has an interesting model for legalized prostitution. It is legal for women to sell sexual services (or men to do so), but it is not legal to buy them. Johns and pimps are criminals, prostitutes go scot-free. Philosophically this makes sense, as I control my body, but no one can buy or own my body. Not sure how it works in reality.<br /><br />If it takes selling prostitution ads for a newspaper to survive (and let's not kid ourselves - these are prostitution ads, right?), they need a better business model. Bernie Madoff justified his get-rich-quick schemes, too.AnnWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08497573858727414620noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-77038525552399054602012-04-05T08:28:30.425-05:002012-04-05T08:28:30.425-05:00This is a not new thing. Newspapers have always ch...This is a not new thing. Newspapers have always chosen profits over principle when it comes to accepting ads. How many people have died from tobacco products that for decades were a backbone of newspaper advertising? In the 19th century, newspapers stayed afloat advertising patent medicines from snake-oil salesmen. What's curious is why the Dallas News choose right now to put moral scruples over their bottom line?Dead Tree Readernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-64297898170827283502012-04-05T07:47:06.732-05:002012-04-05T07:47:06.732-05:00Prostitution IS legal. It's also known as &quo...Prostitution IS legal. It's also known as "Politics".DEWEYnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-67355720368624745582012-04-05T06:12:59.976-05:002012-04-05T06:12:59.976-05:00So it's OK to advertise porn, but not to look ...So it's OK to advertise porn, but not to look at it? Somehow this seems hypocritical to me. My husband spent 4 years on probation for looking at it on line and had his probation revoked for e-mailing one of his friends about a work related subject (no internet access except for work purposes). <br /><br />I'm all for legalizing both prostitution and drugs and then let the government tax the hell out of it. It would be better regulated although on second thought the government can't even regulate itself. When they enacted prohibition back in the 20's and 30's people didn't stop drinking, they just got their booze illegally. All it did was drive the sale of alcohol to the streets and the mob was the one making all the money. It seems we never learn.RSO wifehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09125370082588943280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-90108071400222029052012-04-04T17:47:18.212-05:002012-04-04T17:47:18.212-05:00If I might, I’ll quote the great parapsychology Dr...If I might, I’ll quote the great parapsychology Dr. Egon Spengler, Ph.D. “Print is dead.”The Fishing Physicistnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-17970304323201090122012-04-04T14:09:05.357-05:002012-04-04T14:09:05.357-05:00As usual, the Dallas Morning News folks don't ...As usual, the Dallas Morning News folks don't read their own paper. They allow advertisers to place a full-page ad for a miracle diet drug! And...have you seen their want ads. Lot's of ladies on there advertising personal massages.Lenanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-35790371995881408332012-04-04T12:51:29.003-05:002012-04-04T12:51:29.003-05:00After we lost the Times Herald the Observer has co...After we lost the Times Herald the Observer has come through. No wonder DMN wants to discredit it.Red Leathermanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03506840758526404304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-675520036632916762012-04-04T12:12:24.963-05:002012-04-04T12:12:24.963-05:00I just think it's weird that someone at the DM...I just think it's weird that someone at the DMN would talk down about the Observer's reporting while hiring away their reporters.<br /><br />(Also, holding stories that could impact elections until after the election - like the DMN did with the NTTA/Trinity Toll Road story - is, to me, worse than running pornographic ads)Ryan Paigehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12171317748419259984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-8458157375745189762012-04-04T11:37:57.720-05:002012-04-04T11:37:57.720-05:00Another way to save a paper is to get rid of the s...Another way to save a paper is to get rid of the sports and women's pages.<br /><br />That's why the old WSJ used to be preferable to the NYT, which still pollutes the world with useless print, including glossy "style" mags. "All the news that's fit to print plus all the trash that isn't."jimbinohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09684677214800358793noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-38539259667718702442012-04-04T10:42:22.946-05:002012-04-04T10:42:22.946-05:00Tod, I think my suggestion more honestly and effec...Tod, I think my suggestion more honestly and effectively addresses underage prostitution than your head-in-the-sand approach, which seems to assume that if we just ignore it it will go away.Gritsforbreakfasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-43871239050923620552012-04-04T10:38:20.308-05:002012-04-04T10:38:20.308-05:00Yeah, but it's a pretty slippery slope once yo...Yeah, but it's a pretty slippery slope once you go over to the dark side. Nicholas Kristof zeroes in on the main issue: Backpage.com carries ads that promote underage prostitution. And that's hard to argue with, even if you support legalizing prostitution in general. I don't know a lot of prostitutes (no, actually I don't know ANY), but I doubt that there are many of them who got into the profession for the career-advancement opportunities or because they enjoy being demeaned and degraded and sexually abused on an hourly basis. And if promoting a business that debases people is what it takes for us journalists to survive in our business, I'm sorry, but that doesn't work for me. There's gotta be a better way.Tod Robbersonhttp://www.dallasnews.com/opinionnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-81186516380571305332012-04-04T10:16:02.826-05:002012-04-04T10:16:02.826-05:00Nothing sells better that sex and violence!! Can ...Nothing sells better that sex and violence!! Can I get an Amen?Leenoreply@blogger.com